Granny and Tipper at Sherlocks
I look really happy in the photo don’t I 🙂 I must have been upset at having to have my picture made that day. Maybe I was in the middle of playing and had to stop.
Granny sewed a lot back then. She made our matching polyester outfits. I wish I still had them. I do have one set of matching dresses that she made for us.
A couple of weeks ago I took Granny to get her hair permed. Over the weekend she was talking about her new hairdo and told Paul and me “I know exactly what your Daddy (Pap) would say if he could see my white hair. He’d say the old gray mare ain’t what she used to be and laugh.” Pap liked to tease Granny so I’m sure he would have certainly teased her about her white hair.
I was reminded of a period of time when I had another nickname besides Tipper. Pap was the only one who called me by it.
In the early 70s we lived at a little rented house over in Martins Creek. We always call it Sherlocks because that’s the people we rented from.
Granny went to get her hair fixed one day. I really have no memory of the incident, only what Pap told me happened.
Once Granny got home she asked me if I liked her new hairstyle. I told her no I didn’t like it and she looked like a dog. Pap got onto me and said that wasn’t very nice how would I feel if someone told me I looked like a dog. I told him I’d like it just fine so he started calling me doggie. I can still see Pap’s twinkling eyes as he called me doggie in the months after I was rude to Granny.
I hadn’t thought about having another nickname in ages. I’m glad Granny’s comment about being the old gray mare reminded me of a sweet story about Pap and me.
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I just think that is the sweetest picture. Polyester knit was the big thing in the 70s. It didn’t wrinkle and you didn’t have to iron it, because you had to iron everything then. I made a couple of mother-daughter dresses when my girls were little. Bell bottoms were big in the 70s too. My nickname is Cindy, but when I was growing up, so many people had nicknames.
My oldest sister’s nickname was “Sister”, my middle sister Freda’s was “Tank”. My youngest sister was named Doris but we called her “Doddie”. Now that she is older you don’t dare call her Doris. She is Doddie and she will let you know it.
What a treasure of a picture with Tipper in her bell bottom pants and a pouty little face. Children get tired sometimes and do not always know how to tell when they are out of sorts. I loved my one and only nickname, but it was only my coworkers who called me by the nickname. I showed up to take over patients who lived in a very mountainous area, and it was right smack dab in the middle of Winter. To complete my outfit of scrubs I had to wear boots during the heaviest snowfalls. We were discussing names one time at the office, and I complained about mine saying everybody of my generation had my same name. The nicest Charge Nurse ever looked at my still snow covered boots and said, “We will call you snowy.” The name stuck, and years later crossed paths with many of the nurses, and they still called me Snowy. I loved it, and actually knew an older lady who carried Snow as her given name. We called my sis “Squeaky” until she complained to Dad when she got in High school, and we had to quit. She has an older Aunt who still calls her that. Oh dear, Tipper, the memories you cause me to drum up. When I was very small we had a large family as neighbors. One of the little boys got really scrawny and was diagnosed with Rickets. His siblings stated calling him Ricket. All these years I had not thought of that, and I sure hope I didn’t chime in.
You could have been “Boots”. It’s usually people who care about you that use your nickname.
I have a nickname , my oldest brother and I nicknamed each other when we were little and it has stuck ever since. He name me Bo and I named him Dennie. A good post today Tipper.
The story goes… a group of aunts came to see the ‘new’ baby, as ants are wont to do. One asked my mother, “What did you name him.?”
My mom replied, “Garland Gray.”
My God, that’s a mouth full to remember, I’ll just call him Buster!”
Seventy-seven years later and they still call me Buster back in NC.
Funny story??? When I was in High School we lived next door to a family with a young child. He came over ,first time, to meet me. “What’s your name?”I asked him? “Barn” he replied. Byron being pronounced in an unusual way “Mine’s Garage” I introduced myself with a straight face. Well, a few days later I had a friend over and here comes “Barn” with the greeting, “Hi Garage” ” Hi Barn “says I. “What did he call you?” says my High School buddy. I told him how I got the “Garage” handle. Needless to say, it stuck. I had a Nick Name “Garage.” I am now 84 years old and I got a phone call recently. It was from a High School buddy I hadn’t seen in many years. “Hello Garage” says he. “Peasles!” I answered, his High School nick name. Things,especially exaggerations and outright Lies,
hang in forever. Don’t they?
Just hearing about Pap makes me smile. I know we would have been good friends!! Love to hear about Pap & Granny. I watched a video of Pap, Katie & I think your husband singing and picking the other day. Pap looked so sweet. His voice was beautiful. Loved the family harmony.
Those nicknames! They have a way of sticking, especially when it is the kids who come up with them. I have pretty much had one from somewhere around 10 years old on, though there have been at least 7 in that 50+-year span. A quirky thing about them is that they usually have no obvious relationship to the person. There is even at least one nickname in the bible,
JOH11:16 Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellowdisciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.
I read somewhere once that ‘Didymus’ meant ‘the twin’.
I guess it sounds odd to you to hear your real name. I think most all of us like Tipper and are glad doggie didn’t stick. But we are glad you had the recall of it.
What pretty matching outfits! And the story about Pap was wonderful.
Tipper, you favor your Momma (Granny) so much in this picture. I got a feeling, Paps punishment for you,(The Nickname Doggie) didn’t really bother you at all,matter of fact, you both come to like it.
I usually do not like nicknames…never let anyone use them with my 4kids either. I do remember one that my daddy gave me that he used for awhile….I have very dark eye color…almost black. My middle name is Sue so daddy sometimes called me BLACK EYED SUZY . I sorta liked that ….made me feel special as I never remembered him calling either of my 4 ugly brothers by a pet name.. He even sang a song now and then with the same name in it. Hey, hey, BLACK Eyed Suzy….
I sure smile when I remember this. Thanks for helping me recall a sweet time in a hard life , growing up in Appalachia.
I LOVED the blast from the past photo of you and Granny in your pastel polyester suits! Polyester really was easy to wear and kept its shape without wrinkling. What about the woven purse Granny carried? I remember those too with their shiny hardware. I’m glad Pap taught you a lesson about respect of your mother. It still sticks after all the years I see. Today, too many kids get away with disrespect and much worse because their parents are too busy to care or think their little devils are angels which is a LIE from hell. I say grab the rod of correction and grab a sassy steer by the ears and turn them around!!! All in the name of God’s love…. have a good day all.
At least you earned the nickname “Doggie”. I don’t know what I did to deserve “Ebbyham”. That’s what Daddy called me when I was little. Mommy called me “You Little $h!+”. I did deserve that one. I was as mean as a striped snake.
The outfits are so cute. Polyester was the thing about the time the picture was taken. They even made men’s suits with it and called them leisure suits. Granny probably laughed about her rude little girl’s comment that didn’t hurt her feelings one bit. I have heard people say someone has hair like a poodle.
My sister in law wore her hair in a poodle cut for years and years!
I hate to admit this but I still have some bell bottoms in the cedar chest. They will make a great Halloween costume someday.
Wear them! Boho is now a trend. I only have a few pieces of my “hippie” clothes. Now I go to the thrift stores and buy them back.
I always enjoy all your post ! You bring back so many memories of times past . Keep up the great work , Us older folks love to hear your stories ! Love you girls ! And your Mom !
I had an outfit like that too! I loved sewing with polyester. So easy to wash. I lived in Bristol Va.
Sweet man, Pap was the sweetest man I’ve ever know, always calm, soft spoken, and considerate. I’m sure being called Doggie was sufficient chastisement for you!
I love the matching outfits Granny made for you. Back in that time I sewed a lot too and polyester was the in thing. Now I look for cotton clothing for the sake of comfort!
Tipper,
Your bell-bottomed pants posed a question as to why the navy uniforms had bell-bottomed trousers. I guess yours were just the style at the time and had none of the following stated uses.
• The reasons which have been advanced for a naval tradition of bell-bottoms include:
– they were able to be easily rolled up so as to facilitate scrubbing of the decks;
– rolling them up also made climbing of the rigging easier;
– they could be filled with air and tied at the lower leg for use as buoyancy device if thrown overboard or abandoning ship.
– they could be more easily removed over shoes if overboard.