Christmas gifts

Christmas Gifts And Toys

 
Christmas is the time for family and holiday tradition. Giving Christmas gifts and toys has come to be a vital part of the Christmas tradition. Take a warm look back at Christmas gifts and toys of Christmas past and celebrate Christmas tradition.
 
Christmas toys
 
 
Must Have Christmas Toys Of Christmas Past

Childhood memories of Christmas morning are filled with remembrances of storming down the stairs to find out what Christmas gifts and toys had been left under the tree. Every year, there were a few select Christmas toys that had made their way up the top of just about every kid's list of must have Christmas toys. As adults, it can even be a bit embarrassing to remember how much we fretted over getting our hands on these must have Christmas toys and how we simply had to have them on Christmas morning.

Take a trip down Christmas morning memory lane and take a look at this collection of must have Christmas toys from the past. If you were a child of the 1980's or 1990's you are going to find at least one toy from your past that you thought was a must have Christmas toy.

 

Lite Brite Christmas Toys

Before Photoshop, if a kid wanted to make pretty pictures they either had to pick up some crayons or talk their mom into buying them a Lite Brite. My mother, did give into my pester power one year when i decided that a Lite Brite was the must have Christmas toy that year. However, she was terrified that I was going to burn the house down by leaving it plugged in and all the little bulbs glowing.

I used to think that she was overreacting but now, as an adult, I can really see her point. Take a look at this Lite Brite commercial and see what I am talking about.

All of the kids that bugged their parents to have a Lite Brite back when it was the must have Christmas toy were essentially being left alone in their bedroom with many hot glowing bulbs that were pushed into paper. Most kids are going to be forgetful at one time or another and if they went to bed and left their Lite Brite still glowing it isn't too hard to imagine something bad happening. Though, more often than not, it was the annoyance factor of having all those little Lite Brite light bulbs spread over the floor that turned most mom's off the idea of buying one.

 

 
 
 

Rainbow Brite Christmas Toys

She has the power of the rainbow! For a few years there, Rainbow Brite was one of the dolls that every girl in the 1980's just had to have in her collection. Of course, that meant Rainbow Brite dolls were often on the list of must have Christmas toys.

Just with so many of the other toy crazes of the 1980's there was Saturday morning cartoon show connected to Rainbow Brite and each of her friends and foes from the Rainbow Brite cartoon were available to purchase.

Just like with the Cabbage Patch Kids, it didn't end with the Rainbow Brite dolls. Every year when it came for girls across the country to put together their list of must have Christmas toys, there would suddenly be a whole new bunch of Rainbow Brite commercials promoting whatever this year's new item would be. I certainly remember my younger sister begging my mother for the talking Rainbow Brite doll. For some reason, eventually all dolls in the 1980's needed a talking version.

This Rainbow Brite commercial is especially interesting for anybody that remembers the 1980's. The blonde girl in it is the child actress Heather O'Rourke. For certain, Heather O'Rourke is best known as the girl from the Poltergeist. She died very young and so it makes commercials such as these feel even more frozen in time.