So, U.S. Thanksgiving is just around the corner and with it, the holiday shopping frenzy. Thank God for Amazon, is all I can say. Especially since I love to give books and music as presents. Yes, I'm that relative. You know, I can't help it—I was the kid who actually liked getting books as presents (and clothes, too).
There was only ever one toy that I was desperate to get (as in desperate in that Ralphie from A Christmas Story sort of way) and wouldn't you know it, that was the one I never got. I wanted the I Dream of Jeannie bottle house with doll. It was sooooo cool, you'd open it up and inside was Jeannie's bed and a small Jeannie doll and you could put her in the closet and pull the cork and she'd come flying out. No, I'm not as old as that might suggest—the toy was from the late seventies and as a latchkey kid, I watched a lot of television in the afternoons while doing homework. In those days of only three broadcast networks and a handful of local channels, my afternoon options were Mike Douglas, Phil Donohue, or reruns of fifties and sixties sitcoms. Lot of Dobie Gillis & Leave it to Beaver & Gilligan's Island for me. But my absolute favorite was Jeannie. And I. Wanted. That. Toy.
Have no idea why I never got it—maybe it was hard to come by, I don't know. Instead, Santa brought me the Barbie RV. Which was okay, but it wasn't Jeannie's bottle. Good thing I really enjoyed the books and music and clothes I was given.
What about y'all? Any gifts you really wanted but never got?
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5 comments:
WOW, the Jeannie bottle sounds COOL! I don't remember it. I too was fasincated by that show, but it left me uncomfortable (and I think this says a lot about me as a writer and reader). As I recall, the episodes tended to end with Jeannie getting the captain in trouble and not getting him out again.
As for toys, I had this Superstar Barbie with a Superstar Barbie Show. You would clamp her legs into a stand, press a button, and she would s-l-o-w-l-y chug around her Superstage, turning slightly. If you posed her just so she looked like she was waving to the masses as she turned. Of course what I wanted for Christmas to complete the dream was a Superstar Ken. And I got him. And that same morning, Superstar Barbie's arm broke off.
I'm that relative, too, and I loved getting books as a kid. As for most wanted gifts, I was a girl that dreamed big. I wanted a pony. Or a trampoline for the backyard. Never mind that we lived in the city. Needless to say I never got that stuff. Good thing I was happy with my books as well!
I remember that Superstar Barbie!! Oh man-- it reminds me of the Dorothy Hamill doll that I was given one year-- she was on a similar sort of platform and you could pose her so she looked like she was "skating," that is, if skating amounted to spinning in one place with the free leg in a variety of positions. :-)
Steph, didn't everyone want a pony? I think I may have wanted a trampoline too, at one point, but we had no room for it because of our pool, for which I think my mother was profoundly grateful.
And as far as being happy with the books, yeah-- serious geek alert: I was probably the only five-year old in the history of mankind to be absolutely over the moon thrilled that I was given a set of World Book Encyclopedias. Still have that set, too. Of course, giving books can backfire too when you're a precocious reader. I had a relative who gave me this enormous coffee-table book on snakes of the world when I was about six or seven. Lots of descriptions and photographs of all those über-rare snakes that are so poisonous they can take you out in less than a minute.
Right-- you can guess what my one real phobia is, right?
OMG, I have probably memorized the World Book Encyclopedias. Sometimes I swear we are the same person, Barb.
BTW, I finished Accent yesterday and it is AWESOME. So compelling and rich, and Peter is HOT.
I really wanted a Cabbage Patch Kid the year they were so popular. It was not to be. I was heartbroken. I don't think I've ever gotten over it. That's why I'll be the mom running everybody down to get the toy my kids want! :)
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