Born and raised in Beverly, Massachusetts, Kristin Elliott of Morristown, New Jersey, has published a memoir of her childhood in the late 1940s, 50s and early 60s, when the oceanfront town was blue collar and the United Shoe Machinery Company dominated its landscape.

In eleven essays, Elliott describes what it was like to be the youngest of four siblings in a family business named for her, Kristin Elliott Christmas Cards.  “My parents had no clue about running a greeting card company,” she said.  “But post-World War II, optimism ran high.”

YANKEE magazine profiled the Elliott family, noting that it was Christmas all year round in their house.  As the business grew, its distribution spread beyond New England and throughout the country. The author recalls filing invoices with prestigious accounts that included Jordan Marsh Department Store, the Women’s Exchange, and Daniel Low & Co., in greater Boston and Epstein’s Department Store, Jo-Do Gift Shop and The Bookshop, in Morristown.

Her coming-of-age stories include playing in the 300-year-old beech trees behind the 1694 Hale Farm, playing Kick the Can and Run, Sheep Run in the quiet side streets stretching down to Dane Street Beach and the Atlantic Ocean, along with obtaining her driver’s license during rush hour without need of either a left-hand turn parallel parking.

YOU ALL LOOK ALIKE deals with the lessons parents teach their children who, in turn, pass them along to the next generation.  With wit and whimsy, the essays reflect on what makes family special.

Elliott, a 1967 graduate of Wellesley College, is retired from Pfizer Corporation after a 40-year career that began at J. Walter Thompson Advertising agency; GAF Corporation; Fram Corporation; and Allied-Signal. She has written two previous books, Going with My Gut and A Day in the Life of Sneakers, the Munchkin Cat. She has lived in Morristown, New Jersey for 38 years.

$10; free for members of Historic Beverly and Card to Culture.

Pre-order the book by April 26 here.