Grandma's Crib
One of the oldest traditions I know of
in my family is my Grandma Beck's crib set. She got it from my
Grandpa back in 1927. The set started out simple as you can see,
then grandpa built a landscape out of sheet metal for one side and
then the other side another year. He painted both sides to match the
original set. Grandma sewed an appliqued shirt for it, I'm not sure
when, but I can't remember the crib not having the shirt.
The crib remained the same the over
the years with the exception of a lost or broken figure. During one
of my visits in the summer, I think about 1971, we went to downtown
Milwaukee to go to the museum and shopping at a five and dime
store. I was looking for toys , Grandma was waiting for me like
usual, and she found a new shepard, a couple of sheep and a camel.
The crib was always setup up in
Grandma's living room for as long as she lived, sometimes she didn't
have room to put up the whole crib, but the original building has
always been a part of our Christmas.
Recently my cousin has restarted the
tradition and set the crib up, just like all of us remembered it. He
didn't have the first photo to go by, just the shared memories of it.
Making a part of Grandma and Grandpa with us still.