Your Favorite Present from the Past: Toys that Mean More (Giveaway!)
Growing up, there were a lot of kids in my family, and not a lot of money, so the holidays looked very different for me than they do for my kids. We usually had three presents under the tree for each child—at the most. The older you got, the fewer presents you’d find. We knew not to ask for much, or to expect much, either. And that was ok. Because odds were, the one thing we really wanted would be there.
For me, that included a Trapper Keeper one year…you know, the fancy folder/binder thing you could take to school to organize your different classwork. Another year, it was an alarm clock. Remember those? We used those way back before cell phones would wake us. I adored my giant Raggedy Ann that I got one holiday morning. And another time, it was the Lemon Twist. I was the happiest girl alive the Christmas that I found that under the tree. I spent hours Christmas morning trying to keep that thing spinning around my ankle, hoping to break a Guinness Book of World Records title (which probably hadn’t even been set yet).
I hadn’t thought about that Lemon Twist for years, until recently, when my daughter started talking about presents she’d like this year. Then, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I even found an old commercial for it on YouTube. Watch it here and take a walk down memory lane with me.
[hana-code-insert name=’lemon twist’ /]
If you keep watching that channel, you’ll see tons of other videos of old toys from our childhood.
They’re not nearly as fancy as today’s models, and certainly not high-tech, but boy, did they entertain us for hours!
I recently asked some friends about their favorite holiday gifts and found many had sentimental ties to their presents from the past. Some even still have the toys. Some are lucky enough to have passed them along to their own children.
Just read through their responses to my question on Facebook:
A pair of Rydell roller skates- Christmas 1980- my last gift from my mom before she passed away the next year. I skated all around the neighborhood and felt so cool taking my own pair to the roller rink. I still have them, treasure them- will never part from them. –Vivian
Jaguar XK120 FHC when I was five. And here it is, 65 years later. –Gary
I was 14…it was the early 80’s and I wore that thing out. –Amy
Honda Kick n’ Go when I was 10. Sitting in my garage today!!!! I can still ride it too! –Susan
My grandfather built me a doll house. I got it the year my grandmother had died in November. There were decorations she had crocheted in it. Macie now has it in her room. –Sandy
My Michael Jackson and Billy Joel Trapper Keeper folders and the matching cassette tapes.. it is the one gift I can remember opening.. so strange I was maybe 7 or 8 –Natalie
Those were just a few of the comments people left. All of their feedback made me realize this holiday season, I want to find something like that—something sentimental—to give my children. I want them to unwrap a gift that they will remember with fondness all of their lives, maybe even something they will be able to tell their children about someday.
Do you have a favorite holiday toy that you have never forgotten? Tell me about it in the comments below…and happy holidays!
Also, I’m part of a giveaway that could have you winning money to buy another toy…or some other favorite part of your holiday! Enter below, and check out the blog posts by some of my friends for favorite recipes and more for the holidays!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Rules: No purchase required
Open to residents of the US, Canada, & the United Kingdom, 18 + years of age
Giveaway ends December 7, 2015
Fill out the Rafflecopter form. Each task is an additional entry. (We will be checking all entries, so be honest. Any false entries will be void.)
