{"id":88413,"date":"2022-12-19T11:45:47","date_gmt":"2022-12-19T16:45:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=88413"},"modified":"2022-12-19T11:45:47","modified_gmt":"2022-12-19T16:45:47","slug":"family-memories-my-favorite-christmas-gift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/family-memories-my-favorite-christmas-gift.html","title":{"rendered":"Family Memories: My Favorite Christmas Gift"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega suggests a topic to promote discussion and record family memories during the holidays: your favorite Christmas gift. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The holidays are upon us and that means, for most of us adults, we are busy buying and wrapping presents. As you concentrate on this season\u2019s presents, have you thought about the Christmases of your youth? What were they like? What did you do? What were the sounds, smells, places that you remember?<\/p>\n

Family history is more than just searching for ancestors. It\u2019s about the story of your family \u2013 and that includes your story. Christmas is a good time to start writing down some of your memories. What better topic that will be of interest to your family than your favorite Christmas gift? Historical newspapers can help you tell that story.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: \u201cBarbie Dolls and Ken Doll\u201d by Bernard Gotfryd, c. 1985. Credit: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My Favorite<\/strong><\/p>\n

Growing up, I LOVED Christmas. It truly was a time that felt magical. I remember the excitement as we ran to the tree Christmas morning to see everything that was left by Santa (of course my dad had to tell us when we could run to the tree so that he could get the photos of our reactions).<\/p>\n

One year, I received the best gift: the Barbie Townhouse. This 3 1\/2 -foot high 3-story home for Barbie and her friends even included an elevator. As described in the following newspaper advertisement from 1981, it came with \u201chigh fashion furniture.\u201d What more could a young girl hope for!<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Seattle Daily Times (Seattle, Washington), 25 October 1981, page 19<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So, what did the Barbie Townhouse set my parents back money-wise? I don\u2019t remember the exact year I received it, but this advertisement from 1977 is probably around the right time if not a few years early. In a store in San Diego, about two hours from where we lived, the sale price was $15.99 \u2013 which, when I entered it into an inflation calculator, equaled $78.63 today.* Boy that was a lot of money for a Barbie accessory! No wonder I never received the Barbie Dream House \u2013 the Barbie Townhouse was expensive enough!<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
San Diego Union (San Diego, California), 10 November 1977, page 107<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the fun things about revisiting those favorite toys from your past is looking to see if they can be found online. Perusing an online auction site to see if I could buy this childhood memory made it apparent that I should have kept my Barbie Townhouse \u2013 because a \u201cvintage\u201d one costs anywhere from $119 to over $300! Sometimes getting those memories back can be expensive!<\/p>\n

What to Write<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMy Favorite Christmas Gift\u201d is a great writing prompt to help you document your own holiday memories. Consider writing about:<\/p>\n