As I am finishing up the decorating of the house today my mind is swirling as to what today's blog is going to be about. I'm also doing some dusting & cleaning and really need to sort through and start throwing away the enormous amounts of catalogs that clutter up my house. Remember when there was just 1 catalog at Christmas time...the almighty Sears & Roebuck Christmas Wish Book. You peddled your bicycle extra fast up the lane back to the house the day it arrived! The catalog in itself was somewhat of a toy at our house. Hours & hours were spent thumbing through the catalog, circling the items you wanted Santa Claus to bring to your house.Here are some of the gifts Santa so carefully wrapped and placed under our tree...
LUCKY LOCKET
I teeny bodied doll with a very large head that lived in a plastic locket that was worn around the neck. And for when you weren't wearing the locket you simply removed the chain and sat it on your dresser using the easel on the backside of the lid. I had a collection of these and hands down was my favorite doll ever! Any Lucky Locket Lovers out there???BARBIE DOLLS
It seemed that a new Barbie was always in need each year. Did I ever mention that I spent most of my childhood pretending? Yep, pretended I was a beautician. My Barbies always sported a fresh, short haircut!
VELVET
This doll was just the ticket for me, no need to get the scissors out to play beautician....nope just turn the wheel on her back to make Velvets hair long or short. Velvet also had a sister or maybe it was a cousin named Crissy that had brown hair....can anyone please clarify what the relationship of Velvet to Crissy was?Velvet had her very own carrying case and a spot for hanging her clothes. Older sister Linda kept me well stocked with hand made clothing for Velvet.
THE SPIROGRAPH
THE SPIROGRAPH
While this game seemed to look pretty cool in the catalog, I must say I never really mastered the art of Spirographing....I'd try my hardest to keep the little teeth lined up just so, & then there was the challenge of keeping track of the small little tacks so they wouldn't end up in dad's feet!DANCERINA
Dancerina was a pretty amazing doll Santa brought one year. While my Dancerina had blond hair, if my memory serves me correctly, she did wear the same pink tu tu. She wore this magical crown on top of her head and with just the pull of the crown would make her do various ballerina moves. This is another one of those toys that I was always in fear of dad taking apart to "see how that thing works". FLATSY DOLLS
Ahh yes, the Flatsy doll...another favorite gift from old Santa. These dolls as you might imagine were flat and you could bend their bodies in all strange sorts of poses! They came in a cute little picture frame which was their "home". I had a small collection of these as well....the pretend beautician in me loved those big bushy pony tails!OUIJA BOARD
While this isn't a game we actually owned at our house, it was circled in the wish book a time or two. Mom must have told Santa we didn't need this game...I'm sure she had good reasons for that! Our neighbors had this game though and on rare, very rare occasions my older sisters and the neighbor girls would let me play this game with them....I just remember how scared this game made me!
CREEPY CRAWLERS
There was also another version to this...more fitting for girls. I cannot for the life of me remember the name of it. The shapes were flowers & lady bugs...better suited for girls. The lady bug was my favorite design. The bug fit perfectly on the end of a paper clip or on the tops of pencils. The neighbor girls and I sold these on the back of the school bus to & from school to any interested buyers.FURRY HATS
On occasion Santa did bring clothing if we were in need of hats, mittens, pj's or boots.
I don't know if these hats had a name but they were very cool! I have vivid memories of taking the strings and whipping the poms around and around. While my hat was white it did look just like the black one above. If anyone knows if these hats had a name, please let us know!
FASHION BOOTS
Dear Santa brought these one year to my sheer excitement, although mine were black. Mine didn't seem to fit my skinny legs as nicely as the model above. Mine were usually down around my ankles by the end of the school day...very attractive!
I will leave you on this note as I need to take on my mountains of catalogs & finish my holiday decorating.
Please leave a comment as to what your favorite Christmas toy was. All names who comment will go into a drawing for a free $50.00 dollar shopping spree on http://www.countrystitchesonline.com/
Drawing winner will be announced on Sunday December 20th.
Until tomorrow,
brenda
boy - do you bring back the memories of childhood with all these toys! my favorite christmas doll w/Chrissy (must have been related to Velvet.) i also received a case for her. it's funny, Chrissy was the one doll my mom saved for me all these years....except...Chrissy has no clothes!! had to laugh at that!
ReplyDeleteThe Sears Wishbook and the J.C. Penny Toy Catalog! Both were the preferred reading materials in the months before Christmas at our house. Do you remember Chatty Cathy? That was my favorite doll, Barbie was a close second. And of course the bicycle, hot pink with a white banana seat and high rise handle bars!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness!! All those toys. I love a spirograph. My brother had a creepy crawler maker. I can almost smell them being made. Had the boots too. Never was really into dolls. Too much of a tom boy I guess. My favorite thing I got at Christmas was not really a toy. It was a record player. I remember my first record was Diana Ross and the Supremes.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the stroll down memory lane Brenda!!! The Sears wishbook was a hugely popular item in our home too! Dog earing pages, circling items... listening to my brother tell me that what I wished for was "stupid". LOL! That is what big brothers do, right? LOL! I remember the spirograph, the dancerina and the girly version of the creepy crawlies. Sorry, can't remember the name... I've got say though, that my favorite gift that I always looked forward to (that I got every year) was a coloring book and a brand new pack of 64 Crayola Crayons!!!! Ahhhhhh... I can smell them now.... Smiles, Sharon
ReplyDeletelove it
ReplyDeletei forgot about a doll i had like
velvet
her hair was brown
but her name was mia
but favorite toy
the game "operation"
and always something from the avon catalog that the "avon lady" would bring to the house
my mom would let me peruse
i loved a white bunny filled with powder it had a pink powder puff tail
I can relate to most of those toys you showed. I think the most favorite thing I received was my suntan Barbie along with Skipper and suntan Ken ... and the best thing is I still actually have them all along with their clothes ... spent a lot of great hours playing with them and putting their house together along with sending them camping in the camper. These dolls are great reminders of my childhood. My daughter played with them for a while, but never really got into playing with them like I did. Thanks for a wonderful memory at Christmas... it reminded of the anticipation of Christmas morning and what my daughter is experiencing as it nears. Karen in CA
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, what lovely memories you brought back when I read your post. I had a lucky locket doll, black boots,a green furry hat with pompoms on the strings - did I really enjoy having a lawn on my head? And my favourite was the spirograph, I spent hours and hours playing with that. Thanks for the memories!
ReplyDeleteRosie
Oh what memories! I remember my grandma always gave me the Sears Wishbook to mark my favorites ~ oh the little dogears on soo many pages! I think my favorite present ever was my green john deere pedal tractor ~ YUP I'm a tomgirl! What fun I had ~ still have it, too, though I can't quite fit on it! LoL
ReplyDeleteThanks for the memories!
Happy Holidays,
lisa
Oh, I do remember those hats with the pom-poms!!!! Reflecting, I think my favorite gift was a bride doll, my aunt had made me clothes to go with her....I still have the doll and most of the clothes and treasure her. What memories!!
ReplyDeleteChristine
Wow, what great fun seeing all those toys. I was never a really girlie girl so I didn't have many dolls. My favourite christmas gift was an electric typewriter which I got when I was 10. I must have gone through a small forest's worth of paper on that. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI think my favourite toy would be the Silver Cross doll's pram. I loved my doll's pram(s) and as such I always tried to put myself into them and as a result usually got stuck and had to have my dad bring the saw out to release me!! Hence I had a few of these prams. They always came with a new doll to love too. I always preferred the dolls to teds. Great read. xx
ReplyDeleteI remember going through the Christmas catalog and circling what I wanted along with my brothers who did the same. It was hard to just pick a few things! My favorite gift from childhood had to be my play kitchen. It was made from metal (not plastic) and was in three separate pieces- a sink, a stove, and refrigerator. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteJulie
I remember going through the Christmas catalog circling the things I would want. It was a difficult thing to do! My favorite childhood Christmas gift was a play kitchen. I spent many hours playing with this. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteJulie
My favorite has to be a set of Lincoln Logs. We played with them every day....bet I could still build a fort with my eyes closed!!!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite toy would be a set of Lincoln Logs. We would play with those things every single day! I'll bet I could still build a fort today and even with my eyes closed, lol!
ReplyDeleteI had a balllerina doll with a beautiful blue dress that I treasured for many years. She was perfect in my eyes. I don't know what happened to her but I can picture her as if it were yesterday. Merry Christmas Brenda. It was nice to think about her again.
ReplyDeleteMary
Brenda; What memories you stirred. I remember receiving those Lucky Locket dolls. I had forgotten all about those until I saw your post. Barbie was a big part of my Christmas wish list for years. I received the Barbie goes to College Dorm room and sweet shop one year. Merry Christmas! Melody
ReplyDeleteDoes this ever bring back memories, choosing toys from the Sears Wish Book. My favorite gift was a Barbie Dream House, made of cardboard, furnished with cardboard chairs and bed. I kept it and my daughter who is now 26 played with it with her Barbies when she was little.
ReplyDeleteI also made my Christmas list from the Sears Wish Book. My very favorite Christmas gift was a Barbie Dream House. Made from cardboard, it had cardboard furniture- ultra modern in 60's style. My daughter who is now 26 played with it with her Barbies years later.
ReplyDeleteI was very much into playing with my babies and Barbies. But was thrilled the year I received a Big Wheel. We lived on a deadend road and I could ride to the "ditch" to play with my cousins. Thought I was big stuff on my clicketyclackety ride! Thanks for bringing back that memory.
ReplyDeleteOMGosh! I had everything on this post except, I had a Crissy doll, because I had brown hair! Velvet was her cousin and there was a Mia, Brandi, Dina, Kerry, Tressy, Cinnamon, Cricket and Tara! What a wonderful trip down memory lane....loved it! Merry Christmas! ~Beth~
ReplyDeleteMy favorite toy EVER was my pink Easy Bake Oven! My mom said she didn't think I would ever quit feeding her my little flat cakes with the pure sugar frosting! What a great time I had! Being from a rather poor family, it was a really great surprise from Santa!
ReplyDeleteForgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. Instead, forgiving what we cannot forget creates a new way to remember. We change the memory of our past into a hope for our future. See the link below for more info.
ReplyDelete#memory
www.matreyastudios.com
Oh my! The white boots! The exact same shape but mine were a little better fitting and the leg part was all small wrinkles! I was about 16 or 17 I think. I bought them with my Saturday job pay. But only wore them at the weekend as in the U.K. we had a very strict school uniform and I would have been shot at dawn if I’d arrived wearing them! In winter it was black leather shoes, black Wellington boots (rubber and freezing) and nothing else! Perhaps I should rephrase that 😂
ReplyDeleteThanks for the memory. My husband will be particularly pleased to see the photo as he wasn’t around when I wore these with my very short lilac hot pants with a white blouse! 😉