Throwback Thursday: National Lampoon 1964 High School Yearbook Parody

My lone appearance in the Ancestry Yearbook collection, with the 1987 Mission Bay badminton team (p. 209, center top row, with the bleach blond hair and dark roots).

When I was a kid my parents had a copy of the brilliant National Lampoon 1964 High School Yearbook Parody.  I was obsessed with this even before I ever stepped foot in a high school.

It is online, although it is best in hard copy form (just like a real yearbook).  If you want a good laugh, be sure to take some time out and peruse the pages.  You have to look through it several times to get an idea of what's going on, but I can't think of a better parody of the yearbook genre ever.

Not too far from the truth--the freshman pictures page of the National Lampoon yearbook parody.

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Throwback Thursday: Huell Howser Visits Old Pasadena

Huell Howser covered Old Pasadena in his "California's Communities" series (image taken from the City of Pasadena).

As I am going through my tree to clean up and standardize locations, I keep finding that many of my cousins, particularly on my 2nd great grandmother Mary Jane (Tibbetts) Hartley's side, lived in Pasadena in the late 1800s/early 1900s.  Beloved California booster Huell Howser visited Old Pasadena, and the video is featured on the City of Pasadena website (you can view the video there):

On January 12, 2010, Huell Howser visited Pasadena on the series California's Communities. Watch as Huell tours the streets around Old Pasadena and Paseo Colorado, where old historic buildings have been preserved and merged with new buildings to create a bustling marketplace.

© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Throwback Thursday: "The Golden Girls" Premiered Today 32 Years Ago

Screen capture image of the cast of "The Golden Girls". By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36043913

The classic sitcom "The Golden Girls" aired for the first time 32 years today!

I think about this show often, not only because it is one of my all-time favorites, but also because I've discovered through my research that many of my distant cousins spent their golden years in in the 1970s and 1980s in Florida after a life in states like Indiana and Ohio.  It is unknown if this represented their experience in retirement in Florida, but it's still fun to wonder.



© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Throwback Thursday: Marc's 7th Birthday at Disneyland

Grandma Ella, Grammy Pat, me, and Steve, in March 2009 at Disneyland.  Marc is doing his best Jack Skeleton smile in the center with Goofy.

© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Throwback Thursday: Mission Bay High School ID

Another high school ID, this time the 1987-1988 year at Mission Bay High School (my 11th grade).

Nice mullet.


© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Throwback Thursday: Salt Lake City Trip

Marc, Ella, and myself.  Salt Lake City, abt 2012.

A few years ago we made a trip up to see my mother-in-law Ella.  As residents of sunny San Diego it is a rare treat to see evidence of snow on the sidewalk.





© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Throwback Thursday: My Grandfather George Hartley Jr and Myself, May 1972

Grandfather George Hartley Jr (1907-1977) and me (at about 6 months old) in San Diego.  Note the date and Fox Photo logo on the right margin.  From my own collection.

I was George Hartley Jr's only grandchild when he died in 1977.  My father's sister subsequently had two daughters in the 1980s that Grandfather unfortunately never knew about.


© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Throwback Thursday: My Dapper Great Uncle Myron Fister

Myron Benjamin Fister (1905-1986), one of my grandmother Margaret Fister Hartley's brothers.  Inscription to brother Russell.  Courtesy of Tom Cairns.

I knew my grandmother Margaret had family back in Illinois, but for some reason never thought it strange until recently that I had never met any of her brothers.  My understanding is that Myron was a saxophone player (what little info I have on him indicates that he was made assistant band leader of Valley of Chicago Shrine Band in 1971), although I don't think that was his profession.




© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Throwback Thursday: A Day at Balboa Park

Our niece Rachelle took this circa 2007 picture of Steve, Marc, and me at the Balboa Park fountain.  Note that Marc is clutching a Legos catalog (there was a time when he took that everywhere). 

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Throwback Thursday: On a Hike in 1999

Steve and I pausing to take a picture in the San Diego backcounty, November 1999.  From my personal collection.

I started working at Mesa College LRC in the summer of 1999.  I met my future husband, Steve, on the first day as I was being introduced to my coworkers.  We started dating in early November.  I can't believe that was 17 years ago!




© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Throwback Thursday: The Oldest Wills Ever Found

This is almost as hard to read as some 17th century English parish register entries!  From Duhaime.org

My understanding is that the oldest known wills are by brothers Ankh-ren and Uah, from 1797 BC in Egypt.  Canadian lawyer Lloyd Duhaime has informative write-ups about it here and here.

If you are willing to give ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic translation the old college try you can see a clear transcription and alternative translation here.





© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Throwback Thursday: A Colorful Description of an 1883 Drug-Induced Saloon Brawl In Monticello, Jones, Iowa

Newspaper Archive, Iowa, Monticello, Monticello Express, 1883 Monticello Express, January 4, 1883, Page 3

I think this is a description of one of my 2nd 4 times removed cousins, John Burnight (b 1869) (on my father's father's side), who would have been 14(!) and a Mr. Fahey, of an undetermined age.  There was an Irish Fahey family in Jones County at the time, so I suppose it is apt that Mr. Fahey is being described as "that Celtic devotee of Gambrinus."

A statue of King Gambrinus, in Germany, courtesy of By EPei at German Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24456757

The wording of the article reminds me of the smart aleck dialogue from the classic 1993 movie Tombstone, which was peppered with now-obscure historical or mythical references.  The movie characters would be contemporary to John Burnight and the author of the article:

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Braindead Thursday

Between getting ready for our little road trip and Prince's passing earlier today, I am brain dead.  Time for a Throwback Thursday, to a moment where I was probably a little bit sharper than right now:

Christine, about 1981/1982 in Encanto, San Diego, lost in thought.

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Throwback Thursday: The Fanatic

One of my all-time favorite songs from the 1980s is Felony's "The Fanatic".  I'm a fanatic as well, but not for sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll, but for genealogy, of course.


Original lyrics to the song:

Dirty movies turn me on
Cigarettes, alcohol
Disc jockeys and discos
TV guide, magazines
Videos, tape machines
I am the fanatic, ohh
The fanatic

I like movies and rock shows
Rock stars and radios
TV guide, magazines
Chasing limousines
Chasing limousines
Ha, ha, ha, ha



My corny version of this song:

Probate records turn me on
Census lists, muster rolls
Land records and photos
Dollarhide, microfilms
Burials, histories
I am the fanatic, ohh
The fanatic

I like passenger and crew lists
ancient maps and tombstones
Almanacs, directories
Finding maiden names
Finding maiden names
Ha, ha, ha, ha




© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Throwback Thursday: Mickey, My First Favorite Cat

I think I had just received a toy dog as a birthday present (so picture is probably about September 1973).  Notice Mickey to the left.  All pictures from my personal collection.

Mickey would follow me all over the yard.  Here we are, abt 1972.

I guess she'd had enough of my water-pouring activity.





© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Throwback Thursday: Rastafari

Me and Rastafari (Raz), about 1973.  From my personal collection.

We had a number of cats when I was growing up.  My first love was Mickey, a Siamese girl cat, and I'll share some pictures of her next week, but I realized I only have this one picture of Rastafari "Raz" who was a very lovey (and obviously tolerant) Abyssinian male.






© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Throwback Thursdays: School Days at Encanto Elementary

Me, probably in 3rd grade (about 1979). I went to Encanto Elementary in southeast San Diego from 1977-1983.

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Throwback Thursday: Hartley Boys

My grandfather, George Hartley (1907-1977), is the short blond kid in the middle.  His older half-brother, James "Jim"Denby Hartley (1903-1988), towers over the other boys.  George is flanked by cousins John Monroe Hartley (1909-1967) (at left) and Eugene "Gene" Julian Hartley (1905-1948) (right).  Picture was taken possibly about 1918, based on it looking earlier than the photo below.  Not sure where it was taken, although likely in San Diego.  From my personal collection.

On the days when I wonder why I'm so short, I remember all of my direct ancestors who were fairly short, including my grandfather George Hartley, Jr.  Although only 4 years apart, his older brother James Denby Hartley was consistently much taller than George. I'm assuming Jim's mother, Jane Denby (1879-1903) was either a tall woman or had strong tall genes (I wish I could find a picture of her), while George's mother Minnie Nosler was quite short.

"Burbank 1919". I think this was a visit to George's uncle James Paul Hartley (1894-1969), at far left, who was in the ordnance department in the military.  Jim Denby Hartley at 16 was already taller than his uncle Paul.  Shorties Mary Jane (Tibbetts) Hartley, in the car, Minnie (Nosler) Hartley, middle, and my grandfather George and his sister Mary Esther are in front.

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Throwback Thursday: Henry Louis Gates Jr in Finding Your Roots, with John Legend and Wanda Sykes

This is one of my favorite episodes of the series "Finding Your Roots".  It reminds me of how little I really know about the past, and how important it is to keep learning and pushing to solve genealogical mysteries.



© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Throwback Thursday: Speedy, the 150+ Year Old Galapagos Tortoise, and Some Perspective on Time

Speedy, the San Diego Zoo's oldest animal (about 150 years old in 2011)

A few years ago, while visiting the San Diego Zoo's galapagos tortoise exhibit, I read on the placard that Speedy was over 150 years old.  I had heard about tortoises living a very long time before, but for the first time I realized that Speedy was alive when the American Civil War was raging.  People who were born in the late 18th and 19th centuries could have seen him.

All of those ancestors of mine who were alive in that time period, a small sample including Eli Matthews, Susan Hanon, Mary Henderson, and Jesse Webb (see below), a time that might as well have been 1,000 years ago in my perspective, their lives overlapped this creature's lifespan.

Speedy's contemporary, my 2rd great grandfather Jesse David Webb (1860-1935), courtesy of Olive Kennedy.

Speedy has outlived every single person who was born before and during the Civil War.  The oldest Civil War veteran, Albert Woolson, died in 1956, at a mere 109 years.

Albert Woolson, from Wikipedia

As of now only about 3 people are verified to have even been born in the 1899.  Everyone else was born in the 1900s and after.



© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.