Tag Archives: Christmas Featured

Highlights From the 1984 Montgomery Ward Catalog

Posted on by
Reply

As I’ve said before, nothing reminds me of Christmases gone by more than browsing through old catalogs. As a kid, I could sit for hours looking through the many pages of possible gifts, circling the things I wanted in hopes Santa Claus would make my dreams come true. As we’ve already done with the 1988 Sears Catalog, and the 1991 Sears Catalog, we’re going to uncover some highlights from an old catalog, and this time we’re looking at the 1984 Montgomery Ward catalog!

Bed Tent

I had one of these bed tents, but I didn’t have it by 1984, so I would have been asking for one I’m sure. I’m not really sure what the intent was with these bed tents, but I can tell you that I used mine in a multitude of ways. First off, it made for a great fort in my bedroom. And when I wasn’t using it for defensive measures, I was using it to imagine I was camping out under the stars. And sometimes, I liked to imagine I was sleeping in some fancy bed. You know, the old four-posters that you could draw the sides on.

GoBots Power Cycle

I probably had at least a dozen different power cycles through the years. My cousin Tim and I would just wear them out going up and down the hill at my house. We’d do down the hill at top speeds, and then lock up the front wheel for a sliding stop. All of those sliding stops would wear flat spots on the front wheel, and before long, they would be un-rideable. But I never had this GoBots cycle. That kind of surprises me as I was a big GoBots fan, and this looks like a cycle I would have been asking for.

Books on Tape

I was also big into books on tape, and books on records, especially when they featured properties like these G.I. Joe and Masters of the Universe ones. I don’t remember having any of the ones shown here, so I’m adding them to my list.

Rocky III Rock ’em Sock ’em Robots

Oh man, I always thought that Rock ’em Sock ’em Robots were pretty damn cool when it was Red Rocker vs. Blue Bomber, but this set featuring Rocky Balboa vs. Clubber Lang is so much cooler! You could replay the fight of the century over and over again, and if you were really feeling your oats, you can dare your friend’s sister to come over and find out what a real man was like, just like CLubber Lang!

Crayola Designer Kit

The designer kit on the left is the one that my brother had, and I was always so jealous. Mainly because he loved the damn thing so much that he would never let me touch it. He designed so many cool cars on that drafting table, that he developed a lifelong love for stuff like that and ended up pursuing a career in blueprinting. But since he never once let me have a turn at trying my hand, I’m adding it to my list now.

G.I. Joe Toys

So at this time, my two main toys were G.I. Joe and Masters of the Universe. When it came to G.I. Joe, I had several figures pictured in the above scene, but none of the playsets featured. My brother had the Sky Striker, but like a lot of his things, I wasn’t allowed to even touch it, let alone put it through its paces. But it’s the Hovercraft that really catches my eye. Of all the toys to be produced for the line, it’s the one I always wanted the most, with the notable exception of the USS Flagg Aircraft Carrier. So I’m definitely putting the hovercraft on my list from this catalog.

Snake Mountain

As mentioned above, MOTU was one of my two favorite toy lines. I don’t know what year I got my Castle Grayskull for Christmas, but Snake Mountain came the year after that. I want to say I got Grayskull in ’84, and would have gotten this Snake Mountain in ’85. But memories are funny, so I can’t say that with any certainty. Regardless, it was an awesome addition to the MOTU line and a toy that I would go on to play with for hours and hours after getting it. We had a fireplace in our den where I played, and I would set this thing up in front of it, and the fire behind it became kind of like a Mount Doom before I knew what that was.

I also had the Fisto figure pictured here, and he was one of my favorites. I want to say that I had the dragon walker as well, but my memory is a little fuzzy on that, so don’t quote me. But for shits and grins, let’s add everything seen here to my list.

Construx

Construx was another big toy for me. I had several of the sets through the years. Whenever I got a set, I would build it the way it was supposed to be, but then quickly take it apart and incorporate the pieces into my larger collection and make my own creations. I had the big set pictured on the left, as well as the truck and helicopter at the top. I know I had several space sets, but can’t remember exactly which ones. Let’s assume I had one or both of the ones pictured here. Again, let’s just everything seen here to my list.

The Fall Guy Remote Control Truck

The Fall Guy was a kick-ass show, and I never had a remote control car as cool as Colt Seaver’s truck. I would have taken this thing everywhere and run it up and down my long driveway. It probably wouldn’t have lasted long as I can see myself wearing it out quickly, but that’s not going to stop me from adding it to my list!

I don’t want to be too greedy, so we’re going to stop this list right here. Getting even some of these things would have made for an awesome Christmas back in ’84. Hell, it would make an awesome CHristmas this year. C’mon Santa, work your magic and bring me some of this stuff this year!

Highlights From the 1991 Sears Wishbook

Posted on by
1

Now that we’re past Thanksgiving, I’m all in on Christmas, and that means features like this. We’re going to look at a few things that really caught my eye while browsing through the 1991 Sears Christmas Wishbook.

Super Nintendo Entertainment System

I’m going to kick things off with the main event…the SNES! As I’ll be describing in an upcoming feature, the SNES was all I wanted for Christmas in 1991. Being a Nintendo kid, seeing that an upgraded system with better graphics was coming out just kept me on the edge of excitement all through the fall. The 1991 Sears catalog didn’t have a very big spread for the SNES but I guess that was because it was so close to press time when it came out. At the bottom of the listing, it listed just a few games with a note that said more games would be available on Nov. 1st, but you had to call and inquire about those.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Action Figures

TMNT was the hot property in 1991. The catalog had a couple of pages of just the toys, but the book was filled from front to back with licensed Turtle merchandise. Pajamas, clocks, roller skates, skateboards, and just about anything else you could think of were available with the Turtles emblazoned on them. But I like these action figures. I had a couple of the main Turtles roster, but I was at that age where I was transitioning from playing with action figures to more “grown-up” toys, so I didn’t go all in on the line. Looking back now, I wish I had. The figures were just so vibrant, and the well was deep when it came to unique characters.

Nintendo Game Watches

As I said above, in 1991 I was in a transition period when it came to the things I was buying. These game watches are a great example of the kinds of things I was spending my money on at the time. A watch is a “grown up” thing, but being a game watch, they were also fun enough to still be a toy in a way. I don’t know how fun the Super Mario 3 watch could have been with the limited graphics and gameplay ability, but Tetris is a game that is perfectly suited to this kind of offering. Being the big fan of Tetris that I’ve always been, I’m surprised I never had the watch.

Baseball Card Collector Kit

1991 would have been right near the beginning of my obsession with trading cards. My friends and I spent every afternoon trading cards, and whole summer days were taken up with the hobby amongst us. A set like this would have been something I probably actually circled in the catalog back in the day. I mean, it comes with random cards, sleeves, 9-card pages, an album, and a price guide. What more could a budding collector ask for?

Canyon of Doom Slot Car Track

I was bin into slot car tracks from an early age. My older brother had them, and he and my dad used to race them as a way of spending time together. I had several tracks of my own through the years, but nothing quite like this Canyon of Doom track. It’s pretty much just a basic track with a corkscrew in it, but it’s the theme elements that make this one stand out. Racing across the rickety bridge and through the volcano is pretty badass. Not to mention racing behind the waterfall. My cousin Tim and I could have killed many an afternoon with this track.

Robin Hood Prince of Thieves Toys

I was all in on the Robin Hood movie back in 1991. Hell, I’ve always loved the stories of Robin Hood in all their forms. So when these toys came out, I was almost compelled to revert back to the childhood ways that I was desperately trying to shake at this point in life just to play with these things. And it’s not really the action figures themselves that I salivate over today, it’s the playsets. The re-purposed Ewok village that is the “base” for the Merry Men, and the net launcher and boulder slinger really grab my attention. Especially since the net launcher and boulder thrower were re-purposed from the Bone Age toy line that I never had but always wanted.

Mini Golf Set

Oh man, this set of mini golf toys may look cheesy, but let me set the stage for you. Back in the late ’80s and early ’90s, I was doing all kinds of stuff to mimic things I was seeing on TV. Like, I would see bowling on Wide World of Sports, and I would then go and make a “ball” out of Construx, set up empty soda bottles as pins in the hallways, and I would spend the rest of the afternoon bowling. Stuff like that. So to get a set like this that I could set up a 9-hole course through the house and play some mini golf would have been right up my alley.

Nerf Bow

As I mentioned earlier, I was overly into Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves at this time in life, and as I just mentioned above, I was usually into re-creating stuff I was watching. So here comes this bow and arrow from Nerf that would just have made my playtime a whole lot easier. This Bow could easily make one of my lists of toys I always wanted but never had because I never did get my hands on one.

Days of Thunder Go Kart

Besides the Super Nintendo, this Days of Thunder Go Kart is the best thing I found browsing through the catalog. Days of Thunder was another movie that I was overly into back in the day, and I had a lot of merchandise surrounding the movie but I never had something as cool as this. While I would rather have a replica of the green and yellow City Chevrolet, I would still take this pink and white Superflo car. Do you realize how cool it would have been to cruise this thing up and down the road to trade cards with my friends instead of riding my bike? I would have been able to dazzle them so much I could have talked them into any trade I wanted.

Those are just a small snippet of highlights from the 1991 Sears Wish Book. Considering there are over 700 pages in that book, I could easily do a list of a hundred things I want from it, but we’re stopping at these nine. You can check out the full catalog, and many more, over at WishBookWeb.com. And if this kind of post is your thing, check out these other highlights posts here on Retro Ramblings:

How I Remember Christmas

Posted on by

Like I’m sure it was for most kids, December 25th has always been one of those benchmark dates on the calendar. Alongside my birthday, and the last day of school, it has always been a measuring point for the year. And for good reason, as I’m sure I’m not alone in enjoying the gift-giving, gift-getting, food, and fellowship that the magical holiday brings. So in this special edition of Retro Ramblings, I want to share some of the things I think of when I think about Christmas.

For me, the highlight has always been about the time I get to spend with family. Especially my Dad. All through my years of growing up, my Dad traveled. He would be gone for roughly 300 out of the 365 days of a year. But his work always slowed down in December and he had a lot of time at home that lined up so well with our Christmas break from school. And while he himself never got overly excited about Christmas, he did so many little things to make it special for me. Things that most would not think are overly special but so special to me, that I’ve tried to do the exact same things for my daughters every year now.

There is so much nostalgia built into the holiday season for me. So many different things about the holiday that trigger vibrant memories of some of the happiest times of my life. So here in this article, I want to share with you a lot of the little things that I enjoy during the Christmas season, their origins in the past, and some of the strong memories associated with them.

(In no particular order)

MY COUSIN TIM COMING OVER ON CHRISTMAS MORNING TO SEE WHAT I HAD GOTTEN

Every year around mid-morning, my cousin and his parents would stop by to see what Santa had brought, and to show off some new toy he had gotten as well. He and I would play with whatever new things we had while the parents sat and talked, drank coffee, and just enjoyed each other’s company. The fireplace would have a nice crackling fire in it while some low Christmas music played in the background. It was just a wonderful setting for enjoying the mid part of the day.

In recent years, my daughters had the pleasure of being visited every Christmas morning by their great grandparents, who would come see what they had gotten for Christmas and join us for a simple breakfast of orange cinnamon rolls and ham…..just like we always enjoyed on those Christmas mornings so long ago.

THE TOWN CHRISTMAS PARADE

One of my favorite days of the year…seeing the vehicles decorated for Christmas, seeing Santa Claus riding into town high atop a town fire truck, and then following him to the local grocery store to get a treat bag. That bag usually consisted of an apple, an orange, a few pieces of strawberry candy, and a full-size candy bar. The whole town would usually show up for the parade and treats, even though that number was roughly only about 600 people. It was a day that I can think back on and not really remember anyone being anything but happy.

Continue reading →

What I Got For Christmas in 1986

Posted on by
3

In an earlier post here on Retro Ramblings, I posted about how 1986 was the year Santa became real for me. I briefly talked about some of the things I got for Christmas that year, but those little snippets just don’t do all those wonderful toys justice. So here, in detail, is what I got for Christmas in 1986!

The big one that Christmas morning in 1986 was the G.I. Joe Cobra Terror Drome.  At that time in life, my world revolved around four toys.  G.I Joe, Masters of the Universe, Construx, and Legos….with G.I. Joe being at the top of the list.  Knowing this, it was no surprise to my parents that the biggest hit of the holiday season would be this huge G.I. Joe playset.

It had room for plenty of figures, so massive battles were a foregone conclusion.  I stockpiled this sucker with every bad guy I had in my collection and then began a full-on assault with all of the good guys I could find.  Even Bo & Luke Duke in their 3 3/4″ figure form and the General Lee got in on the action on the side of the Joes!

The initial battle was a stalemate, with Cobra barely able to hold off the tremendous might of the Joes, as they retreated back a little way to regroup and plan for a second assault.  Now of course this stalemate was only to ensure that the Terror Drome was intact to play with again the following day.  I spent a while Christmas afternoon interacting with various parts of this set.  The Cobra vehicles re-fueled at the re-fueling station built into it, while some of the top Cobra brass interrogated a captured Joe down in the holding cell area.

The shine of this toy didn’t wear off anytime soon, but I had gotten quite a few other new toys this Christmas that required my attention, so I had to let the action cool down a little so I could get on to some of the other stuff like…..

Construx Super Set

Even though Construx was probably third on my list of favorite toys, getting a Super Set like this one requires almost immediate attention.  I can’t remember exactly what the structure was that this set was designed to build, but I knew from the looks of it that would come in very handy to members of the Joe team on their next assault on the Terror Drome.

Once I had this thing put together, it could drive right up to the Terror Drome and lift several Joes at once to the top of the Drome and unload them right in the heart of the command center!  What better way to strike right at the heart of Cobra than a direct assault on Cobra Commander and the Barroness?!?  

Once the great battle of the Terror Drome was over, this set of Construx went on to be featured in lots of other playtimes.  I used the pieces to create all kinds of new toys.  I once built a scaffold to put over the top of my wrestling ring with which to re-create the infamous Scaffold match from Starrcade ’86.  Along with building “steel cages” and assorted other wrestling-related toys, Construx seemed to go along with most other toys I played with.  

I had a smaller set of Construx, but getting this Super Set for Christmas gave me plenty of pieces for projects all year long.

Tonka Steel Monsters Destroyer

I had plenty of hand-me-down Tonka trucks from my brother through the years, but this may have been the very first one that was mine first.  It doesn’t quite look like your normal Tonka truck.  This one seems to be more inspired by Mad Max than construction sites which were the norm for Tonka.  And I didn’t have any of the other vehicles from this particular line, but that didn’t slow down the playtime.

Now I didn’t take the photo above, but as you can see, it was perfectly sized for G.I. Joe figures, and I made great use of it, as it became the main vehicle for my Dreadnoks figures.  They themselves seemed to be inspired by the post-apocalyptic world of Mad Max as well, so it seemed a perfect fit.  With the bladed grill on this bad boy, it seemed like the perfect counter-offensive to the new Construx weapon that G.I. Joe had in its possession. 

G.I. Joe Tomahawk

One thing that Cobra didn’t count on that fateful Christmas day, was G.I. Joe achieving air superiority.  And why should they?  The Terror Drome had the awesome Firebat that could launch right from the Drome itself.  But G.I. Joe had brought a new weapon to the fight in the form of the Tomahawk helicopter.

The Tomahawk held the pilot and a co-pilot in the cockpit, Two more Joes in the back manning machine guns, and room for several more who could repel out of the rear hatch right into the middle of any hot zone on the battlefield!  It would go on to play a key role in the battle of the Terror Drome, and many other battles in the years to come.

The Tomahawk was one of my absolute favorite G.I. Joe toys through the years.  It probably saw as much playtime as any other toy I ever owned, and I actually still had it years later when I was too dumb to hold onto all that old stuff and sold it off in a mass sale.  If anyone is looking for a last-minute Christmas gift for me THIS year, put this on the list!

Masters of the Universe Grizzlor Figure

I had accumulated a nice size collection of Masters of the Universe figures since ’84 but had few Hordak figures.  This was okay to me though, since a bad guy is a bad guy, and they could just easily align with Skeletor in his battles with He-Man. 

Grizzlor was a cool one though because of all the fur.  And as a side note, to anyone who still has this figure, I wouldn’t suggest having him get trapped in the Horde Slime Pit.  That stuff is near impossible to get out of his fur.

I’ve mentioned before that I used G.I. Joe figures to simulate my wrestling playtime.  I would rename them to popular wrestlers of the day like Tully Blanchard, Ric Flair, Wahoo McDaniel, and others.  But I had always had a hard time finding any G.I. Joe figures that resembled my favorite tag team of the Rock and Roll Express.  That problem was solved on Christmas Day 1986, and when the greatest tag team of all time arrived at my house that Christmas morning, Grizzlor had met his match!

G.I. Joe Tomax & Xamot Figures

This awesome 2-pack of Cobra figures was kinda highly sought after if my memory serves me.  And if not on a national scale, it certainly was in the circles I ran in. I know I personally had been asking for them for months on end, and they finally arrived that Christmas morning.  With the matching outfits and the silver boots, the minute I opened them, I knew I had finally found my Rock and Roll Express!

Now to this day, I have no idea why I chose this as the first way to play with Tomax and Xamot.  I didn’t use them in the great battle of the Terror Drome.  No, I held them back, and later in the day, they squared off against Grizzlor on my Dad’s pool table in a weird two-on-one wrestling match with Grizzlor.  Come to think of it, I have no idea why I didn’t get out any of the MOTU figures for play with Grizzlor either.

Either way, this Rock and Roll Express went on to defeat their hairy tormentor that day, and for probably at least a year, didn’t lose a tag team match in my wrestling rings either.  Still to this day, Tomax and Xamot are in my top five favorite G.I. Joe figures.  Whether they were winning tag team gold in a toy wrestling ring, battling hairy beasts from another universe, or being their intended badass selves on the side of Cobra, they were some of the best action figures I ever had.

Hot Wheels Snake Mountain Challenge

I mentioned earlier how the Masters of the Universe was one of my favorite toy lines.  Now, what a treat it was on that Christmas morning to find that they had merged that line with another favorite of little boys everywhere…Hot Wheels!

This was one of the cool Hot Wheels sets that featured the orange pieces of track, a launcher for the car, and some kind of obstacle.  In this set, the obstacle was a cardboard rendition of Snake Mountain that the car had to jump through at the end to escape, hence the name, Snake Mountain Challenge.

It even came with a cool silver car with the MOTU logo on the sides of it!

My Dad set the short track up on the pool table, and he, my brother, and I took many turns that day trying to escape Snake Mountain with little success.  While my Dad and my brother each picked other cars from our Hot Wheels collection to try and make the jump with, I stuck with the great-looking He-Man car for all of my attempts.  It was a super fun way to spend part of Christmas afternoon that day.  But as the hours wore down, it was time to take a little rest and watch some TV.

G.I. Joe VHS Tape – Satellite Down

The VCR was new in our home, and I hadn’t had anything to watch on it really.  That is until Christmas morning when Santa saw fit to leave me my very first VHS tape.  It was a single episode of the G.I. Joe series titled Satellite Down.

It told the tale of a G.I. Joe satellite that crashed in the wild, and both Joes and Cobras raced to the scene to recover it.  There, they met with a weird group of creatures called the Primords who found it and had taken it as a God.  When all was said and done, G.I. Joe came out victorious once more.  I had to watch it twice in a row just to be sure they won both times.

After those viewings, it was time for the second offensive on the Terror Drome.  The goal was no longer to destroy the Terror Drome, nor to capture Cobra Commander.  Now the mission was to retrieve a downed satellite that Cobra had captured and was storing at the top of the Terror Drome!

I won’t bore you with too many details, but the assault was a success.  Using the new Construx weapon to lift Joes to the top was a failure since the Dreaknoks new Destroyer dump truck rendered it inoperable.  Cobra thought they were going to have the advantage when they launched the Fire Bat, but it was knocked out of the air by the Duke boys jumping the General Lee off a cliff and knocking it out of the air.  That left the Joes and their Tomahawk with air superiority, and they used it to lower Joes to the top and hook up to the satellite and fly away.  All’s well that ends well I guess.

I’m sure I went to bed that night with a smile on my face and hugging some toy like Ralphie did his B.B. Gun in A Christmas Story.  The events and gifts of that Christmas are burned brighter into my memory than any other Christmas, because like I told you in the feature, The Year Santa Became Real, Christmas up to that point was somewhat lacking.  But the mega haul of Christmas ’86 solidified my belief in Santa and gave me a lifetime of great memories of that day.

The Year Santa Became Real

Posted on by
1

In this very special edition of Retro Ramblings, I’m sharing a story from my childhood about a Christmas unlike any other I had known before it. It was a Christmas that changed my outlook on the holiday, and as you’ll read, recent events made that particular season all the more special.

Prelude

1983 – 5 years old…I have no real memories of Christmas that year other than my Grandfather passing away in the first week of December.

1984 – 6 years old…Show and Tell on the first day back to school after Christmas break. I took a little plastic trumpet, silver in color, to school…..and I was so proud of it. Several other kids teased me wondering if that was the best thing I had gotten for Christmas.

1985 – 7 years old…I had gotten a set of 12 toy cars for Christmas. Not Hot Wheels or Matchbox, but a generic version of them. There was a police car, a wrecker, some race cars, and various other cars and trucks. I wore them out that winter and spring I played with them so much.

1986 – 8 years old…HOLY COW!!! WHAT DID I DO FOR SANTA CLAUS TO BRING ME SO MUCH COOL STUFF?!?

By the fall of 1986, my thoughts were starting to turn to the coming Christmas season, and anticipation was starting to build for the holiday. The hope of children isn’t easily pushed to the side, but back in those days, I would be lying if I said that Christmas didn’t feel a little lacking.

Admittedly, I personally never felt slighted on Christmas morning. Whatever was under the tree from Santa Claus always left a lasting impression on me, even if I sometimes felt the little internal tug of wanting a little bit more. But when I would return to school, and see and hear about all the cool things my friends and others had gotten for Christmas, I would get a little jealous.

I was a good kid. I never caused trouble at school, and I definitely knew better than to cause trouble at home. I did my chores and I ate my vegetables, so why did I seem to be farther down Santa’s Nice list than some of the other kids? “Jonathon pushed Samantha down and hurt her arm”, “why did he get a huge Lego set and I only got a trumpet?”. “Zach punched me in the arm all year…hard.” “Why did he get a cool G.I. Joe HISS Tank and all the Dreadnoks figures and I ended up with a set of cars?” Such are the worrisome ponderings and questions of a kid who is not aware of all the comings and goings of adulthood.

What I didn’t know or understand back then, and actually I’m still learning and gaining a greater perspective on now, is that times were very tough for my family in the early eighties. My Dad was a self-employed businessman. He bought and sold new and used conveyor belts to coal mines, and as the coal business went, so did my family’s financial well-being.

1983 was a very tough year. My Grandfather’s alcohol addiction was in the last stages of consuming his life, and my Dad spent more time helping my Grandmother, both emotionally AND financially, than he did with the business. The first week of December, my Grandfather passed away. Christmas was lean due to dealing with the emotional struggles of losing someone close, and the fact that so much time had been spent away from the business.

1984 came along, and so did the large-scale United Mine Workers of America strike in West Virginia…..primarily against the A.T. Massey Coal Companies and subsidiaries. West Virginia was always the breadbasket of my Dad’s business. When strikes occurred, it crippled his business and our financial well-being for quite some time, and unfortunately, this strike would not be over quickly.

1985 came, and the strike was still on. It wasn’t resolved until late in the year. Too late for lost income to be made up. Several straight years of lean and underwhelming visits from Santa Claus were wearing on my faith in the man.

But then came 1986. The strike had been resolved, and with the mines back in full-time operation, orders poured in from all sides. It was a VERY good year. Not so coincidentally, Santa seemed to fill his sleigh completely just for my family. I guess he was making up for lost time.

That year, I can vividly remember more cakes and candies and goodies being around than any other. While I was pleased by gifts from previous Christmas days, I was totally blown away on that Christmas morning in 1986! The Cobra Terror Drome! The G.I. Joe Tomahawk Helicopter! Tomax & Zamot 2 pack! Grizzlor figure! The Hot Wheels Snake Mountain Challenge Race Track Set! Tonka Steel Monsters Truck! A huge Construx set! A G.I. Joe VHS Tape! Holy Cow!!!

It was like Santa Claus was issuing a huge “I’m sorry” for the previous couple of years, and making it up all in one day. And it wasn’t just me. My brother got a see-thru V8 engine kit, and some other cool stuff. My Mom got our family’s first microwave, a new bed coat, new shoes, a new Aigner purse, and a new Aigner leather coat.

I had always believed in Santa Claus, but 1986 was the year I fully got behind the larger-than-life man. He had come through in a big way and left memories of what was my favorite Christmas season for years….pretty much up until I had kids of my own. I went to school strutting with excitement in anticipation of telling all of my friends what I had gotten for Christmas. I was simply overjoyed.

The years rolled by, and one Christmas after another was really good, but none reached the heights of triumph that 1986 had. It really wasn’t until my later teen years that I learned and thought I finally understood why 1986 had been so magical. The stories I recounted at the beginning of this article came up in conversation every so often. How the early eighties were a really tight time for my family with the business swings and family issues and all. In 1986, my Dad’s business hit its zenith, and he was finally able to give his family the Christmas he had wanted to through those prior years.

Well, that’s it. I was 19 years old, and I had heard the tales and understood why those early Christmas mornings were less than stellar. End of story, have a Merry Christmas.

See, this is how the story has been left and told for the last 16 years of my life. I learned the truth, thought it was cool that when my Dad finally had the chance, he went overboard on us for Christmas, but for all these years, there are other details that he had left out that I didn’t learn until just 3 months ago. Bear with me while I finish this tale.

Where I currently work, there are several people from throughout the community that also ply their trade here. One of the fellows whom I’ll call James so as to keep his identity private, served with my Dad in those early 80’s years in the local Volunteer Fire Department. James and I would sit around during break periods and talk about those old days. Somehow one evening, the conversation turned to Christmas and other holidays. I recounted an abbreviated version of the events above and explained to James how my Dad had finally had a good year and turned into Santa Claus overnight and threw a big Christmas in ’86. James then proceeded to enlighten me to some details I had never been privy to before.

He said that “Santa” was a heck of a man, and just because I may not have gotten a lot of toys and such those years, doesn’t mean that there wasn’t much to go around, it just meant that there were more gifts being given to some folks who maybe needed it a little more than I did.

He piqued my interest and we continued talking and he opened my eyes to so much about those years. He reminded me of the Christmas parties that the Fire Department would host every year. He reminded me that every kid there got a new toy. He said that in those years when the fundraising for the party came in below what was needed, it was my Dad who donated the rest to make sure that every needy child in town got something there and went home happy.

He told me that when the town’s Christmas decorations that were hung from the light poles in town fell apart and needed to be replaced before the holiday season, it was my Dad who went and got a loan against his business to buy them so the town would still have decorations up for the Christmas season, not just that year, but for years to come.

And without any hesitation or embarrassment whatsoever, he told me that there was a year in there that he (James) had had a very rough year financially, and was in a real bind coming up on the holidays. My Dad could sense it, and went to James and asked him if he had the money to give his kids a nice Christmas. James told him that, no, probably not. He said my Dad gave him money to buy his three kids presents. He also bought him a ham and some other food for a Christmas dinner, and that my Dad and my uncle cut and delivered him two loads of firewood to see that he got through the season with heat for his family. He told a few other stories in the same vein of my Dad helping people through the holidays.

I need to tell you right now, I shed a tear listening to James tell me all of these things. For those years as a kid, I may have been selfish and wished for more than I had gotten. As I grew older, I thought I learned the truth and thought my Dad was really cool for making that year of ’86 extra special. But now, all these years later, I learned the rest of the story. I learned that even though I doubted the validity of Santa Claus being real, he IS most definitely alive and well. I learned that the real Santa is a hard-working man who wants the best for his family, but he is also a caring and kind man to everyone else too. He is a humble man, as he never felt the need to talk about all these things he did for people.  And I’m sure that the spirit of Santa Claus lives in many more men than just my own Dad.  

Through these experiences, he has taught me to care for others, and he has taught me love. Heck, all the things I mentioned in the article I wrote last Christmas about all the great things my Dad gave us each year were inspired by the Christmas of ’86, and at the time of writing, I had no idea just how far-reaching his Christmas spirit carried.  

It may have taken 37 years now to learn the lesson to this degree, but I go into this coming Christmas season with a newfound outlook and a new attitude. I hope you get something from this story to take with you, and I hope THIS is the most wonderful and magical Christmas of your years.