Memorable Holiday Gifts from When You Were a Kid

fureverywhere

fureverywhere

beloved friend who will always be with us in spiri
Location
Northern NJ, USA
I remember a doll my Mum called Creepy Weepy. She was one of the first of the mechanical dolls and she was supposed to crawl. There was a power pack with wires coming out of her PJ's. Now she would probably be wireless and controlled by a child's smart phone. But I loved her. Oh and Beautiful Chrissy and her sister Velvet, their hair grew. Or you could push the button and their tresses would suck back in their heads.

The only one I never got was Malibu Barbie. I can't complain I had everything else. Oh and Snippy Scissors, long before toy safety standards. They were electric scissors. You'd shock yourself plugging them in the wall and if your hands were the least bit damp the scissors would buzz you too, what fun!

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Memorable gift, but not in a good way. I was given a jack in the box by my parents, and it scared the heck out of me when it popped open, scared of clowns in general. I didn't like dolls either...I know, weird kid. :p

Memorable in a good way was a little battery operated white puppy dog, who barked and flipped over when you pushed the button. Didn't have too many battery toys back then, my mother didn't want the expense of replacing batteries. Got a Slinky one year, and spent a lot of time at the staircase in our apartment building playing with it, my friends loved it too. I liked my Silly Putty present too, copied lots of comics from the Sunday papers with it. Ahhh, the simple joys of life. :sentimental:
 

10 years old, got this set for Christmas! My entry into working with things electrical was thanks to Lionel. Soon, I had the "automatic" switches, moving accessory structures, log loader, etc. Each new item I asked for required waiting for either my birthday or Christmas. The process took a couple of years, until my interests turned more towards Chemistry, and you know where that led to.......imp

EDIT: So, the image will not paste. And it looked so neat! I'll try something else.

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Tea-set, favorite childhood gift memory of all times. Memorable moments were of my brother's holiday gifts such as his trains, plains and automobiles. :D I loved my dolls, but, I wanted to play with my brothers remote control items just as much and would do so anytime he allowed or even if he wasn't around. But then, I was fascinated by phone and elevator buttons well into later years, so. :) That tea-set though, will always be the fondest little girl gift memory even if I'm starting to forget most of the details of the event I just know it was a wonderful experience and others in the family helping me play tea-time with it be it my mom and siblings on that Christmas day. Just gives me a warm feeling when I think of tea-set and Christmas.
 
Pappy said:
Same here, Bob. Red Ryder model with a metal target that dinged when you hit the center. Only trouble is, the bb's would fly back and hit you.
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The target I had was designed with a backplate which was sloped at a 45 degree angle, so when you shot at the moving targets, the bbs would ricochet into the trap. The target had paper "ducks" attached to clips that rotated across the front of the target, plus spinning targets further back. Spent hours shooting that thing. Of course I also got cocky and put one through the cellar window. My dad threatened to cut it up with a hacksaw if it ever happened again.
 
I liked my Silly Putty present too, copied lots of comics from the Sunday papers with it. Ahhh, the simple joys of life. :sentimental:
There was always Silly Putty in my stocking. Like you say, not electronic and no directions required...just copying the funnies and having a blast. Only bad memory of Silly Putty was one year when I used a paring knife to open the egg. Forty years later I still have the scar on my thumb oooooch
 
I got two bikes for the same Xmas once when I was ten-ish.

One from my mom and step dad and another from my real dad and step mom......so it didn't matter which house I was staying at I had a set of wheels to ride.
 
I wanted a "fashion doll" very badly for Christmas (this was years before Barbie but fashion dolls were around).

Back story: My parents didn't have a lot of money but my mother could squeeze a nickel until the buffalo's nose bled. She had saved a decent amount of money to give us a really good Christmas and my parents went out one night to do all their Christmas shopping. During their very last stop, someone broke open the back door of the station wagon and stole all the presents. Every one, including an exquisite Madame Alexander baby doll that my mother had bought for me as she wanted me to have one last baby doll.

They pulled themselves back together and set out again to try to buy some presents with what little money they had left. One of the things they bought was a cheap fashion doll for me. I got up Christmas morning and there was that fashion doll under the tree. I was the happiest girl on earth. My mother had also wrapped up some fabric scraps, needles and threads and a promise to help me make clothes for the doll. I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

I didn't hear about the stolen presents until several years later. I can't imagine the horror and sorrow my parents felt to see all those presents gone. Nowdays, we would just rant and rave and then go out and charge some more presents. People back then didn't have that option.....you either had the money or you didn't.

I remember that year but I have no recollection of feeling deprived because there weren't as many presents as usual. I had that doll.....life was good....I had that doll.
 
Nice story Jujube, I know what you mean about money limitations back in those days, my family was the same way. Your parents must have been very upset, but they made the best of a bad situation, happy that little doll made you feel so good, that must have helped them feel better about everything too. Back then we had just a few presents, nothing fancy. I've seen kids nowadays with so many presents, they just rip off the paper and say 'next', none of the gifts seem to be cherished like in the olden days.
 
Our family didn't have much money either but my mom did her best to find gifts for us. When I was about 13 my sister and me both wanted what was in very much in style then - shaggy sweaters. We were thrilled when we both opened our gifts at xmas and found those beloved shaggy cardigans. It was a tradition in our family to open our gifts on xmas eve, after a big dinner with the family and then midnight mass.
 
my teal blue (maybe it was baby blue I don't know back then what you would have called it) easy bake oven. Oh how my brother and I loved to bake little goodies with that thing :)
Cakes baked by a light bulb, brilliant :)

The fun of mixing up the little batter and pouring it into the little tin pans, then sliding it into the oven with that pan pusher tool until it was positioned perfectly under the light bulb and then waiting until it was cooked.

Happy times
 
I still have two miniature cake pans and a tiny swirly bottomed muffin pan that were my mother's. They go in a real oven, but I have used the toaster oven. Best present ever was Midori,a hand painted Japanese doll with real hair, wearing a red silk

kimono, given to me one Xmas by the aunt who spoke Japanese. I am still waiting/pining for a wooden doll house, crafted in the Queen Anne painted lady style.
 
Shalimar said:
I still have two miniature cake pans and a tiny swirly bottomed muffin pan that were my mother's. They go in a real oven, but I have used the toaster oven. Best present ever was Midori,a hand painted Japanese doll with real hair, wearing a red silk

kimono, given to me one Xmas by the aunt who spoke Japanese. I am still waiting/pining for a wooden doll house, crafted in the Queen Anne painted lady style.
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did she come with some wigs? Oh my I have forgot about my Japanese doll. I think she is wooden, and wore a red kimono, and laid in the middle of the box. on either side she had 6 compartments with 6 different black wigs.
 
In 1943 deep in the throes of WW2 my folks did the best they could for my brother and I. All of our toys were the heavy cardboard put together type. We had little army tanks, bazookas and other things a young kid immersed in a war we didn't really understand could want. It probably was very inexpensive for my folks but we loved them and our gifts. Kids then didn't expect much but appreciated every little gift.
 
One Christmas that I always remember even though I was only 5yrs old. My Grandmom passed away on Dec.2nd. Of course my Mother was devastated and didn't want to celebrate Christmas. We didn't have any decorations or Christmas tree.My Mother even told us Santa wouldn't be coming that year. My Dad got very upset because I was 5 and my sister was 7. So He went out and bought both of us Sassy Suzie dolls., and he bought them in the living room under the nativity set he had put up.That Christmas was over 60yrs ago and my sister and I still have our dolls. 20 yrs ago when my Dad passed away I understood why my Mom didn't want to decorate when her Mom passed. I didn't want my children to go without the joy of Christmas,so I decorated and put my doll under the tree and I do that now every year.
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