An orange always made it into my Christmas stocking every year. They were a special treat for us seeing it was the mid 50's and living in a small town in Wisconsin. Good fresh fruit wasn't always available but Santa always seemed to find a few for me and my sibs. What were your favorite stocking stuffers you received?
My brother and I always got some chocolates/candies, little trinket items in our stockings... Occasionally tho, batteries or some small accessories served as a teaser to a larger gift under the tree. Once I got proficient with screw drivers, electronic or geared toys had a short life span. Probably why I’m a Mechanical Designer now...
I know I joke around a lot, but we never did hang socks as children. Always had a good Christmas and never questioned it as we knew that $$ was not so good.
Yes, we almost always could look forward to an orange and that was a good treat. There was usually some hard candy that I'd trade with a brother for something else. Maybe a pack of gum or some jelly beans. I usually traded a candy cane too. Liked jelly beans better than candy canes.
One of my favorite stocking stuffers as a kid was BBs and then .22 rounds(back when you could find them at they were less than a buck a box). Man could I burn through those things. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
and Erik B , we too still carry on that tradition as my parents did for me. 4 oranges here now, 3 for stockings, one for putting cloves on. Interestingly, husbands family was summer sausage and a Hershey's candy bar, yes, those are going in the stockings tonight too Fun thread Erik B
We didn't do stockings...or stuffers I think money was often a little tight when I was a lil guy...mom and dad never talked like that, and we had everything we really needed...but birthdays and Christmas was not a huge pile of presents for us...maybe 1 or 2 more "major" gifts...and the obligatory socks n underwear of course. As a youngster I stumbled across their checkbook a few times...back then I thought they had a lot of money...but as an adult, I now know that amount of money was actually not so much...especially since they were self employed. I remember my grandparents talking about getting oranges for Christmas...they came through the great depression, I think some years the orange(s?) might have been all they got...and they were glad to have it. In their later years, my dads parents went to Florida in the winter, in the spring they always came back with a box of fruit that they picked for us...never had any tastier citrus than that!
We had the proverbial stockings over the fireplace and not much under the tree too. Also remember there always being an orange down the bottom of the sock. With the current price of oranges they are slowly becoming a special treat again.
Family rules were you could have your stocking before parents got up BUT not open presents. Ours stockings were the clementines and not traditional oranges and nuts. With a 8 to 10 kids most years. It always seemed like a huge amount of presents. My parents favorite boxes were cereal boxes for clothes. Cheerios and chex boxes. I understand now sure made wrapping easier
Our nephew was horrified to unwrap a parcel at Christmas and the box said Barbie on it. His mom convinced him to open the box and see what was really inside. It was my idea and it sure was funny.
Candy cane every year... along with stuff I can't even remember... just the candy cane... maybe that's why I don't like peppermint all that much...