DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum What was your most memorable Christmas gift as a kid

I thought St. Nick's Day was December 6th. It's that Catholic upbringing rearing its head here. But I haven't gone to church in a number of years, so I could be wrong about my dates. The 6th just sticks in my mind for some reason

My first Christmas with my wife, when she asked me what I wanted for Christmas that year I gave her a few ideas and ended with, "... and of course I want socks and underwear." Well come Christmas morning, there were no socks and underwear... I was miserable. So I had to explain to her that my mom, may she rest in peace, had ALWAYS gotten us one pack of socks and one pack of underwear for Christmas.... it was something special in an odd way to me, and it was a tradition that I wanted to continue....

Now that my son is 10, it's fun to watch him do exactly what I did when I was 10, search through his gifts on Christmas morning and pull out the two unboxed but wrapped things and hold them and squeeze them and say, "Ok, these are the socks... and these are the underwear."

Your right Babe. They put the stockings out on the 5th to be opened on the 6th. I guess I worded it wrong. It wasn't so much the date that I'd never heard of. It was the kids receiving their stockings.

Yes, we always do the stockings first, and to this day I still get one, the best is the stocking I get at my grandparents, its always filled with batteries, extension cords, lightbulbs, the most random things you can think of.

Here's some info on where St. Nick's Day started...

linky-dink

I had to read it to remember why the stockings were put out etc...St. Nicholas used to fill the boots of children with gifts.

now...that's hilarious.

however...there's plenty of times I'm searching for, and cant find, batteries, lightbulbs, extension cords etc.

Holly Carp...I gave those as gifts......I'm old....

Mine was a Electric Football game, Browns V.S. Oilers, <img src="/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

Well that explains a lot. I just thought it was another stupid Wisconsin thing. (like the Bubbler. For those of you that don't know that's what they call a drinking fountain in Wisconsin)

Ya way to much Info..Ralph, ya could have just posted pictures and saved us some time.... <img src="/images/graemlins/rolleyes_devil.gif" alt="" />

My parents would give my sister and I the same number of gifts, well this one x-mas (I think I was 5 years old) my parents noticed that I had one less gift than my sister......They forgot to put one of my presents under the tree. So they said to me "lets go check outside, maybe it fell out of Santa's sleigh. We checked out back, behind the garage...and sure enough there was my gift. My dad ran outside and placed it behind the garage.

My mom did the same thing. Actually last year she didn't and I was suprised. I never had to buy them for myself. One pack of socks, one pack of boxers and she would buy me a pair o slippers too, every year.

cant beat new slippers!

Not to a 10 year girl that is already self conscious of herself. Most embarrassing Christmas ever.

I once had a girlfriend sneak into my apartment while I was at work, I got home and she was lying under my Christmas tree with only two small red bows on......That was a great gift, but it's not really what ya guys were looking for....right.... <img src="/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

Stop dating ex-cons that know how to break into someones Apt! haha

Hey, free licence plates and she had some tricks with handcuffs, who wouldnt believe..... <img src="/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

And I didnt have to buy her a christmas gift for 3 to 5 years <img src="/images/graemlins/rofl.gif" alt="" />

When I was about 7 I got a Lionel electric train set with a big tunnel on 20 feet of track.

Over the next 7-8 years it expanded into multiple trains on maybe 250 feet of track....switchyards...the whole deal.

now, THAT'S a greeting card!

We do stocking after all the other gifts have been opened. Not sure why...just always have.

a Red Rider BB gun with the compass in the stock <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />...

oh wait, maybe that was Ralphie's favorite.

j/c I don't remember anything I got when I was a kid. Just last year though, I was obsessed with the ocean and beach, and my mom made me a little circle mirror for the wall....she hot glued hundreds of shells on the frame. I almost cried it looked so beautiful. Also, it was a lighted vanity mirror that belonged to my grandma for years and I always loved it. I've redecorate my living room since then, so it doesn't match anything anymore, but it's still hanging there by the door.... <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

j/c


Another memorable Christmas was the year my mom and grandma went shopping for the albums I had asked for. I got all the ones I really wanted but the best part of the story is where mom and grandma got the albums. I know alot of the folks from NE Ohio remember Quonset Hut was a good place to buy albums and was also a HEAD SHOP. Mom took my grandma with her to Quonset Hut and they were telling me all about these "beautiful vases" they saw there. I was laughing so hard I had tears streaming down my face while trying to explain to my dear mother and dear dear grandma that those weren't vases. I did ask my mom what the hell she was thinking taking poor innocent grandma to a head shop. She did say that they did get some pretty strange looks. Might have been even funnier if grandma had bought a "vase". <img src="/images/graemlins/naughtydevil.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/rofl.gif" alt="" />

Do you still have them? Some of the trains are worth big money now. I had a train set when I was a kid. I loved it and my Grandpa and I expanded it to a huge layout in his basement. It was HO scale though but he also had some Lionel O scale trains. He really like the old steam engine locomotives. I have them in my closet now and hope to set them up when we get a house.

I'm really gonna date myself with this one.

When I was 10, the hippest show on TV was this spy show called "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn) and Ilya Kuriakin (David McCallum) were the main characters, who took their orders from Mr. Waverly, the Chief.

My folks must have bought out the "local Spy Shop" that year... 'cause they dropped the entire set on me:

* finely detailed semi-automatic cap pistol. This bad boy was set up to shoot an entire roll of caps from a clip, and had extra space in the handgrip for a backup roll.
* snap-on stock, scope, long barrel & tripod, for all your sniping needs
* triangular I.D. badge
*secret communicator pen
* ... and this waycool attache' case with a cheap 110 camera inside, that would take covert pictures with a secret button. It could also fire the gun from inside the case. Wicked.

_____________________________________________________________

Turns out that my cousin, who lived down the block, got the exact same outfit.... plus a set of working walkie-talkies. Bad news. That summer, we were strapped, and ready to roll. Terrorized all the girls in the hood with our nefarious covert missions.

Damn fun- shock & awe attacks, and quick escapes on our getaway bikes.

Also owned a Johnny Seven O.M.A. (one man army)... a high-tech assault rifle with 7 different weapons, including a grenade launcher. Fired plastic bullets, and broke down for easy portability.

Kids today may have x-box, but that ain't squat compared to some of our coolazz toys from the '60's... toys that actually prompted kids to go outside, stop bothering their moms, and get some excercize and fresh air.

"closing channel D,"
Dawgya Klemmiakin

Three years ago we fished a kitten out of a gutter. Literally.

Everything else seemed like nonsense after that.


As a kid, in the 80's, I was obsessed with The Beatles (still am) - my parents bought me the box set of albums.

Beyond stoked. <img src="/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

As a 7 year old, they got a tent for me and my brother to share. The joy with which that gift was received was as if they'd purchased a waterfront villa today in Greece.

I think they were really surpised by the reaction to an after though of a gift.

I got a hotwheels race track one year.....boy the fun my older brothers had whipping my ass with peices of that track, sure make me wish I had a younger brother <img src="/images/graemlins/rolleyes_devil.gif" alt="" />

Oh, yeah... that flexible orange track with the banked corners. Loved the loops. Had this thing called the "Power House"... it was shaped like a garage, and fit over the track. as the cars went through the open bay, they'd be propelled out the other side by these spinning felt wheels. you could keep those cars running for hours, until the batteries started to die.

Oh yeah... my younger sister probably still has nightmares about those evil 2-ft long sections of track... hehehe

btw... here's the spy set for anyone who's interested...

[/quote]Do you still have them? [/quote]

No....gone many years ago. After I joined the Army I told my Dad to sell them if he could....Mom said he couldn't begin to do that and was determined I would sell them when I returned.

I sold the set up....tables and all for $750....it was a nice set....and that was big money in 70-71 no telling what it would fetch today. I am sure a few of the engines alone would bring hundreds of dollars....maybe a thousand...the oldest pieces were mid 50's stuff.

It had a log loader that someone told me now goes for a few hunderd bucks.


But at 24, I wanted a new Mustang ragtop to drive as I headed for the land of the Gator. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I remember my brothers had the spy set, that gun was cool as hell, and the hot wheels powerhouse....the things they could do with that and my face....Ouch!!!!! <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

Good topic.

When I was in third grade, I wanted electric football more than anything in the world. Leading up to that Christmas, I remember going to the local Children's Palace. Each time we went, my curiosity grew so much whenever we entered the game aisle and passed electric football. I never wanted anything so bad.
Believe me, I made my yearning for electric football obvious to both my parents. Sure enough, that christmas morning, I opened it up and ran around like a madman. I remember treating all of my other presents as if they were objects standing in the way of me and the electric football game. I couldn't wait until I was done unwrapping everything so I could play electric football.
The game wasn't as cool as I thought it would be, but, it was still really, really cool. My family, friends, and I, played it for months. It was great.

When I was in sixth grade, I was shocked when I recieved a "Power Glove" for the 8 bit Nintendo. I went crazy when I opened it. It was really cool looking, but hard to play with.

Ohh yeah the powerglove, that was a great thing. Well, I always thought Mike Tyson Punchout would be so cool with it, but it never was really hehe.

One year I got full sized figurines, of Warren Spann, Duke Snyder and Willie Mays. All were hand painted and about 9'' tall. My mother cleaned house one day when we were moving, and threw them away. Can you imagine the value of what these would be worth today?

When I was in sixth grade, I saw the movie "The Wizard" one of the characters, Lucas, made the Powerglove look like it was the greatest thing on Earth. As a result, I decided to shoot for the moon and ask for the Powerglove for Christmas. I believe it cost about 150.00 back in late 1989, so I didn't expect to get it. Needless to say, I got it, and went crazy after opening it. I tried numerous times to get good at using it, but, it never worked that well. I called the customer service line multiple times trying to get help with it. It never panned out.

Oh god noooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!! I got one of those, too, but learned to hate them as my mom found them very handy for disciplinary purposes. <img src="/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> I still hate those to this day!! BTW, my most memorable gift was the Tyco Electric football game. The teams I got with them?? Cleveland and Cincinnati.

Christmas 1969, my aunt and uncle had a package for, somewhat long and thin, when I opened it, it was a tall salt shaker box. I got really puzzled as to why my aunt and uncle would think I needed a large wooden salt shaker. I'm sure the look on my face was just as puzzled. My unlce then left the room and I opened the box to reveal four size D batteries. Even more puzzled now I asked my aunt, what they were for and in walks my uncle with a Hotwheels set!

I've received lots of great presents in my day but this by far made the most lasting impression. <img src="/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

Probably the most memorable gift for me was a white dwarf rabbit...it was just days after another pet had passed away and I was feeling pretty blue. Seeing this little bunny really lifted my spirits! He was a great little guy to have around!

Now I have to say the most fun I ever had was with my brothers' presents. One of them was always good for getting a new set of Lincoln Logs and/or a new package of those little green plastic army men. Since I was 'the little sister' they'd let me team up with one of my brothers and we'd set up a full-scale battle in the living room. We'd set up all the couch cushions and lay the afghans out over them so they'd be enormous 'hills', and then we'd build huge bunkers out of the Lincoln Logs and make catapults out of the long green 'roof' pieces. Obviously these were not the intended use of the Lincoln Logs, but it was great fun to fling those little tiny pieces accross the room and try to take out the other team's guys and bunker. Of course a drawback was that I was also made to go collect ammo from the middle of the room....at which point I would become a target myself!

That is what sisters are for. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

mine was prolly a nintendo 64 and super mario 64 o god i still play n64 and that game a lot

my 8th grade year, dad had been outa work and i knew we didn't have the money for christmas. i expected nothing at all actually and was really ok with the thought of it. christmas morning i woke up to find the new electric guitar and amp i had been wanting.
i cried like a baby..........

<img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Thats a cool story. Parents rule like that, they give up so much at times just to make their kids feel good. Makes me wanna hug my mom and just say thanks for the things I was too young to understand or appreciate.