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Dear Suzanne,

We took a family Christmas photo this year (2010) all wearing the beanies my husband’s mother made. She is unable to get around or out to go shopping but we had the most fun wearing our hats on Christmas Eve and even wore them in our group photo. I know it’s not pj’s but they sure are cozy and all the more special to us since she made them. Grandma is pictured on the couch and I’m the middle-aged one on the couch surrounded by my kids, husband, sister-in-laws, brother-in-laws and all their kids and the new wave of kids. Alison

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Hi Suzanne!

Your pajama party is a great idea. I still wear pajamas, and I'm in my fifties. ;-) I have fond memories of opening Christmas presents in my pajamas, and my sister, brother and I holding our favorite gifts posing for a picture for our mother. And my grandmother used to make me a new pair of flannel pajamas every Christmas. I don't have any of my childhood pajamas photos now -- I bet my mother still has them though. Thanks for all you do for us, Lonnie

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Dear Suzanne, of the fun and heart-warming humor,

I knew I'd seen nightshirts and so, before sending my entry into the party register, I did a small search thru old familiar sights, and wonder if he has looked online at the Vermont Country Store web site? I found traditional nightshirts in both cotton and flannel, exactly like ones worn by my Uncle Eddie Mulcahy many years ago. I also found some at an Irish shop (must but via international mail) but recall seeing the product at my local Irish Imports shop in Fredericksburg, VA (Irish Eyes). The catalog for J. Peterman has had nightshirts for men in the past, but not currently.

Now, may I also submit my entry to join the Pajama party ( have a new set of jersey stripes that are soft as a cloud)? I think my 11 year old granddaughter will join me too. so can you also enter Morgan. please? I have never been able to locate any photos of me in pj's despite the fact I am family picture custodian, but I do recall a pair I had VERY strong mixed feelings about. It was 1957, I was recently married, and we lived in a house trailer that was 27 feet long (including the rear bumper and the hauling hitch), and just 8 feet wide. Heat came from a kerosine "furnace" but seldom did a lot for the floors and the bed and bathroom, which were toward the rear. Massacusetts in December can produce pretty cold floors! My just-before-Christmas present from my new husband was a pair of fireman-red, drop-seat, footed pjs that were warm as toast when out of bed, but just impossible to sleep in. I have always wondered about the thoughts behind the purchase, but I am smiling even now as I recall the days. Many thanks for prodding my pj memories! Diana

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Hi, Suzanne.

My favorite pj's are not from my childhood but go back almost 18 years old when my first child, Jennifer was a toddler. I had a nightshirt that Jennifer loved me to wear when I rocked her to sleep at night. This nightshirt had silky padded buttons that Jennifer loved to rub while she fell asleep. I can still feel her chubby little fingers on those silky buttons like it was was just yesterday. I still have that nightshirt although it is to worn to wear. However, sometimes, when I am feeling sad about the poor decisions she has made as a teenager and continues to make as a young adult, I grab that nightgown and fill myself up with the wonderful memories of her as a toddler, rubbing those silky buttons as she fell asleep. Kathleen

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My sister and I were angels in the grade school Christmas program in the 60's. My mother made white flannel nightgowns for our costumes which in turn became our new winter night wear! The gowns with silver garland halos completed our "angelic" look. Ruth

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Dear Suzanne,

My pj memories involve flannel nightgowns that my mother used to make for my sister and me. Our heat came from a coal furnace and the house got quite cool at night. On winter mornings, I would hear my father get up, go to the basement and stoke the furnace. Soon the heat would come upstairs. Into the bathroom I would run to stand over the floor register, hot air billowing up my nightgown, warming my legs and soon my whole body. If we had a cough, my mom would heat a piece of flannel on this register, put Mentholatum on our chests, and then the warm flannel. Off to bed to breathe the vapors! It makes me warm and cozy just to think if it.

Thanks for the opportunity to share memories. I enjoy reading other readers’ memories as well as your wonderful column. Kristin
 

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