Childhood Christmas Presents

sillyvixen

I was born in 1971 and my uncle who was away with the army managed to get his hands on a tiny tears doll through the n affi and had it sent to me as soon as he got thd news he gad a niece. In my early years when times were tough my grandparents would craft presents with that doll in mind, grandma made a lot of my clothes at the time and would use left over fabric and wool to create doll sized versions of the outfits she made and give me matching doll clothes for Christmas, she even asked for scraps of materials used to make a couple of bridesmades dresses from the other side of the family and recreated doll sized versions. One year I wanted a dolls pram and my grandfather created a Moses basket out of balsa wood and fablon and grandma kitted it out with a pillow quilt and crochet blanket - I did not have a pram but this was the envy of all my friends.
My dad would spend evening after evening in his shed reconditioning second had toys I remember an old bicycle with stabilizers that went from blue and rusty to pristine pink and white and a train set that was cleaned and oiled untill it ran perfectly .. and wrapped in a couple of nappy liner boxes (track in one and train and carriages in the other). We always had pens or crayons never colouring books as mum was a nurse and there was always a big stack of free paper from the old fashioned x Ray plates to drawer on.
As we got older we were more financially secure and got more commercial pressies I still feel there was more love put into the earlier gifts ... and that is why I always make christmas shortbread for stocking fillers for the family.

GreenBitterfly

My Muppet Babies tea set and Sylvanian Families Grocery Store.

Sayschezza

skogar wrote: »

Saychezza - Did you have any brothers or sisters and if so did you used to give each other presents and did you make them or buy them please?

Yes I have sisters but no we didn’t buy each other presents. Everything came from santa

kittie wrote: »

I was so happy with a cardboard doll and push out clothes made from paper with tabs that went over the shoulders,

Yes I remember I had one of those as well sometimes.

I remember skipping ropes, a jack in the box, wooden cubes with pictures on each side to make 6 different pictures, a xylophone and I remember when I was 10, I got some hm stilts

Yes to these too. But obviously not all the same year and some were for birthdays

I once received a toy typewriter - you had to turn a pointer to each letter and type it, turn the pointer to the next letter and type it - it wasn't high speed! It had a painted tin keyboard, pretend of course.

Mine was red I think.

skogar

Great reading all the memories. Especially those from earlier days. I'm surprised how many of the toys I remember. My cousin's had the garage with the ramp and I always fancied one of those. Found one last year with cars for £2.50 in a charity shop and I had to buy it for my nephew to play with. Obviously I have to help!

I had a Pelham puppet and I dread to think how much time was spent untangling it.

Great also hearing about the toys that were made / repainted / repaired and hearing how much they were valued becasue of the effort that had gone into making them.

Also good to hear about the toys lacking in H and S. I remember managing to catch my fingers in the alarmingly sharp toy grater I had when grating some bread. I'm convinced it was much sharper than my Mum's cheese grater!

LW - That tale of the coal did make me chuckle. :rotfl:

I had a little printing set too. it was great.

Sayschezza

And I nearly forgot the dolls tea sets. By the way I lived in a house with 3 adults and as I am 5 years older than my next sister down so was probably spoilt.

monnagran

When I was about 10, a girl in my class at school had a roll top pencil case. No one had ever seen the like before. It was a sensation. For a start it was plastic, a new material to us. Then it was a bright green and until then nothing was particularly bright. I was in love!
My own pencils were kept in a pencil case knitted by my nan, from an old unravelled jumper. My darling Dad had tried to make me a wooden pencil box when he returned from winning the war. It looked like a coffin and weighed approximately the same. Dad didn't do delicate.
If ever I had craved anything in my life, I craved a bright coloured, plastic, roll top pencil box.
It was no good craving something in those days, it was bound to be unobtainable, so it was very much a secret longing. All very character building, but not much fun.

I don't know how my wonderful mum managed it, but on Christmas morning I unwrapped a bright blue, roll top, plastic pencil box. The top was white and disappeared as you rolled it.
I have had many lovely presents since then, but that moment is enshrined in my memory. If memories have sparkle, glitter and gold stars then that one does it for me. For a while I was the envy of all my friends..
Never happened before or since, no wonder I treasure it.

VfM4meplse

Child of the early 70s here. Yesterday I attended a talk on Christmas in the trenches - WW1 accounts of how the festive season was spent on the front line. Things back home weren’t much easier, but people knew how to keep their spirits up. It made me long for days where consumerism was less of a pastime.

suki1964 wrote: »

Always an annual like Blue Peter

I remember regularly receiving The Guinness Book of Records (as a joint present with my sister from a well-meaning but clueless auntie) and being thoroughly bored by it.

Sayschezza wrote: »

as I am 5 years older than my next sister down so was probably spoilt.

The other side of the story is being the younger sibling, by just one year. Older sister got all the gifts du jour and was expected to share them with me. Did she heck? So I never got any use out of them - although I do regularly help myself to her daughter these days

I remember getting a metal slinky one birthday. It was fascinating until I managed to create a couple of large kinks in it, at which point I would have preferred to have thrown it away than let my sister - who had expressed a wish for it - anywhere near it. I remember my Dad sitting down with me and telling me that if I didn’t want it any more, my sister should be able to have it. My argument was that it was mine and I wanted it to go in the bin, and not to my sister.

Said sister has always been nasty towards me. Yesterday she broke the mould and called me to thank me, which was a massive but welcome surprise.

tessie_bear

i was a child in the 70 s and always remember us being skint it must have been very hard for my parents which i appreciate now im a mum....remember seeing a slinky and thinking it was cool i now buy them for my kids each year i thi k they are fed up with them xx

culpepper

Oh those sugar mice were orrible. All hard and who wants to eat a cute little mouse? Mine used to be kept 'safe' until they went a bit manky and got thrown away.
We found our presents one year (hunting while mum was out) .They were in a big drawer in the wardrobe and once we had pulled it out to investigate, we couldn't push it back in again so sadly our espionage was discovered. Don't remember the punishment but I know one of the presents was a football for my brother which was wrapped up but obvious as to the contents. I don't know whether mum was more angry that we had looked for them, or that we now knew Father Christmas probably didnt have a hand in their delivery.

skogar

Sayschezza - I'd forgotten about the tea sets too!

Monogran - Love your tale of the wonderous pencil box.

Culpepper - sugar mouse was a rare sight for us so very exciting but agreed that I wasn't really interested in actualy eating it either. :rotfl:Love your tale of finding the Christmas presents.

Tessie - I think it's only whern you're older you appreciate the effort that people make properly.

VfM - Perhaps your sister has turned over a new leaf.