Tis the season...
And a throw away comment got us chatting about the 'old days'...
And Christmas stockings. That was one thing we all agreed on was that we 'got' a Christmas stocking. Some were personalized, filled with a variety of things, and CANDY!
Some of us got these...
Now if you are OLD, they always had fruit and nuts, with maybe a peppermint stick or two. If you wonder why, it was because things like oranges, apples, and even pears weren't always available in the stores in the late 50s early 60s.
One of the guys said he actually found some for sale, but all they had was candy and some funky toys, and they were EXPENSIVE!
Another was bemoaning the fact that his wife insisted on getting the fancy embroidered ones for all the grandkids, and he was going broke between the cost of the stocking and trying to find 'stuff' to fill them with, since Granny was picky on what she gave the kids...LOL
What do you remember as a child?
OBTW, 'I' never got an embroidered one, but I do remember maybe 5th grade we made our own out of felt and used glue and glitter to put our names on them...
We made those felt stockings in elementary school in the 50's. The amount of felt they issued us to work with was, I thought, woefully small. Why were they still rationing felt? Our former Cossack allies didn't need winter boots anymore. WWII and the Korean War were 13 and 5 years in the past. Where was OUR Peace Dividend? We Boomers had it tough. But dad had a good job flying airplanes for the Air Force, and we kids got $1 a week allowance. Candy bars were 5¢ apiece. Kinda took the edge off how the felt and stocking situation sucked. Am making up for that screwing the government gave me in 1958 by Double-Dipping now...military pension for 401 months and Social Security for 174 months. I figure to break even in 2048. Life is good.
I had one our neighbor made for me, it was cream felt with holly and berries, and had white plastic? Reindeer attached. Early 1960s. I got small things like jacks in it. Wish I still had it!