This is a repeat post from years 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, but most are still too young to really understand the Biblical readings. 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.
Merry Christmas, Sundance, to you and your family. May the holiday season bring peace, love and joy to your world. And may 2023 be kind to you. Thank you for all you do.
As my grandmother would say, you’re just a peach.
I anticipate and love everything you post.
Our church feeds our small town on Christmas morning.
So our Christmas is celebrated on Christmas eve.
We usually feed 250-300, hope the cold doesn’t lower the turnout.
MERRY CHRISTMAS and take care of the grandbabies, they are our future.
I applaud you for giving to others on Christmas Day.
Also, thank you Menagerie for sharing this story of your childhood. A young girl who likes toy guns more that dolls. It’s no wonder you found yourself climbing around in a Treehouse as an adult. 😉
” 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.”
Admirable wishes Sundance!! I’m with you. Thank you for the spot of light that this Treehouse has become in an otherwise dark and gloomy world.
Merry Christmas to you and your family
I think that quote / article is Menagerie’s.
When we move from one stage to another, our accessories and tools change, too,
They are all important and are valuable for the lessons they teach.
Having something to look forward to is the secret to being “alive”. May we all have anticipation and hope until our last breath. Merry Christmas Treeper’s and a huge thank you to Sundance, Menagerie, Ad Rem and all of the CTH team. My looking forward to” WHAT’S” the next post to drop adds a wee bit of anticipation to my day and I am grateful to have this community who never disappoint.
Merry Christmas to you and yours as well! Having you as part of our Treehouse family has been a blessing…
That’s pretty darned cool. I’d wager not many guys can say they still have their Fanner 50, Mattel Tommy Gun (roll caps, vroooomm!) or Man from U.N.C.L.E. setup.
Merry Christmas.
Mattel ~ Fanner 50, looked like a Colt Peacemaker, and made a lot of noise.
I begged Santa on blended knee for my Fanner 50 and holster
Merry Christmas Sundance, Ad REM, Menagerie, and all the other CTH stalwarts who make this dark time very merry.
Blessings to all who reside here, and a blessed and hope filled day tomorrow for all and their families!
Live your best life 🙂
Merry Christmas ….and blessing to you and your family as well!
v
I’ve been a tree lurker since last visiting the U.S. for my brother’s funeral in 2016, but it’s not my place to say too much in another country, so I rarely post. But, this is a first time read of this article and I have been moved beyond measure. Exactly mirrors the joys of yesteryear and the hopes for tomorrow. Menagerie, I’m blown away!
Thank you so much to everyone at the Treehouse for always maintaining hope for your worldwide community.
God bless you, yours , and all Treepers everywhere.
Merry Christmas, Sundance. Thank you for the clarity you bring all year long.
Menagerie— Jesus is the reason for the season.
The One who gave all for us.
Yet, the thrill of anticipating Santa — the family traditions —are also magical and joyous.
Unless, like a third grade class I taught in the Houston inner city … years ago—
little cars, dolls, coloring books, etc. had to be provided by the ‘Mrs. Claus’ who taught them to read and write.
This Mrs. Claus enlisted family and friends —as “elves” to contribute goodies and toys.
The disparity between my school children and my own two children was a weight on my heart.
These children taught me — and my family — humility and purpose.
My daughter offered to give them her own toys.
My students’ families were impoverished—yet the children expressed such happiness and wonder. Both their teacher and parents loved them very much.
What a wonderful Christmas that was!
God bless our families.
God bless the humanity of sharing and giving joy to others!
Merry Christmas to all of you!
What a beautiful words to pray.
I’ll never forget how happy I was with my Susie-bake Oven..
Thanks for all you do, all who make The CTH happen.. thank you thank you
… I couldn’t believe that Santa had actually delivered a Vac-U-Form … because Santa just had one word for Kenji … “plastics”
I loved my baby Thumbelina. She had a baby’s scent.
Woxnderful post Menagerie. You come from the same traditions I do and they were joyous, simple and loving. May all who have lost this sense of what Christmas is be shown a different light this year. May some come back to their childhoods and realize how wonderful, magical it was and how it paved the way from childhood to adulthood.
May all the children feel the love of Jesus this Christmas. Have a wonderful blessed Christmas with your beautiful family and thank you for all your threads on this site. They give hope, are written with honesty and common sense and they inspire all of us.
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL HERE ON CTH! THANK YOU SUNDANCE FOR KEEPING THE FIRES OF PATRIOTISM BURNING.
Thank you, Menagerie! You started the weekend off perfect for me. When I was five years old, I wanted a shot gun for Christmas. Santa brought one, my mother said I cried when I found out it wasn’t real. I must have been a lot like you as a child.
I am also seeing Christmas through the eyes of my grandchildren. It is magical! They also know and love the Christ child. We made reindeer food yesterday, I had forgotten until they reminded me. The three year old is questioning why the food is put on the lawn when Santa lands on the roof.
Making reindeer food, a carrot for the Easter bunny, cookies for weight conscious Santa (not)… what fun that was with my children!
My husband didn’t 🍪 complain about devouring Santa’s cookies before the kids woke up.
However, he gnawed around the carrot in his role as the Easter bunny —and refused to eat the whole carrot.
Naughty rabbit! 🥕
That Secret Sam looks great. Seeing the ad – i remember it. Never knew any kid that had one.
Given a Johnny Seven in 1964. That Secret Sam is very Cool from 1965.
https://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory/johnny-seven-gun
I just remembered having the Six Finger.
“Sixfinger, Sixfinger, Man Alive! How did I ever get along with five?!”
I got one of those the same year as the Secret Sam.
Hahahaha … wow, I totally forgot that one. But man, did I think that was kewl at the time. Anything that would actually SHOOT a projectile
And a BOMB that EXPLODES! Remember having a stash of hundreds of rolls of caps?
Totally … I’d even hit the rolls with a hammer. Yeah … I both BUILT model cars … and invented ways to blow them up 🤷🏼♂️
And burn ’em down with a trail of plastic model glue as a fuse!!! Ah, the good old days!
About the same time as “Slinkys”
Am I correct you too were a fan of The Man From UNCLE?
You betcha!
Me too! The Merriest of Christmases and God bless you!
Mr Ed and Lost in Space!
I’m not much of a religious person but would never disparage those who partake in practicing, partaking in or promoting their beliefs.
An observation I’ve made over the years is people today forget whose birthday is being celebrated.
That’s sad.
I had this rifle, but I left it in the back window of my father’s car and it warped in the sun.
Hah!! Now that’s funny, I can picture it!
Love the look back SD, brings happy tears of joy for this old man .. thanks..
🇺🇸💪😀👍
Thank you for the post Menagerie, and know that I join you in your prayers for joy and peace, warmth and love to you and all the Treepers!
God Bless you and your family and Merry Christmas to you all.
Merry Christmas to you and your family. Your writing and musings resonate with all of us. Thank you.
There are so many this Season of Expectation for whom I pray especially. But particularly over the past two nightmarish years, those who will gather for their first Christmas without someone much loved, now gone.
And for those political prisoners cruelly tortured and incarcerated in the DC gulag, away from those they love for a second Christmas.
I pray that the Holy Spirit will be present and amongst them all, delivering a gift so precious, the gift of deep peace and the certain knowledge that whatever their circumstances our Holy Father is in the midst of them.
This was a beautiful piece, Menagerie. Thank you for reposting it. And to you all…Sundance, Ad rem, Stella, WeeWeed, and you…I wish unfathomable joy this much anticipated Christmas.
And to our dear family of commenters, I wish for you all a peace that only Almighty God in His mercies and grace can provide.
I leave this gift for everyone. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
🙏💕
I was a poor fosterchild working on a foster-family’s farm when the well to do local country doctor’s son invited me to his house and gave me his Secret Sam case (Thanx for that Ian)…I thought I owned the world…I can tell in great detail all the sleuthing that went on in my world for a considerable time afterwards…I discovered my foster dad always kept a copy of last years Sears Roebuck catalog in a secrect hiding place in the barn…Never could understand why til I grew a few more years…God Bless Sears Roebuck…I didn’t get any pictures cause I couldn’t afford the film and wouldn’t have known how to use it otherwise….The only other toy I treasured as much, was my Batman mask…Afterall, the world is full of villians.
💕
💕🎅🏻
I was a foster kid as well, a truly terrible experience til a new caseworker got me out of there and into a new foster home a wonderful Christian family. They saved my life.
I didn’t become a Foster child until I ran away from the “home” of my alcoholic single dad at age 15. Fortunately, a strong Christian family took me in (long, beautiful story) … and changed my life for what I had always hoped it could be. Hope your life has turned out well.
As for the Sears catalog … yeah, I used that a lot 😜
I had the Secret Sam toy set.
It was, indeed, great.
Never could get the camera to work. Oh, well.
Merry Christmas Sundance, I also had the Secret Sam as a young child, wishing you and your family the best.
Bless you Menagerie.
I am wiping a tear from my eye as I read your wonderful message, looking to the day when He will wipe the tears from every eye.
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night!
My brother and I had the full U.N.C.L.E. kit – sleep dart guns, badges, communicators, Walthers with shoulder brace, the works!! He was Solo, I (being blonde) became Illiya Kuryakin when putting on the badge.
I am still in awe of the Christmas Story – no, not the one with Santa. Charles Schulz did more for Christianity by giving Linus center stage to tell us the true meaning of Christmas, than most anyone at the time. “Christmas Time is Here”, Schroder’s beautiful piano piece, still haunts me after all these years.
For God so loved the World, He gave his only begotten Son – The Lord God Almighty chose to be manifest in human flesh, delivered of Woman, to feel and experience and know us, out of deep and abiding love for His Creation, to increase His own wisdom and knowledge of the trials and tribulations and troubles of the human kind, and to better inform His Grace, Justice, and, indeed, Vengeance.
“And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.
2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them” – Luke 2:1-20
God Bless Us, everyone. Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives, as we dwell in the House of the Lord, Forever.
Amen.
Thank you for this repost. Many friends and family dead the last 2 years and some had to leave for emergency reasons. This Christmas is a bit empty. It is funny how it can be so full for so long and then in the blink of an eye it is all gone. Enjoy it while you have it, everyone. Before you know, it is all gone and everything is quiet.
Great one Sundance!
Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Merry Christmas Menagerie! From one tomboy to another! God bless!
I love this annual post featuring the Secret Sam Spy Kit. I got this one year back in the 60’s but I also got the same year the Mattel Agent 0-M Mattel Sonic Blaster. What I great Christmas that year was. I remember the blaster had to be taken off the market because it damages the users hearing! Toys were so much more fun back then!
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND GOD BLESS ALL THE TREEPERS.
Here is my annual response to the Secret Sam Post.
That’s only because we would chase down little sister with it, and shoot if off point blank in her ear!
I do believe that was Kurt Russel as Secret Agent Zero M. I remember that toy,.. as many of the others. I remember shooting it and the “big” blast of air,. Interesting how many here watched and wanted ALL the spy toys., Started to learn a little trade craft at an early age. That desire to protect people by “spying”.
May it serve you well in the coming years.
Merry Christmas, Sundance.
Merry Christmas to everyone! Sundance, Menagerie, Members, and Lurkers may all your Christmas dreams come true!
Merry Christmas Menagerie.
Blessings to you and your family.
I read this every year and it still gives me such pleasure.
Thank you Menagerie for all you do and Merry Christmas to you and your family.
I was raised in a religion that did not celebrate Christmas, or even most of the other holidays celebrated in America and around the world, so I didn’t have that anticipation or special wishes for this or that, but I appreciate those who do and enjoy their stories.
Thanksgiving was always my cherished holiday and I totally missed it this year because I become seriously ill on Thanksgivng eve as I began making the dessert to top off my Thanksgiving feast the next day. I slept for almost the next 4 days and couldn’t eat, and it has taken some time to get my strength back to normal, but I think I am there now.
I do love the Christmas cheer, Christmas movies and Christmas carols. And I love making Christmas cookies, although this year I settled for making simple chocolate chip cookies. Chocolate is good for the soul, the same as chicken noodle soup, which I have had a lot of recently.
I wish everyone the best Christmas ever, with your families and friends, and hope that Santa will be careful in the winter cold rush.
I pray for a better year than the last two, and for a Sodom and Gomorrah style end to the deceitful and duplicitous fiends that inhabit D.C. and the surrounding areas, whether permanently or temporarily. There is nothing that would please me more.
Merry Christmas one and all!
Covid had me in the hospital last year…even spent New Years in there.
Quarantine. No visitors. Couldn’t even talk. It would mess oxygen levels up. Monitors would start beeping and flashing.
And being the half full glass type personality–I was full of thankfulness and gratitude–and love.
Silent Night was more than a song Last Year 😃
Watched Church Services on my phone, texted all the family and then….
I watched Classic black and white Christmas movies, the original Scrooge, Christmas in Connecticut, It’s a Wonderful Life,etc.
Christmas meal was great. And no fuss no muss and no cleaning up afterwards…made it even better.
Smiles and waves shared by the Nurses who did their rounds…
Not how most people would expect to spend Christmas…but it was still a
Most wonderful day that I will always remember.
It reinforced my belief that…
Jesus is the Reason for the Season.
Merry Christmas to Everyone!
So glad you are better and able to celebrate at home this year gypsybreeze.
Thank you !
My favorite gift as a young girl was a complete set of Topps baseball cards from my dad over 35 years ago. It was wrapped under the tree before Christmas. I would sneak and shake it, but never guessed what it was. My dad would play catch with me when I asked. We got to go to one Cubs game a season and loved watching the games on WGN. So when I unwrapped the baseball cards, I was so excited because it was unexpected. I had never asked for the cards. I spent hours organizing and reading the stats. They are stored in my Dad’s attic now.
You would do well to insure them. Antiques Roadshow has had numerous folks who bring their baseball card collections to discover that they are worth hundreds of thousands dollars. That would be a great Christmas discovery. Merry Christmas to all of the Treepers and may God bless each of you with the discovery of His love…that no amount of money can buy, but is a free gift to be spread abroad by each of us who have found our life in Him.
Thank You Menagerie
I had the “sonic-blaster” shoulder fired bazooka. They recalled them all due to some kids damaging others eardrums. My mom obeyed the recall, and I was heartbroken.
Kudos to everyone who was involved with the production of that commercial.
When the target age group watched it, resistance was futile.
My dad had a rule that nobody was allowed to go downstairs on Christmas morning until everyone was up and ready. My brother and I would dive onto my parents’ bed prior to dawn… that rule had consequences, lol.
These were always my favorite gifts to receive
https://ibb.co/rv056Lk
Menagerie … I would have definitely played “spy” and “army” with you … as it wouldn’t have mattered that you were a girl at that age. However my firepower might just have intimidated you …
hahaha … Merry Christmas. From the years before my very first lp ever purchased … The Dave Clark V’s Greatest Hits … at Whitefront stores.
I would have had to be a super sneaky spy if I played with you kenji!
What a Gem you are Menagerie.
Merry Christmas to you and yours..
Merry Christmas to you and your family Sundance. May God’s powerful Spirit be with you at all times to carry you through. You have blessed so many of us with your comprehensive and detailed observations, without which we would have been blinded by the gas-lighting from all sides!
Still got mine…..
Nothing says Christmas quite like a nice “assault weapon” – leftist loons
Careful, you could shoot somebody’s ARM off with that!!
You could put out an eye … and a chunk of skull
As a kid, I would use a caulking gun with a tube of caulk to play “Combat!” and “Rat Patrol.” The caulking gun was similiar in appearance to a WWII M3 submachine gun (.45 caliber), otherwise known as a “grease gun.”
Merry Christmas to everyone.
Back when kids had to use their imagination and make their own fun!
… and actually played outside … sometimes till *gasp* … after dark!
kenji: After dark came flashlight tag.
Two of my favorite shows … Vic Morrow, baby! Slaughtered some bad Germans.
Electro Shot shooting gallery
Merry Christmas and God bless, brother.
Remember my Red Ryder from Santa. Also gave me a red and white cowgirl outfit with hat and boots! Best Santa gift was a go cart. It had a bench seat and 2 steering wheels: one real for my older brother and a fake one for me to turn. Lived on a farm on a dirt road in eastern NC. Best childhood! Merry Christmas and God Bless Us Everyone!
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