xmas then and now

[hightara]

what was the best gift you ever had?

mine was Operation (only mum forgot to get the batteries and no-where was open then) so the anticipation of playing it lasted for days.

another was a bike.......... my uncle came into the backyard with it.....(it was second hand and all scrappy) but it was a jewel in my eyes.......... that image is forever etched in my mind.

[millielilac]

Probably my son born shortly before xmas ....it was just so special having a newborn baby in the home at xmas ...such a very special time .

[chickengrandma-2008]

My most memorable Christmas present was the first Christmas we were married.  I asked hubby for an eternity ring.  He wasn't too keen on the idea and when we went shopping for one he would only let me choose the cheapest one available.  Of course I was a bit upset, but chose the one I still have on my finger now, 46 years later.  On Christmas eve he got my mum and dad round on some pretext or other (which was really to get my dad help lift it) and he took me into another room and standing there was a brand new twin tub washing machine!  That might not sound very romantic but he knew I was washing everything, including sheets in the kitchen sink up to then. 

No wonder he had no money left for an expensive ring!!

[silvermalc]

Thats so lovely !!

[ilove2patch]

That is what memories are made of CG. Mine was my bike I had when I was about eleven. I learned to ride it & went for miles all around Egham & Thorpe which was all countryside back then. I loved that bike!

[ed_blackadder_1]

Mine was a bike too. It was 2nd hand but my dad repainted it blue and they bought a basket and put that on the front. I think I was about 7 or 8. I didnt care it wasn't new. It was painted just for me.

[ilove2patch]

My Uncle Sam had a bike shop & made the bikes for the PG Tips chimps.:)

[dairyview123]

All of our presents were home made by our parents when it was past our bedtime so we knew nothing about them. The christmas wrapping paper was saved each year and ironed flat to make it new looking.

One year my sister and I had a gift from an aunt and uncle all wrapped up posh in new paper, it was about 12" square and looked like a box.  Christmas morning about 2am we awoke and sneaked our 'new' presents out of our pillow case, didnt have chrismas sacks in those days! First of all we tried feeling the gift and guessing what was inside, we then carefully so we didnt tear the paper as we knew mum would need it for next year! undid the sticky tape and pulled out the prettiest box shape, white paper with tiny pink rosebuds on, chest of drawers with 3 drawers. The drawers had tiny tassles on as handles. In each drawer was a sewing item,tiny reels of coloured cotton, thimble,needles,pins,tape measure, buttons,needle threader & some cotton material. WOW we were so excited we wrapped them back up as if we hadnt opened them and went back to sleep. In the morning when we sat around opening our presents we had to pretend we didnt know what was in there!

CG love the washing machine one!.....xx

[fishpieface]

Wow, lovely stories.

I remember Christmas the year my sister had died in the January before.  Everything was changed round

so it wasn't like Christmasses before.  I had a charm bracelet with two charms on it, a St. Christopher and

a little car as I'd just started learning to drive.  I loved it and still have it now, with about 30 charms on it

that I've collected over the years, all marking something memorable in my life.

Another Christmas I also had a bike, second-hand it was and navy blue with big wheels.  I remember

going to get it in the dark and doing my paper round was fabulous with my lovely new bike as, with my

old bike, I'd had to tie the paper sack on with a very long knitted scarf (which probably got longer after

being used for that!).

The first Christmas I was married was good too - I remember cooking my first Christmas dinner and

Hubby saying how lovely it was.

[ilove2patch]

I remember a Christmas I had pneumonia! Not a good memory! 😞

[ed_blackadder_1]

We had the pillowcase as well no fancy sacks for us, I do remember being disappointed one Christmas because I had a Cindy doll but didn't have anything for her, like my friend who had a car and bed, so my dad made a bed and a wardrobe for me so I had one up on everyone else.

We didn't seem to mind second hand or handmade then, not like today where it seems it has to be the more expensive the better.

I remember when my brother had his children  his OH gave us a list of shops to get their presents from, well really what a cheek. Needless to say they got what they were given that year, and we didn't even get a thank you, my son always wrote a thank you note.

[*chez*]

I must have been around 7/8 yrs old..young enough to still believe in the magic of Christmas but old enough to know that there wasn't a lot of money around....  My brother and I went into the living room to see a very shiney blue scooter and an even shinier red pedal car. We were both very happy and the toys lastest for years.. they feature in loads of our childhood photo's.  it took many many years before i realised that they appeared at the same time as Mum's green shield stamp collection disappeared.....

[captainbovine]

I remember getting a second hand dansette record player when I was about 11. You couldn't shut the lid if you played an LP because it would chop it in half!!!!

Also I remember OH getting me an eternity ring too CG! I saw the box and thought it was a watch it came in this rather funny shaped box see. When I saw it was the ring, I couldn't stop crying!!! it was so nice, like yours not very expensive. I still have it too, but it's worn rather flat now, but when I look at it...oh the memories!

[silvermalc]

OMG !! with those awful spindly legs--if you increased base the whole thing wobbled and made needle jump !!

[evoman3957]

When I was a Kid.........definitely a Bike......wrapped up in all it's glory under the Tree and when unwrapped.......WOW !! I can almost remember it now, like it was yesterday. I can remember My Mum dragging Me back indoors saying "You are not going out to ride it in your Pyjamas" 

Within the last 24 Years ( in the earlier days ) My OH bought Me 2 Car Tyres one Christmas, a Service for My Beastie Boy another Christmas.........it's always revolved around "Wheels".........typical "Petrol Head".

[2014burpy59]

Christmas morning when I was around 7/8. I opened two presents, one a lovely walking talking doll, and the other was a teddy which when tipped forward gave a growl. The first time it did it I dropped it in shock.  

Several more presents to open were given to me, with chocolates, and also an Annual book. 

Then my dad said ''That's it now, are you happy with what you have got''? Of course I was thrilled to bits, but hidden in my mind was a sadness as I had longed for a pram. 

Little later when all the wrapping paper was collected up, my dad asked me to please take a coat upstairs that was near to an armchair. I went and got it, lifted it up, and there underneath was the most loveliest pram I could ever wish for. I was so thrilled and speechless, must to the laughter from my mum and dad.  

Not sure what happened to the coat though as I threw it aside, sure it is still up in the air somewhere. 

[lambsy_uk]

TCR  (Total Control Racing)

Beat Scalectrix into the ground!

My Dad trod on a broke the antenna that worked the lap counter. 

[lambsy_uk]

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@chickengrandma-2008 wrote:

he took me into another room and standing there was a brand new twin tub washing machine!  

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Was it a WashDog?  

[lambsy_uk]

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@ilove2patch wrote:

 I learned to ride it & went for miles all around Egham & Thorpe

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Ah, my old University stomping ground. Happy Days! 

[ilove2patch]

My parents had The Coach & Horses pub in Egham.:)