Christmas Greetings from California

From 1946 through 1966, while the Anderson family was headquartered in San Bernardino, Pappy continued producing annual photographic Christmas greetings.

Pappy created these cards by a wet process, mostly on heavy, deckle-edge photographic paper, about 4" x 5½". After individual exposure in a darkroom with dim red lighting, each card went first (still in the dark) to a developer solution and then to a fixer (which smelled like vinegar). Then a clear-water rinse under normal lighting, then to an array on towels on the floor, with another towel on top and flat, heavyish objects on top of that for some hours, so they’d dry flat.

My important childhood memories include a seasonally-pervasive acetic fragrance, shortages of towels and phone-books, and creative choreography as we avoided stepping on the drying arrays. Must explain my enduring nimbleness¹ on the dance floor.

1946

You’ve seen this shot before, but some things bear a lot of repeating.

Impressively, Pappy managed to get his 1946 card out, despite two changes of family domicile and a new job.

¹Of which I have, and have ever had, none. None.