Although I received many Christmas presents over the years I lived at home with my parents, I remember very few. Of course, many of the Christmas presents I received were clothes and I’m not surprised I don’t remember those. Some of the gifts I received that still stand out in my mind were:
– Matty Mattell talking doll. That same year, my older sister received the Sister Belle talking doll, and my younger sister received the Casper the Friendly Ghost talking doll.
– Go for Broke board game. My older sister received the Clue? board game the same year.
– Plush monkey, not one of my favorite toys, and a bit worse for the wear, but I still have this one.
– Mr. Ed talking hand puppet, who said phrases such as “The phone is ringing, shall I answer?”, “My shoes are good luck”, “Just call me Mr. Ed”, “My girl friend has a pony tail”, “Isn’t it silly talking to a horse?”, “I’m a horse, of course… ‘whinny'”, “I’ll be the horse, you be the buggy”, “Who has a horse face?…’snort'”, “Come on let’s talk”, and “Oh…horse feathers” . Click on the link to hear the phrases. I still have this puppet. The same year, my older sister received a Woody Woodpecker talking hand puppet and my younger sister received a Bozo the Clown talking doll.
– Erector Powermatic Motor Set and, yes, I did build the robot shown on the cover. The battery operated electric motor that came with the set allowed the robot to move under its own power.
– A highway interchange and bridge construction set. I loved this toy and spent hours and hours building highway interchanges and bridges, taking them apart, and building new ones.
As children, my sisters and IÂ didn’t often give Christmas presents to others. We usually didn’t have any money to buy gifts. One Christmas, however, my younger sister and I decided to buy my mother new towels. Between the two of us, we still didn’t have enough money to buy the towels, but a kind sales clerk adjusted the price down to the amount we did have. As we turned in our cash to pay for the towels, the clerk remarked that the coins were warm. I suppose they must have been . My sister and I had clutched the coins in our tight little fists all day until we paid for the towels.
Written for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories – Day 10 .
Copyright © 2007 by Stephen J. Danko
What a sweet thing for that sales clerk to do! I’ll bet Santa put her on the “Nice” list that year!
MY WHAT butch xmas gifts! but then of course, one of the only gifts I remember is my weight set, which got me started on my workouts…
My brother got an erector set one year and I thought it was the coolest thing ever, but being a girl I was never allowed to play with it.
Miriam, I couldn’t believe it when the clerk reduced the price and, yes, I’ll bet she did get on Santa’s “nice” list!
Apple, That’s so unfair! My sister and I both played with the Erector Set. We used it to make a dollhouse for her Troll dolls. It was pretty cool, if I do say so myself. We even used the Erector set to make a working elevator for the dollhouse!
Steve
I really wish I had your memory for detail. I don’t remember anything from my youth that doesn’t have a picture to remind me.