Favorite Christmas present as a child

[Marilyn Michetti]

O.K., I'm an old lady. Me 'n grampa talk alot about the "good old days". A post this past week, asking "What do you want for Christmas" started me wondering.........

What was your favorite present as a child, (or whenever). Mine was my first pair of patent leather shoes one Christmas. My mother always got us brown oxfords because we could wear them everywhere. Shee's, I hated those shoes. One year, my sister and I got those dressy shoes we always wanted, and my aunt made us identical "pretty" dresses. We felt like princesses.

Anyone else remember a Christmas present that was really special? :gift:

[Stan]

It would be hard to beat my first real stereo system- a Magnavox "portable" of 1964- when I was 11. My Mom was upset (as I recall she cried) when the first thing I cued up was Gene Simmons' Haunted House. However, I was soon playing "The Best of Floyd Cramer"... Last Date, On the Rebound, etc. :cloud9: I still love those recordings. :)

[PirateLover]

My parents gave me this huge doll house when I was 8. It had paneling and had to be put together. I noticed that the grass was upside down and on the second floor. To this my parents replied "Well, the elves are really busy and they can't make everything perfectly";)
I also remember getting NES and Super NES. The NES was more of my brothers... I couldn't even pronounce it. They have me on video saying "WOW we got a Inendo?" I was 4 or 5.

[Mousefever]

When I was four and my sister was six (1975), we came down the stairs Christmas morning to a new play kitchen! We were sooo excited! I remember that the toaster had white foam toast and the egg beater actually worked. We had so much fun with that kitchen for a few years.

I'm getting a wonderful Christmas present this year too, because my sister is coming to Denver for Christmas for the first time!

Amy


:dory:

[NJMommy3]

Hands down, my 1977 Superstar Barbie. She had this fuschia satin dress with a pink and silver boa and "diamond" earrings. I though she was the coolest thing in the world. Of course, my mom was not too happy when I exerted my fashion sense (at 5) and cut the straps of the slingback shoes to make mules. How could a five year old explain that the mules just looked better than slingbacks!:)

She disappeared over the years (the doll, not my mom!) but about ten years ago, I ran across one and had to have it. I still do, and my own girls love her too!

[tiaramom]

I Hear You On The Barbie Dolls...
I Was A True Babrie Fan Too.'
My Dreams Were Played Out Through Them. I Had A Great Christmas One Year With Barbie Too. I Had Gotten Dallas The Horse And Western Barbie. It Was So Cool. I Also Got All The Shoes, Dresses, Brushes, Doll Make Up, And Pool( Blow Up)
I Couuldnt Beleive Santa Knew What I Wanted- I Still Have This Stuff - In Moms Attic. My Favorites! I Can Still Remember The Hours And Years Of Play I Got Out Of These Dolls. Thanks Barbie!

[LibertyTreeGal]

I got a cheap rag doll when I was maybe 6 or 7 and I loved her to death (and I still have her). She was badly made and she comes apart so easy, but for whatever reason, I just loved her the best.

[MsMin]

One thing that I remember that we spent hours and hours was Creepy Crawlers. We burned our fingers but made bugs of every color. I remember when we got the "glow in the dark" goop and we thought we were so "space age".
One thing I never did get and always wanted when I was a kid was the game "mouse trap" I loved the commercials but my mom thought it was a dumb game- Santa took her advice too. :( I still want to play mousetrap ... maybe one day when I have grandkids.....:blush:

[Mickey052501]

Let's see, I loved my Holly Hobby House, Lite Brite and my Easy Bake Oven. My DH said his favorite toy was Rock'em Sock'em Robots.

[jillluvsdisney]

Lite Bright. I would make a "fort" in my room with blankets to make it nice and dark, then I would sit inisde and play with my LIte Bright.

[RedSoxFan]

When I was in 8th grade, I got a light blue Schwinn 10 speed bike that I wanted. I loved that bike.

[SBETigg]

My favorite Santa delivery was a record player with stereo speakers and a microphone. My big sister and I thought we were so cool singing into that thing! We were convinced that we were going to be singing superstars one day. :blush:

We did get a Haunted Mansion game one year. I wish I knew what happened to that! You had to be the first one to get your doom buggy playing piece through the mansion. It was long before I went to a Disney park.

[TheDuckRocks]

My favorite Christmas gift ever was the year Santa brought me my Teri Lee doll. Bet most of you don't even know what they were. The best part was my Grammie got in touch with Santa and found out he was bringing her to me and she made me a whole bunch of the prettiest clothes for her. Grammie told my Daddy what was going on and he made a wardrobe to put all the clothes in.
A number of years later my pesky little sister thought my pretty doll needed a new hair-do. Really, really short. I still kept her with me for over 50 years and when we moved to this area I found a lady who repairs dolls and Teri Lee is now as pretty as the day Santa brought her to me. I also have many of the clothes and the wardrobe. Teri Lee now stands in my bedroom with my Mom's Dorothy doll that she received from Santa. I got the Dorothy doll last year after my mother passed away.
I see these things everyday and remember 3 people who loved me very much (well, I guess 4 if you count Santa).

[Aggie97]

My favorite gift was a huge Barbie doll house that my mom and dad made for me. The outside was painted a pale, creamy yellow with white trim and black shutters. It had an attic for storage. The living room and each bedroom had unique wallpaper and matching carpet in my favorite colors. The kitchen had a linoleum tile floor. My mom made different matching curtains for the windows in each room, and bedspreads and pillows for the beds. Each room was furnished.

I recognized some of the fabric from the curtains from my mom's sewing room and realized that the house was made by them, not Santa. But it was such a great gift that I was actually really happy to figure out that Santa was really mom and dad! I didn't say a word to them about it until just a few years ago.

Thanks for asking this question - what a wonderful memory! :)

[MissMaryPoppins]

When I was 2 I wanted Laurel and Hardy dolls for Christmas. My father is a huge fan of classic movies so by that age i knew Abbott and Costello, The Marx Brothers, and all those guys. My mother and my father's cousin called toy stores all over New Jersey and New York City looking for these dolls, of course no one had them. My parents had no idea what to do but they wanted those dolls under the tree on Christmas morning. So my mother asked my grandmother if she could make them and she had them done on Christmas Eve. I've seen the movies my father took that morning. I was sitting in a chair next to the tree and my mother put the dolls all wrapped up on my lap and told me this was a special present. When I opened them I went crazy. After I calmed down my mother told me that Santa Claus looked everywhere but couldn't find them so Mrs. Claus made them just for me. I found those dolls a few years and they looked like they were played with alot. Now they're packed away at my parents house.

Joy

[conorsmom2000]

Lite Brite and the Easy Bake Oven were definitely two of my favorites! I had the Peanuts papers for my lite brite and I just loved them!

My favorite gift, though, was from one of my Grandmothers - it was a Little Red Riding Hood doll. If you flipped her skirt upside down, there was a second doll, which was Grandma - if you flipped Grandma's hat (nightcap?) over, to cover her face, there was the big bad wolf - it was like 3 dolls in one! :D I wish I could remember what happened to that doll!

Oh, and Weebles! One year I got the Weebles Tree House and I was so excited! :blush:

[jrkcr]

I haven't thought of this in years, but I LOVED the Kenner Family tree house. I would take off the dog house top, turn it upside down and put it under the slide, and fill it with water...made my own splash mountain for the people! I am watching one on e-bay...but its selling for almost 200$$ now!! Maybe Santa will buy it for me?

I also freaked over Wonder Woman under-roos. :blush:

[mttafire]

Its so wierd but i dont remember any specific gift. I DO remember ALWAYS opening gifts on Christmas eve. Thats when we did it! Santa always came around 7pm. We then slept in Christmas morning..:blush:
Shawn

[Mousefever]

I haven't thought of this in years, but I LOVED the Kenner Family tree house. I would take off the dog house top, turn it upside down and put it under the slide, and fill it with water...made my own splash mountain for the people! I am watching one on e-bay...but its selling for almost 200$$ now!! Maybe Santa will buy it for me?

I also freaked over Wonder Woman under-roos. :blush:

That tree house was one of my very favorite toys! I loved that it had a little elevator!

Amy


:dory:

[jennbunn]

my cabbage patch kid. her name is corrine and i still have it after 23 years. going to buy my dn one for shristmas this year!!!

[PinkJJ]

The Christmas from long ago that stands out to me, when it comes to favorite presents is, the year I got my first bike...red with the banana seat. I remember seeing it first thing from down the hallway. I think I gasped and let out a squeal! Being the fifth child, I used my older siblings' bikes to learn to ride, and I was so very excited to finally have one of my own.

[disneydeb]

I got a Chatty Cathy doll when I was 6 years old.:thumbsup: Nice Thread;)

[disneydrmr]

I got a Chocolate candy making oven thingy (can't remember what it was called.. ) but you had this teeny tiny little 'pan' that you actually put over a teeny tiny little burner and it melted the chocolate.. you then poured that chocolate into molds and put them in the fridge to harden them up. Came with gold foil to wrap them in. I also remember the year I got a real live telescope! I got a LOT of use out of that as there was this REALLY good looking guy a few houses from mine.. and this made watching him in his yard washing his car a bit easier and less obvious than my riding my bike CONSTANTLY by his house! :D

[MNNHFLTX]

I will absolutely never forget getting my Easy Bake Oven. They had just started making them a year or so before and I was the first of my friends to get one! A very thrilling moment!

As a teenager, my favorite gift was a glass curio cabinet. I had inherited a collection of ceramic and metal horses from my grandmother and the curio cabinet was where they were displayed. To this day that cabinet sits in my dining room where I can enjoy looking at all the pretty horses.

[Mom to a Princess and a Prince]

My favorite Christmas was the year I got my first brand new bike - bright yellow with a banana seat and a fancy basket with giant plastic daisies. What more could a 6 year old want? But there is more - I also got a Skipper doll (Barbie's cousin, I believe) that came with a gymnastics apparatus of some sort. She could do flips and tricks that impressed me to no end. What a great thread - thanks for the memories!

[KarenP]

One of my favorite presents ever was my Give a Show Projector. My brother and I would play with it for hours.

[2Epcot]

I loved the first train set that I got when I was young, but my all time favorite toy was the Vertibird helicopter that I got one Christmas.

From the official description: The helicopter flies around a central base and is controlled by two levers on the control. The pilot is able to lift off, move forward and backward, hover, and land. The helicopter features a flight hook, which dangles below allowing the pilot to pick-up and drop-off items.

I would play with this for hours. In the last few years they re-released this toy, with a few changes, calling it Chopper Command, and then Chopper Patrol.

I remember a couple of years ago when I saw it in the store I was so excited I had to buy another one, even though I'm an adult and should be done with those kids of toys. I actually bought two of them ... I bought one for myself, and I bought one to donate to a charity toy drive. My hope was that a young boy with have as much fun as I did when he got one for Christmas.

[NJBelle]

My favorite gift was when I was 11. My parents had given my siblings and I our own Disney Calendars. In the month of April there was an envelope. Inside it was something that looked like gift card. Mine had a picture of Minnie Mouse on it. My siblings and I look at the cards for a while, then at the last week of April which is covered in Disney stickers. I hold up my 'gift card' and say very sarcastically, "So what's this? Tickets to Disney World?" My dad said, "Well... yeah!" I think I stared at him for ten minutes. (we hadn't been to WDW since I was 4) I got up, screamed, started crying, hugged my Mom, and then turned up the volume of the theme park music my Mom had given my dad.

That just really sticks out for me.