The Blue Dress

My family has a tradition that we refer to as “The Blue Dress”. It started in 1959 when my grandparents dressed my mother (the oldest of three girls) in a little white and blue dress and had her picture taken. Here is the history according to my grandparents:

It all began when Grandma Bale Davis sent us a present for Barbara Jo when she was first born on June 4, 1959. We were living in Kaiserslautern, Germany at that time. Tom was a Lieutenant in the Army Finance Corp and was in the middle of a three year term of duty in Germany. We had fallen in love with Germany—especially the Bavarian Alps in southeastern Germany, south of Munich. The architecture, the food, the people, the oomph-pa bands and the Bavarian dress. The present of the blue dress from Grandma Bale Davis so fit in with the Bavarian style that we thought it would be cute if we had Bobbi’s picture taken in it. Bobbi at that time was six months old. We went to a photo studio and the photographer said that they had just gotten in some new film that took pictures in color, and asked if we would like to try it with the Blue Dress. And so we did. It was a new process and although the pictures, when initially taken, turned out very good and the colors were great, they didn’t last too long and faded terribly. But that was the beginning of what has turned out to be a 50 year plus tradition.

My mother and her two sisters had their photos taken in the blue dress. And, somehow, the Blue Dress survived, and was still around when the first grandchild was born (me) and so the tradition continued with a new generation. I am the oldest of seven granddaughters (no grandsons in my generation) and all of us have had our picture taken in the Blue Dress.

Here is my mom’s photo:

Here’s my picture:

Here are my sisters, Stacy and Dana:

When we found out my first pregnancy was a girl (Adelaide), I was delighted to inherit the dress and initiate her into this wonderful, multi-generational sisterhood.

Here is Adelaide in the Blue Dress, age 8 months:

The ages in our family Blue Dress photos range from six months to one year, but my mom told me that “the dress should fit when they can sit up on their own”. So that was the milestone I waited for with each of my girls.

Since Cadence has recently mastered this skill, it was her turn to join the ranks of the women before her, and donne this little piece of family history.

She wore it so well!

Cadence, 8 months: