Speaking of bucks, my husband and I started shopping this past weekend. The Amazon boxes are already showing up at the door. We have two nieces and three nephews under the age of 10. As we were looking for just the right toys and games, I started thinking about the things my sister and I got most excited about during the Chanukahs of days past. When we were in elementary school, my parents did the one present for each night, gradually building to something a little bigger at the end. Eventually, the things we wanted or were interested in were higher cost items, and we got one or two bigger things rather than eight crazy nights!
Here are some of the most memorable, not in any order of chronology or preference...
Freazy Feakies
It was hard to find images of the original Freezy Freakies. We lived in New York until I was 14, and these gloves came out one winter in the 80's. I honestly don't remember which ones we had. I'm not sure if these are original or the new "throw back" versions that are now available for 80's nostalgia nuts. These gloves were all the rage one year, classic gimmick. They had a plastic coating, and the design changed colors in the cold. Seems kind of meh now, with all of the crazy technology and innovation we have. But we just had to have them. Funny thing about them is they weren't particularly comfortable. They provided little flexibility and gripping in them was tough. They were good for two things only: getting a kick out of having them and gathering snow for building forts or snowmen. Either way, we thought we were pretty cool!
Superstar Barbie Fashion Face
I was never into Barbies, but holy moly! I remember wanting this so badly. You could style barbie's plastic thread hair and it came with make-up so you could put it on her face. It's crazy to me, of all the things I wanted as a kid, this was the most "girly." My sister and I were tomboys, and she had Barbies, but not me. This though, man I wanted it! I never would have remembered that it was called a Fashion Face. I looked it up as Barbie Head, and there it was. My sister and I each got one that year.
Cabbage Patch Dolls
Before there were Ferbies or Tickle-Me-Elmo, there was the Cabbage Patch Doll. This was the toy of the decade of decadence, the me generation. Parents went absolutely insane waiting in lines, trampling each other, and telling off sales clerks to get their children Cabbage Patch Dolls. Every kid wanted them, and I was no different. Man was I excited when i opened my Chanukah present that year. Everyone wanted one, but not everyone got one. I'm not sure what my parents did to get one, but I never saw them in one of these crazy news stories:
What I do remember is bringing mine to school so I would have it when I went to my friend's house after school. I put it in my locker, and it got stolen. I don't know if I was more upset about losing the doll or knowing what my parents were going to do to me when they found out it was stollen. It took a long while, but I eventually got a new one. Too bad I didn't keep it all these years, I hear they're worth money to collectors. It's a good thing I'm a better real parent than a doll parent!
Other things I remember wanting: an Easy Bake Oven, a Sony Walkman (at the time, Sony was the only one who made one), an Islanders hockey jersey, leg warmers, a mini skirt, and Reebok high tops- the ones with the colored stripe down the middle of the shoe laces that matched the color on the bottom of the soles, a double wrap spiked belt, and this Benetton Rugby Jersey
My son is turning 18 a week from today; shopping has never been easier. Electronics and cash. Done.
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