A Small Glimmer of Hope (Part 2)

As Christmas drew dangerously near and despite the dire outlook there was always a small glimmer of hope when the Sears Christmas Wish Book arrived in early November. Those of you reading this who are of a certain age will remember like me the absolute joy of that book – before they went and ruined it of course. For one thing - it didn’t arrive with the other junk mail thrown on your front lawn in late August! Somehow it appeared as if by magic in early November at just the perfect time, when kids were starting to dream about what they wanted for Christmas and couldn’t quite decide. The Wishbook filled that need quite nicely – now your dreams came alive on the page in living color! And let me add that the Wishbook was different in those days.....

First of all it was huge! Massive! A kid could hardly take it all in – but thankfully it was divided up into convenient sections for easy wishing. Girls section – I was a boy so nothing there. Baby section – boring!! Clothing and jewelery sections – kids actually wanted these for Christmas? Well maybe a Timex watch but that is another story. Then there was the reason for the whole thing – TOYS FOR BOYS! Cars, trains, helicopters, racing sets and ..... GUNS!! Cowboy guns. BB guns. Machine guns. Space guns! My how times have changed. Maybe some would say that all those so called "war toys" were a bad influence but I haven't shot anyone or invaded any countries yet. But for me, the best toys of all were the pedal cars – don’t even get me started on pedal cars. I am only slightly ashamed to admit that I used to envy my little disabled cousin because he had one. It didn't matter to me that he couldn't walk and never would - he had a pedal car! I wanted a pedal car more than anything in the world - and just between you and me - I still do. If only they still made them in my size!

But the Wishbook was not about greed - at least not for me. It was a pleasant way to wile away the hours as Christmas loomed in the distance and the wishing was the best part of all. I remember spending many happy hours lying on the floor with my brother deciding what we wanted for Christmas - each one out-wishing the other. Of course we didn't really want all those things we wished for - the fun was in the wishing not the wanting. The Wishbook was practical too - a clever parent could have a careful look at it and see the folded down page corners and know pretty well what to buy for each child. Almost as reliable as a letter to Santa Claus. But there was something even better than the Wishbook as Christmas approached - a place you could go that was as close as a kid could get to Christmas without traveling to the North Pole....(to be continued)