Happy New Year celebrations from early childhood took place at my maternal great grandmother’s house. My grandmother lived with her mother and father in the Logan section of Philadelphia in a semi-detached house that if I stood in the third floor back room on a chair, I could see Willie Penn’s hat. Back then, no building in Philadelphia could be higher than the William Penn statue on top of City Hall in Center City. They had a box full of flashy and colorful party hats, noise makers and horns to ring in the New Year. Our family is small in relation to other families. My sister and I were the only children present as my cousins that were about our age lived in Harrisburg, PA area. Our Cousin Ken, Cousin Marion, Aunt Alice, Uncle Wilfred, our grandmother, great grandparents and our parents were there on New Year’s Eve to celebrate the new year. We would play what they referred to as parlour games why waiting for the feast at midnight. When it came close to midnight my sister and I would hand out the hats and noise makers. I think, we listened to the count down on the radio. The feast consisted of cold cuts which we made our own sandwiches on various types of breads. Dessert was dark chocolate and banana ice cream. The chocolate needed the banana as a compliment as it was extremely rich, and the banana was almost too sweet without the chocolate. Mixed together they were amazing. Great memories!