This is a repeat post from years past. I like to post it on Christmas Eve, a place to share our own best memories of Christmases past.
The Secret Sam was my favorite Christmas present as a child. I still have it, and I will keep it, or perhaps pass it on to a grandchild. Oh, how excited and hopeful I was the year I asked for my own Secret Sam. My mother told me it was a boy’s toy, but I was never a Barbie doll girl.
That was my spy year, my year of intrepid adventures around the neighborhood. It was one of my last Christmases as a child, I think, wanting toys and dreaming of adventures. Not too many years later, perhaps even the next one, my Christmas gifts would be stereos and albums, bell bottom jeans and paisley print turtlenecks.
Perhaps that is why the memory of it is such a treasure to me.
This year my grandchildren will be blessed with the breathless anticipation of what might be under the tree Christmas morning. They will be late to bed, too excited to sleep easily, and early to rise, rushing to the living room in all the excitement and wonder a child can have.
They are being taught the real reason for Christmas, and they will have opened the last flap on the Advent calendar the day before, they will place Jesus in the manger on Christmas morning, and some of them will have caught snippets of the Christmas story, perhaps even at Midnight Mass. They have a book here at my house that unfolds into the journey to Bethlehem, and all the figures are there to travel or meet Mary and Joseph along the way. We read stories, we sing songs, we watch videos.
I want to help nurture faith, hope, and love, generosity, joy, as well as create memories and enjoy the anticipation. I want to see Christmas through the eyes of happy children who see so clearly the joy, the promise, and the simpleness of it all.
Most of all, I want to share the feelings, the very same feelings of a child who exclaims “I love Jesus!” and means it with all their heart.
May your Christmas Eve be blessed with warmth and hope and family and stockings that will soon be full, a house filled with scents of the season, and the anticipation of the birth of our Savior.
I pray for those who can’t be home, especially our service men and women, all those who work to keep us safe and healthy, and those who just can’t be home with loved ones. I pray for those who are alone in the world, for children who won’t have a joyful and warm and safe Christmas.
I pray for the world to share the joy and peace of the season. God bless us every one.
I don’t remember asking for this (middle brother probably did) but I also got one or 2 of them as well & I think Planet of the Apes Pea projectile ones.
Those things got well used tho turning the whole neighborhood into a war zone accompanied by old people screaming “Get OUTTA MY Yard!” & i’m sure calls to mom’s complaining about their kids as every kid in the neighborhood had to have one.
To this day there are probably THOUSANDS of those discs & yellow peas somewhat buried in every yard after 50 years.
Not to mention probably a few in outta the way places in moms old house, Should I get the chance to clean out mom’s house, have to keep an eye for those weapons, one I posted below has an asking price of 100 buck & a bunch of people are watching the auction. SMH
The reason the price is so high for the toy is not the toy; it’s the memories the toy brings to the owner. It’s also the key to understanding which things from our youth will have the greatest collectible value. People that can buy anything will buy something that triggers an emotion they cannot buy anywhere else.
We reach a certain age, where we begin to see the connections between a thing of little material value and a memory and reminder of ultimate value. The first for me was a throw blanket I gave my grandma in my early 20’s when I first had the money and responsibility to buy Christmas gifts. She loved birds, and she always said she couldn’t decide if my flock of curly, auburn hair reminded her most of a “red headed pecker wood” or a cardinal. When she passed at a few months past 100, I got the throwback (no pun intended). I placed it over a wing back chair that I needed to recover. And every day, I’d walk past that throw a few times, smiling with a different memory of my grandmother.
Another is an embroidered sign with faded colors in an old, pine wood frame with the words, “The Hurrier I Go, the Behinder I get.” That sign hung above the light switch in our breakfast room my entire childhood. I read it literally every time I sat down to eat or walked past it through the back door to the yard. I can vividly remember the first time I read the words and suddenly knew what it meant, the day after life taught me the lesson in a way I could no more forget than I could forget to breath. My momma noticed me staring at it, came up and gave me a hug. She kissed me on the cheek and added, “now you know why I put it there.”
And that’s where my collecting began. I’m 61 now, and I can’t tell you how great for me those little “worthless” items are across my house. And every day, literally for free, I have smiles and memories of loved ones now long gone, each that touched my soul in wonderful ways, that makes each day’s apparent challenges or hardships far easier to bare.
I pray for peace….actual peace. I pray that President Trump will be successful in attaining that peace, not just for America, but the whole world. Friendly trading and commerce will bring prosperity to all…peace means prosperity.
Merry Christmas to all!
Ha! You just opened a long-forgotten door to childhood / neighborhood spying memories. Yep, I had the Secret Agent Sam kit, I watched The Man from U.N.C.L.E. religiously, Secret Agent Man, and worshiped all things James Bond.
We’d sneak around the neighborhood at night, hiding in bushes and spying through our neighbors’ windows on Saturday nights because we got to stay out and extra hour. I was a blond-haired kid, and I wore a black turtleneck so I could pretend I was Illya Kuryakin.
In the daytime we played army. When I got a Johnny 7 OMA (one man army) gun for my 7th birthday, it was the greatest day of my life!!
Thanks for the memory trigger Menagerie!
Growing up as a kid in the late 50’s and early 60’s was a great time…especially in the Chicago area where only 4 channels on TV existed and WGN was the king…Ray Rayner in the morning…Bozo’s Circus at noon when were let out of school to go home for lunch, Dick Tracy and Frazier Thomas in the PM and Family Classics on Sunday at 4:00 with Mom working on dinner in the kitchen.
Winters around Christmas were great with toboggan runs and ice skating at the local parks…it was fun being a kid…
Sadly it’s all gone…WGN has morphed into a superstation and the toboggan runs and ice skating is gone as a result of cities afraid of being sued……it’s a lot different today…
Best Christmas was probably in 1964 or ’65 when i received two items…a Johnny 7 gun…us neighborhood kids loved playing Army and Combat was king on Tuesday nights…the other being a football jersey of the Chicago Bears where Mom had to sew on the number and a Bears Football helmet…
Merry Christmas fellow Treepers!
This should spark some memories, Number 6…
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/chi/1965_roster.htm
Thanks for posting…’65 draft for the Bears was one of the best in Pro Football history…Sayers and Butkus in the first round…
Sadly they never capitalized…
… because of another little team up the road to the north.
We don’t need to ask your favourite espionage show. No need to call it “science fiction” when most of it is now common practice here. Goldfish in a bowl, indeed.
Absolutely! WGN ruled. grew up south of Chi town. I especially liked Clutch Cargo and don’t forget Mr Green Jeans on Captain Kangaroo. There were also all the series like Rin Tin Tin, Sky King, Sea Hunt, Mayberry RFD, and many more. Today, mostly crap with bad acting, poor plots, and bad laugh tracks.
For the life of me I can’t understand why there isn’t some sort of “new” family classics on Sun early evening.
Christmas 1955–I was on a ship full of dependent wives and children with my mom and brother on our way to join my Air Force dad in Japan. The sailors threw a Christmas party for all of the kids and we had a grand time. But the best memory is when we docked in Yokohama a couple of days later and there was dad—-with his big grin and presents for us all. Best Christmas ever!
My little brother got this toy for Christmas, too. He loved it and his 007 toys.
I want to go to your house for Christmas season
Nine days ago my youngest son and his wife had a baby girl. I am a grandfather for the first time, and I am 73 years old. This has been a gift my whole family will treasure more than any. My son is a natural as a father and I always new he would be. God has blessed me in a way I cannot even describe.
This has been a great year and a very important one for all of us and I have hope that we can restore our Republic and our unalienable rights. I thank God for what He has given all of us and I wish everyone here a very Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas, Grandpa!
Nintendo Power Glove was the most anticipated present in my age group. It was about 1987. Nintendo had what appeared to be the first gadget that was broaching the tech of 2024.
All of us kids were pining for that glove. Welp, Santa brought it that Christmas. And me, my brother, and sister, experienced the most UPSETTING Christmas gift in history. We thought it was only us experiencing it, but it was nationwide.
That piece of junk didn’t work at all. So much so; that my dad; a product of 1940s America; literally took it apart and tried to re-wire the dang thing.
That glove has to be in the top, alll around, most disappointing gifts for us kids in the 80s and basically the modern world.
But…. it had a movie!
Glad I skipped all the tech that came out for my computer, those 3D headsets of the 90’s are still not much of a reality, unless military grade.
You hit on what’s so often missing about Christmas when one grows up – anticipation.
Looking forward to vacation, sledding, gifts, Christmas cookies, and family visits.
And the Christmas Eve candlelight service, with everyone holding their little candle and singing “Silent Night” in the dark.
Afterwards coming out into the winter night and looking up for the Christmas Star. I thought God sent it by every year.
Thank you, Lord, for protecting him so now all of us good people will be protected. I am so happy and grateful You brought him back to us.
Anybody else remember the Johnny Quest toy based on the 1960’s Saturday morning 1/2 hour (actually about 22 minutes lol) action/adventure cartoon series?
Race Bannon…..aka Mike Pence 🤣🤣🤣
I grew up within walking distance of both sets of grandparents + great-grandmother + other relatives.
I can remember things back to about 2 years old. I can remember items from each of these pics + with some can bring back up the moments they depict.
— Now, the Holidays are dominated by Woke Cousins + my only Sister who host them…
https://x.com/iggyb70/status/1871785081444123057?s=61
You were one cute kid! And that police motorcycle of yours was awesome! Wonderful memories…. 😀
Thanks.
Between jobs overseas one year, I gathered all the family albums from relatives I could + scanned them. This was around the time the grandparents were soon to be passing on…
In my last position overseas, just before Covid, I was able to buy the house my dad grew up in which my sister had inherited… When mom passes, I’ll move to it (about 2 par 5s from where we currently live)… A cousin rents it for now. I don’t go in it…waiting for day I can live there again…
😢
And super groovy striped bell bottoms with a white belt! Very debonair at such a young age!
He indeed was “the man”. 😀
Merry Christmas Raven!
Merry Christmas, dear Ad rem!
I got that racetrack for one Christmas, extended it with our orange Hot Wheels track.
The <Alive 55 Chrome Chevy> was the fastest as it seemed to be flip resistant with its balance & big back to take the plastic “throttle” beating on it. Won alot of races with that car.
Do you remember with pride the day you first got to eat Christmas Dinner at the Big People Table…?
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Gfnqx8TWgAAAjLP?format=jpg&name=small
Not really per se, we would always gather @ grandmothers (mom’s), she was living in Sec 8 housing apartment so basically the table was where all the goodies were & the furniture was up for grab’s for someplace to sit, there might have been a card table but it was mostly standing room only or using an end table to put plate on & a few folding IDK TV trays & front & rear steps outside.
Kinda more shift like, kids first, adults ate after or grabbed and growled.
Even then, I always had to sit on the sewing machine bench.
It was a big day…graduating to the big people table…probably around 12…glad to ditch my cousins and sister at the card table in the other room.
But I do think the scandalous talk was muted…didn’t hear a lot…like I could barely make out before…political talk, affair talk amongst the neighbors and back biting between the families…
Dear Menagerie, thank you for the beautiful post. I appreciate these kind of memories more now than ever in my life. It is that special reminder at how fragile it all is, and why we must do everything we can to keep, invest in and pass on those special moments in life. That is where our real treasure lies, within the heart! God bless and thank you for all you do to keep this site running!
Christmas morning 1962. I was 4 years old and my parents got my sisters and I an English Springer Spaniel puppy. Lord how I loved her. We still talk about all the adventures we shared as we grew up together. A gift that keeps on giving to this day.
I wonder if these spy tools were marketed by the Intelligence Community (all 17 of them) to shape young minds about who your neighbors really are, Boris and Natasha (1959–1964) and ‘The Americans’ (TV Series 2013–2018).
When I was in 5th or 6th grade, I wanted the Lie Detector Game. My Mom couldn’t find it in our small town, so Santa substituted the new game called Clue. Needless to day I was a little disappointed, but we all enjoyed playing that game so much. Our family still enjoys it. Santa did a great job!! 🎄❤️
I did like Barbies immensely, and I was very pleased to find this under the tree one Christmas:
No, I don’t have her anymore, my two youngest sisters did not take care of things, and everntually my dog found that the non-bendable legs made a good chew toy.
Even though I grew up poor in a single parent family in the 60s, we always somehow found a way to fill the Christmas tree with gifts, and from an early age my siblings and I bought presents for each other, our parents, and Godparents. We all entered the work force as tweens to help the family. GI Joe, an O gauge Lionel train set, and a flexible flyer sled were a few of my favorites.
But the best memories of Christmas was our extended family dinner, all 40+ of us crammed into my Aunt’s house for a pot luck meal fit for a king – the cooking skills across the family were off the charts! Second generation Italian family on both sides (Walker is not my real name! :)) As my generation came of age and went away to college, got married and had kids we somehow lost that, even though we all still live in the area.
As a senior citizen now, while my financial situation has improved significantly, I still long for those “salad days” and that family connection, and I regret that we have not been able to carry that forward into the next generation.
Anyone else remember Shrinky Dinks?
Maybe George Costanza does.
It was the cold water!
Now it would be: Oh God she likes boy toys better get her into gender affirming care.