There have been countless stories, posts, memes and lists about the everyday items from our childhood that seem old and obsolete today … and completely foreign to our kids.
You know, pay phones. Cassette tapes. Typewriters. Tape recorders. Rotary phones.
But I recently discovered a new item to add to that list: wallet-size photos.
I don’t know about you, but I LOVED collecting and handing out wallet-sized senior photos and prom pics. For the longest time, I wouldn’t even consider buying a wallet without one of those plastic photo holder/insert things so I could show off my collection of perms and bad hair.
In fact, even when my kids were little, I always got wallets made of their Picture People portraits so I was sure to have something at the ready should a coworker or acquaintance ask to see a photo of my kids.
And then came the smartphone and the ability to not only take a photo (and share it with the world) at a moment’s notice, but also to access an electronic album of a thousand snapshots (if you’re like me and never delete anything) at the drop of a hat.
I stumbled across my wallet-size collection the other day as I was clearing out an embarrassing amount of Target and LOFT receipts from my wallet. Mimi immediately made a play for them, shrieking with delight as she recognized herself, her brother and a cousin as newborns, infants, and chubby toddlers.
She called them her “cards,” stored them for safekeeping in her Minnie Mouse lunchbox and ran downstairs to show her brother, where they proceeded to “trade” their “cards.”
Quite honestly, I had forgotten that I had those photos in my wallet, shoved to the depths of some back pocket where they’ve been for at least two years, based on the age of Mimi’s last photo … and when I finally gave in and got an iPhone.
And it struck me that part of the novelty of these photos was that my kids rarely see printed photographs anymore. Nearly every photo they see is on a screen, which is kind of sad, when you think about it. I used to love getting my pictures printed, waiting anxiously for the three or four days to pass before I could pick them up at the drugstore and then place them in my photo album.
Now my kids look at wallet-size photos like they are fossils. In fact, when I explained to Buddy what they were, he made a face and said, “But you have a phone!”
So while part of me was inclined to grab those pictures back (because, c’mon, they are pretty darn cute), I decided to let the kiddos keep their loot. It’s true that I never look at them, and if they’ll entertain my kids for awhile, that’s money well spent.
And because how else am I going to hear this conversation? “Mimi, I’ll trade you two of me for one of you!”
Do you still keep wallet-size photos in your wallet or purse?