Most little girls ask for dolls or a tea set for Christmas. Or, at least they did, in the days before television.
I liked dolls well enough, and we had Grandma's dishes from soap boxes to use for our imaginary parties. For those who don't remember, companies used to insert dishes in boxes of soap powder and someone who did a lot of laundry could accumulate an entire set, if she was lucky and didn't end up with seven saucers, one cup and five cereal bowls.
Maybe that's what Grandma's neighbor was doing when she hung out her laundry every day of the week and not just on Monday. "That family must be awfully clean or awfully dirty," Grandma observed.
So, having a family of dolls and enough dishes to invite the Queen for supper, I asked for books. When Christmas came and there wasn't at least on flat, rectangular package under the tree with my name on it, I was filled with disappointment. It didn't matter what else I received. If there was no book, my holiday was ruined.
After my parents discovered this, they made sure I wasn't sulking all Christmas Day while my brother and sister played with their new toys. First there were the Bobbsey Twins: Nan and Bert, the older twins, and Freddy and Flossie, the younger set. This lasted for several Christmases. Then I graduated to Nancy Drew. There were a few other, non-series books, along the years that I have forgotten the titles of.
The problem was, I read the books too quickly and often was finished by the end of the day. One year my exasperated parents presented me with the entire set (to date -- they were produced until 1955) of the Honey Bunch books. Honey Bunch was a saccharinely sweet little girl who had numerous adventures which I was privileged to share. The set lasted about a week.
I still think a book is the best gift. A few years ago I went to a book store and selected books for all my grown sons. This was not a hit. They like to read, but our tastes are too dissimilar. The only authors we share a liking for are Neal Stephenson and Clive Cussler.
Same goes for the grandkids. I spent the month before Christmas last year e-mailing back and forth with my daughter-in-law: me suggesting a book and her telling me they had already read it. I ended up sending her money to buy them gift cards a a local book store.
So -- there most likely won't be a book under my tree this year unless I go out, buy it, and wrap it myself.
Which isn't a bad idea.
Merry Christmas to one and all.
Sandy, thanks for reminding me of some old favorites. These books became treasured friends: Honey Bunch--what a sweetie, but quickly outgrown. The Bobbsey Twins. Nancy Drew. Did you read Trixie Belden? I loved that Trixie rode horses. I didn't often get books and had to resort to haunting the library. I still remember the day when the World Book Encyclopedias arrived in our home. I was 12 and I started in reading them in every spare moment, while my mother kept nagging me to go play with the neighbor kids.
ReplyDeleteOh, I forgot Trixie! And Cherry Ames, Student Nurse. Did you read her? My favs were My Friend Flicka and Green Grass of Wyoming. There is another about a white stallion, but I forget the title.
ReplyDeleteI, too, love getting books. I devoured the Black Stallion series when I was a horse-crazy kid. Somehow I never questioned how a non-thoroughbred horse could win every single race, time after time. Now, I think a bookstore gift card is one of the best gifts to receive. Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteHi Aunt Sandy! Did you know that I have some of your 'Curlytops' books? I'm not sure how I ended up with them, but I've been hanging on to them for a while. I also have 'My Friend Flicka' and 'Thunderhead', but I don't know if they belonged to someone in the family before they came to me.
ReplyDeleteCam has always said, "It's not Christmas unless I get at least one book!" I always get him a book for Christmas. :) Thanks for sharing! I enjoy reading your blog.
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