The McKee Photography Studio Christmas Card - 2024
For those that are coming to this for the first time, we started photographing custom scenes for our holiday cards about the time our first son was born. That was 25 years ago.
(You can catch up on all the cards and behind the scenes for these photo shoots and photo illustrations here.)
Every year was a different vibe in the studio. Their humor, and tolerance/patience, changed from year to year as they grew.
Now, the boys are grown and starting building their own lives. It has become much more of a challenge to get together and plan out these scenes.
However, as long as they are willing to play along, we’ll keep on creating them.
This year’s theme was based on the boys’ love of tinkering on cars and various shop machines (the older the kids, the bigger the toys!).
The original concept started with the boys working on a robot. That quickly morphed into fixing the Charlie in the Box from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys.
Click to see images bigger
The Misfit Toy Box Story Excerpt:
From the inside of the card:
“I know that screws fall out all the time. It’s an imperfect world, but it’s the one we got. And, we’re here. So, there’s that.”
“Gears, pass me the 10 mil left spring dongler, please,” said Rocketboy.
He was so deep into the mechanism at this point that only his feet were visible.
Gears sighed loudly, reaching in to hand Rocketboy the tool. “I just bought a five pack of those last week. Why are they always disappearing?”
Just then, the sound of a wrench slipping off of a nut echoed in the box.
It was quickly followed by the pinging sound of a small metal tool, as it bounced off of every interior part of the mechanism.
It ended, not with a clang, but with a splash.
“That’s why,” Rocketboy sighed. “I think Charlie has sprung a leak. And, I hope you have another 10 mil spring dongler out there.”
There was silence, except for the steady plip of liquid dripping into a growing pool on the floor of the machine. A faint groan and tick, tick, tick began above their heads.
“Gears?” Silence. “Gears?”
When Rocketboy backed himself out of the mechanism, he saw that Gears wasn’t looking into the box any more.
He was staring into the gloom near the ceiling, where Charlie’s giant head was ever so slowly leaning down toward them. It was silhouetted by the cool moon light coming through the high windows.
“RB?” Gears’ voice was quiet in the large room. “Which way did you turn the crank?”
Some Notes:
I think that, if they could see me now, my high school history teachers would marvel at the research I put into these stories. Or maybe not.
The excerpts for these cards tend to follow the themes that the “book covers” come from: Young Adult book series like “The Hardy Boys” and “Nancy Drew Mysteries”.
This one lead me down a rabbit hole of the history of the commercialization of gift giving.
The rise of the second industrial revolution meant that there was less time and resources for people to make gifts to give.
Cartoonist Thomas Nast (Shop till you drop) created, or at least illustrated, the idea of Santa’s North Pole Workshop. And, manufacturers, to leverage the nostalgia for homemade gifts, created “halfway items” so you could finish, or assemble them, yourself.
I think I learned most of my “salty” words from over hearing my father, on Christmas Eve, putting together my Schwinn bicycle.
A History of The McKee Photography Studio Christmas Cards
A long time ago, my Creative Muse and I were debating the merits of the Studio/Family Christmas/Holiday card. I loved the idea of doing something creative and interesting. And, she wanted to feature our latest creation: our first son.
Standard family portraits never really interested me. To my eye, they never fulfilled the magic feeling I get around this time of year.
Sure, it showed off the family to friends and relations. They are nice and let me know what Peter and Nancy looked like now. But, they all felt, somehow, generic to me.
And, on a long car ride, our First Studio Card was born. See all of the cards here
A few years later, the boys realized what was going on. And, they got involved!
Happy Holidays, Everyone!
Stay Safe and Healthy out there.
Related Holiday Card Stories from the Studio . . .
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