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When Grandpa Trod the Boards: From The Colleen Bawn to the Irish Cultural Garden

Title page from The Colleen Bawn script.   In 1933, when Joseph John Gilbride was 23 years old, he took to the stage. Grandpa had a bit part as a soldier in a production of the 19th century Irish play, The Colleen Bawn , by Dion Boucicault. The play was produced in Cleveland's Little Theater in Public Hall. 1   My grandpa's name and address in The Colleen Bawn cast list. 2   Now, it's not a huge stretch to imagine Grandpa doing a bit of theater. He was an outgoing fella, prone to jokes, puns, and visual nonsense that made his grandkids laugh.  Cut-up Grandpa checks out his new headphones, getting a smile from Grandma! 3 But beyond the novelty of thinking about a young Grandpa playing a soldier, it was the context of this Theater of Nations endeavor and the groups that helped produce  The Colleen Bawn  that grabbed my attention.   Beginnings  It began with this announcement on 13 December 1929 in The Plain Dealer: Races of City to Give Plays with P...

The Thumb's Christmas

 

Our daughter, Anne, was a prolific artist when she was young. Our refrigerator door was full of her drawings, paintings, and school artwork. She liked to create little books, too, as she was also a natural storyteller.

One Christmas when she was about eight years old, Anne wrote and illustrated a Christmas story for her little brother, James. If memory serves, she drew her inspiration from a book she had recently gotten from the library by illustrator Ed Emberley. He wrote and illustrated The Great Thumbprint Drawing Book. In it, Emberley showed how to make a variety of animals and people using a thumbprint as a starting point. The creations are simple and charming. It's amazing what you can do with a blog of ink and a few black lines. It's art that's accessible to anyone.

Anne's story is called "The Thumb's Christmas," and is based on our family. There is a thumb with glasses (Anne), a thumb with little hair (toddler James), a thumb with a mustache (Jim), and one with a half-circle of curlicue hair (me). There is even a thumbprint Santa, bear, and Christmas tree, along with a little story.

I get a kick out of reading it every year. Not only is it creative, but it was a gift from the heart from our daughter to our son. I'll always treasure it. And hope you will like it too.



It's Christmas at the Thumbs!



 

They went for a walk in the snowy woods.


 

They wrote Christmas lists...


 

They set out eggnog and cookies for Santa.


 

Where are Mom and Pop going?


 

Shh!


 

What a nice surprise!
The End.

 

Until next time... 

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© Nancy Gilbride Casey, 2024. All rights reserved.

P.S.  When Anne was a little older, she wrote a story called "Spider's Christmas," which I've featured here in the past. It's always fun to read again. Share it with a little one in your life this Christmas.



Comments

  1. Replies
    1. Isn't it delightful? She really got the expressions right!

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  2. Such a precious book! Fun and fanciful.

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    Replies
    1. I'll be sure to tell our daughter you liked it! Happy Holidays!

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  3. What a wonderfully creative imagination she had. So cute! My youngest used to make Christmas gifts like this for us as well! The best gifts to treasure always! Thanks for sharing. :)

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    Replies
    1. She really did...still does. I love these handmade gifts the most of all. Gets me where I live!

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