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MoroneSaxatilis · 12-13-2005, 12:33 AM

I don't know if I'm old enough (49) to qualify as a GOP, but I was a young kid in the early sixties and even back then I can remember that all I could think about was what Santa was going to bring me. Even back then, there were the "must have" toys (My Mom still has the photos to prove it). Does anyone remember the aluminum tree with the rotating colored wheel (red, blue, orange, green)? I would lay on the carpet and watch that thing for Hours. That was probably the beginning of the end of "traditional Christmas"; a tree made out of aluminum.
It's true that there seemed to be a lot more family involved. On Christmas Eve we would go and visit all sorts of family starting in late afternoon/early evening, then later on we would head home to receive more family. Some family members would not show up until after Midnight Mass.
But there were Always many gifts involved. There was always too much money spent. There was too much debt incured by people would probably could not afford it. Those were the days before BankAmericard (Visa) was a common thing, but "Buy Now, Pay Later" was an option offered by many merchants.
It's also true that as corporate greed grows, retailers push the "buying season" at an accelerated rate. Halloween stuff shows up at Labor Day, Thanksgiving stuff shows up on Halloween, and so forth.
I'm just not sure that, all this PC stuff aside, the way we celebrate Christmas has changed all that much. My guess is that since we were more on the receiving end as kids, we didn't see all the behind the scenes stuff that we experience as adults. We didn't have to worry about whether or not we had forgotten to buy a gift for this one or that one. We didn't have to head downtown (there were no malls around here back then) and battle the crowds at stores packed with other holiday shoppers. All we knew was that we were going to so-and-so's house, that Aunt so-and-so would be there, that cousin so-and-so would be there, and that there would be cookies, egg nog and other treats, and that a good time would seemingly be had by all.
I can remember that my Dad used to say, "Christmas is for the kids, and New Years is for the adults.
My brother and my sisters all made an agreement several years back. We simply don't buy any gifts for each other. We just get together, eat, tell stories, and laugh a lot.
I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

12-13-2005, 12:33 AM	#22
MoroneSaxatilis googan iTrader: (0) Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Googanville Posts: 354	I don't know if I'm old enough (49) to qualify as a GOP, but I was a young kid in the early sixties and even back then I can remember that all I could think about was what Santa was going to bring me. Even back then, there were the "must have" toys (My Mom still has the photos to prove it). Does anyone remember the aluminum tree with the rotating colored wheel (red, blue, orange, green)? I would lay on the carpet and watch that thing for Hours. That was probably the beginning of the end of "traditional Christmas"; a tree made out of aluminum. It's true that there seemed to be a lot more family involved. On Christmas Eve we would go and visit all sorts of family starting in late afternoon/early evening, then later on we would head home to receive more family. Some family members would not show up until after Midnight Mass. But there were Always many gifts involved. There was always too much money spent. There was too much debt incured by people would probably could not afford it. Those were the days before BankAmericard (Visa) was a common thing, but "Buy Now, Pay Later" was an option offered by many merchants. It's also true that as corporate greed grows, retailers push the "buying season" at an accelerated rate. Halloween stuff shows up at Labor Day, Thanksgiving stuff shows up on Halloween, and so forth. I'm just not sure that, all this PC stuff aside, the way we celebrate Christmas has changed all that much. My guess is that since we were more on the receiving end as kids, we didn't see all the behind the scenes stuff that we experience as adults. We didn't have to worry about whether or not we had forgotten to buy a gift for this one or that one. We didn't have to head downtown (there were no malls around here back then) and battle the crowds at stores packed with other holiday shoppers. All we knew was that we were going to so-and-so's house, that Aunt so-and-so would be there, that cousin so-and-so would be there, and that there would be cookies, egg nog and other treats, and that a good time would seemingly be had by all. I can remember that my Dad used to say, "Christmas is for the kids, and New Years is for the adults. My brother and my sisters all made an agreement several years back. We simply don't buy any gifts for each other. We just get together, eat, tell stories, and laugh a lot. I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.