Christmas in the 1960s - Life in America
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- čas přidán 25. 06. 2024
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#recollectionroad #nostalgia - Zábava
I'm 67. Mom, Dad and only brother are gone. This video made me cry - but in a good way.
Lina same here.... I know how you feel... Carpe Viva
If your CZcams pic is a recent pic, you look damn good for 67! God bless you😊
My parents are also gone! I wish they were still here! God bless you and all who replied to your comment!
I'm 60 and lost my dad two years ago. I miss him so much. My favorite thing at Christmastime was helping dad with putting decorations on the tree. Growing up in this era was just the best.
I want to go back … LUFE was so much better ❤❤ instead of garbage today
I miss the innocence and overall goodness of how people were back then.
There is innocence and goodness now in people, it's just a little more sparce.
There are still very good and loving people now, just might seem a little harder to find, but it truly starts with you and how you live now. It's amazing that we can always be innocent again, it just depends upon how we live our moments and days now.
People had class they respected themselves.
I agree.
@@everclear6201 had is right
The 60's was a great time to be a kid. I'm so glad that I got to experience it. Miss those days. Today's world is sad.
I agree with you!!!!
It sure is !!! They barely even say "Merry Christmas" nowadays!
I feel the same we grew up in the best of times the world is crazy today I am 61 and so glad I grew in these times Merry Christmas
@@frankiez2443 Merry Christmas!🎄🎄
Same here. I wouldn’t want it any other way
Being born in 57 Christmas in the 60s was wonderful and magical for me....
Something I never will forget.
Growing up in the 60's nobody even thought about Christmas until that Friday after Thanksgiving. Now retailers start pushing Christmas in July and go full force right after Labor Day. It takes the joy out of it and Thanksgiving is all but forgotten.
I don't think it takes the joy out of it at all, it just extends the holiday season allowing people to purchase gifts and decor without waiting till the last minute. I personally love it!
I agree! I worked retail in my late teens/early twenties and it was always called The Day After Thanksgiving Sale and that was when decorations were put up at the mall. It has turned into a commercialized monster of a holiday. Makes me very sad.
@@alabamatrixie7379 A lot of people shop throughout the year for Christmas. I think his point was how commercialized Christmas has become. It is about "gifts" now not traditions, baking etc.
A few hundred years ago it was actually illegal to celebrate because it was considered a pagan holiday by the Puritans. Eventually Christmas items went on sale a few days before Christmas. When I was young ( 1960' s) you wouldn't see Decorations in stores or advertising on T.V. till after Thanksgiving. Now there are stores that sell Christmas 364 days a year! Except on Christmas Day of course? It's has lost all the magic and pageantry it once had...
It bothers me so much that they push Christmas right after Halloween! By the time Christmas Comes, you already wanted to be over because of the saturation of Christmas commercialization. Is it possible that we hold off on Christmas till thanksgiving is over?
I am 58 and still watch all of those Christmas shows every year.
Always, still like all the Rankin Bass, Magoo, Chuck Brown & the Grinch.
You and me both my friend. I'm 54 and I'll watch them until I'm 108.
I'm 56 & I'm with you! The Christmas specials were listed in the paper TV Channel listings for the week. Specials started at 8pm. In '68 I was 3/sis 5. We had our pajamas on watching Rudolph, Grinch, CB & Frosty with the Xmas tree on in our living room. I still have to watch them now.
@@RRRIBEYE Enjoy!!
Yup, turning 60 and I still watch them every year!
In the 1960's, when I was growing up, I was part of a group of kids in our neighborhood who went around a few days before Christmas singing Christmas carols. People would come to their front door and listen. Sometimes we'd be offered some hot chocolate and/or a Christmas cookie. Christmas was a special time for family (immediate and extended)get togethers. I remember that ALL the stores were CLOSED on Christmas. The world seemed to stop and spending time with family, thinking of the meaning of Christmas and enjoying our gifts was the focus of that holiday back then.
Wow. I went caroling a few times in my neighborhood. It was cold but, when it was all over, it was pretty nice. Thanksgiving was our extended family get together. We had family from Missouri and Texas, (sometimes), come in. Christmas was the immediate family. Great times, those were.
Caroling was a big thing with us kids in north UK as well and the Christmas eve church services. We didn't have Christmas trees (that was a German/American thing), 'Father Christmas' left presents at the end of the bed and you opened them when you woke-up. Before you went to bed you left him a glass of whisky and some snacks :)
I remember when everything was closed on Sunday s
I am in my 60s & I still really enjoy these "classic icons" of our past culture! Sadly, the new generations are missing out on SO MUCH!!!
Absolutely agree
@@yankee2666 I don't know if you know about this; JRR Tolkien (the Lord of the Rings guy) absolutely HATED war. There is a Christmas time book about "The North Polar Bear". JRR Tolk would send his children an annual Christmastime "update" on the antics of this bear. Every year the bear would get into BIG mischief! One year he accidentally set off the Aurora Boreallis! It is a tradition in my house to read children these stories. Also to watch The Grinch Who Stole Christmas ( the original, narrated by Borris Karloff).
The hilarious stories about the hapless bear can be accessed by looking up;
"The Father Christmas Letters", by JRR Tolkien.
Yeah, seems all they care about is getting that perfect Instagram photo, or they try n outdo each other with everything
I'm a Gen Z, and I wish I was a 60s kid.❤❤❤
I was born in 1960 and this the way I remember things. Two things stood out to me in this video. One was the mother who appeared to be so pleased to have been gifted with an Iron and a Vacuum Cleaner. Very funny! The other was the boys being gifted with rifles. I don't recall anyone ever taking them to school and shooting their classmates. Man, how times have changed.
A time when gifts were truly appreciated! Not like today when spoiled kids demand the latest in electronics and games and won't settle for anything less!!!! The true spirit of giving is gone!!!
Yes… i too was born in 1960. Such wonderful memories. Life was simpler and sweeter then. We’ll never see those days again, unfortunately. Thanks for the memories!
I remember getting a bazooka one year probably around 1970, yet never owned a gun my whole life. I wish I had that one though.
You'll shoot your eye out.
I was born in June, 1960 and miss those childhood summers.
My parents spoiled my sister and i with pretty much what we wanted at Christmas time and on our birthdays. We had a tradition of driving around the neighborhood looking at houses decorated with lights, the 60s and 70s were an awesome time to be a kid. 🎅 🎄
I couldn’t agree more !!!
I’m almost 60..my son took me for a drive this evening to see the lights, just like my parents used to take my brothers, sisters and I.
I’m a child of the 70s and I totally agree!
They sure were.
Amen to that!!! Loved it
It was a magical time back then, outside riding my bicycle, playing with the neighborhood kids sharing our excitement over presents we had under the tree! Today kids don't even know their neighbors, spend all their time glued to their phones... thanks for bringing back some fond memories!
I think about this all the time! Friends who are my age (born in 1959) do too. We are so happy to have been born when we were. Life was had so much more humanity when we were young.
Yes. It was great without I phones
@ Bittersweet 2253thats absolutely the truth !
It is not that kids are glued to their phones. Its that alot of kids are in daycare or aftercare as the parents work. and because of stranger danger parents keep them close to home and where the parents can keep an eye on them. And because kids cannot get out in the neighborhood as easily the parents have them in soccer or dance class or whatever else to give them some things to do.
These pictures could have been my family. Christmas was truly magical. The Christmas catalogs were wonderful. My sister and I would lie on the floor for hours looking at every page and trying to decide which doll we wanted. Christmas Eve was spent in bed listening for Santa on the roof. We were so excited. Our birthdays were not like today. We got one gift for our birthday…but Christmas was pure magic with toys, stockings, filled with peanuts, candy lifesaver books and a chocolate Santa. Our hearts were overflowing with joy, anticipation, and delight. My mom made sure she knew when every Christmas special was going to be on TV leading up to Christmas. On those nights, we had dinner, an early bath, into our pajamas…and we would gather around the TV to watch the Christmas specials…often with a bowl of popcorn. There was always the trip to sit on Santa’s lap. The 60’s was truly a great time to be a child.
It absolutely was! I find myself sitting here getting tears in my eyes reading through all the comments in November 2022... we're living in a terrible time now.
@@betsyj59
We really are. I can’t stand just how bad things are today.
I still buy the.
Lifesaver Books"
For Christmas..
For the kids, and friends.
A " still here thankfully"
Piece of this true magic🎄✨🎄
Remember how big, and heavy the rolls were?
@@anti-ethniccleansing465 Everybody thinks that. Just pray for the US.
Holding back the tears watching this. Reminded me of my family when they were all still living. All have passed now.
I can truly relate to you!!!! 😢
Same here, I feel you!!!
Me too. 🍻
I miss those childhood days, especially those huge family gatherings with all the aunts, uncles cousins and grandparents.
Yeah that's what I miss, everyone together. But that's what makes my memories great!! Peace
Having just celebrated my 70th Christmas, I must state that those 1960’s Christmases WERE magical!!! Thanks so much for the great memories!!!🎄🎅🎁
Yes! It was a wonderful time and I thought life would always be like that! Wish we could go back!
They were magical and beautiful because people lived and believed in something besides themselves, and they were rewarded for living that way.
@@l.5832 Yes, maybe one day we could go back.. Yes... 🤔
Everyone worked. You worked right up to the day. And when you got it off you were grateful. Life is and was mostly hard work and anything deviating from that was nice. Bright lights. Bright colors. Singing. Good food. Family the reason you worked. And a brief break. Good times.
As another 70 yr old ,totally agree those years were absolutely wonderful. Sad today to see how far society has fallen. We wanted better for our kids and grandkids but things are certainly Not better.
The 1960's were a marvelous time to be a kid, Christmas was the most .
Yes, and then it went downhill from there.
A very special Christmas was in late 60s and seeing my daddy standing in the cold
rain ringing the doorbell. We all called to mama to answer the door. My
daddy was home from Vietnam! A surprise for all of us, and really the most
precious Christmas. I will always remember and cherish that memory! Can't
remember my presents but the food 🍲 and family together was a blessed
memory!
That made me tear up a little :) Someone must be cutting onions..
🎄What an absolutely wonderful, SPECIAL memory June ! 🎄
💕💖💕
Very precious 😇❤
,Oh, that's beautiful! The joy your father must have felt upon finally being home to hug his family and especially at Christmas! You all must have been over joyed. Thank you for sharing your story! ❣️
❤
With 5 other siblings, the Sears “Wish book” Christmas catalog was a torn up rag by the time we all got done looking at it for hours on end. Great memories.
The day the Sears 'Wish Book" arrived your face lit up cause you've been waiting for it for weeks. Right to the Girl toys section for me! I did get that split level metal dollhouse beautifully painted with the white picket fence & flowers in '70.
It was the Amazon of the 60's. Everything mail order.
@@hewitc But, the toys were American made and not from China. The dolls were beautiful in the 50’s and 60’s. And all the toys were made very nice for boys and girls.
That's funny🎄♥️
If the kids in my family did that to the catalogue, we would have been beaten within inches of our lives and there might not have been any Christmas for us.
I remember the big department stores downtown had animated Santa's and reindeer in the windows. I loved being a kid in the sixties.
Things were a lot simpler and easy going back then .
Thank you for the memories
My favorite Christmas memory from 1966 is when my father convinced me that since Santa was a grown man, I should leave him pretzels and beer instead of cookies and milk.
🤣😂😅 super cute!
Ahhh! That is so so funny!!!!
I like your Dad.
We left carrots for the reindeer and a beer for Santa. My Dad didn't really drink a lot, so I think the beer was for my grandpa as my Grandparents were always with us on Christmas Eve. It was fun to be a kid back then.
I bet Santa was a happy man that night. Sounds like a real likeable dad.
A Charlie Brown Christmas teaching us what it was all about. Our family had such fun & warmth around this time of year. It brings tears to my eyes still.
I heard Apple bought the rights or something like that to the Charlie Brown shows and they are no longer aired .. you have to pay for it online .. truly disgusting.
Yeah, but he was about as into selling Chinese made items as anyone. In spades. If he had the capacity, he'd have sold all the animation jobs overseas in a second. I think.
@@Morrisonsgirlfriendforever1971 No, you don't. Library has about 75 copies. Easy to get the DVD set, too. I had at least 2 copies. One from a thrift store. Only cost a few dollars.
@@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823 That’s what I heard why they won’t air it on tv anymore. Apple bought the Rights.
Yes, you can still buy the Peanuts dvd but the tv won’t air it. You have to pay Apple TV to watch
@@Morrisonsgirlfriendforever1971 Try to find it, if you can, on CZcams or DVD and get a copy for yourself. That's about the only way to keep things from being taken away from you.
My parents made our Christmas so magical and wonderful! I was such a lucky kid of the the 60s and 70s! I miss those times!
Same here! 😇
You were lucky.
Children were so much more excited and appreciative back then and I think it had a lot to do with the fact that it was one of the only times in the year we got new toys, sometimes on birthdays as well. Unlike the every week or every payday of today. I have often wished I could take my kids and grandkids back in time to experience the world then.
Here I am 64 years later!!! Oh man!!! GOD blessed me with such a great memory!!! Thank You JESUS!!!!
I remember my parents playing a record called Sing Along With Mitch Miller,inside it had all the words to the Christmas Carols
My family had the same album.
I still have our Mitch Miller Album and the song sheets are still inside🎅
I still have it, my favorite Christmas music every year!
I watched sing along with mitch with my dad
We watched his show at times, sing along with Mitch.
I’m 60 years old and Rudolph is still my favorite Christmas show hands down. I also enjoyed the specials that they showed especially Andy Williams. Of course back then there were no video tapes, cable/dvr recording, or dvd’s so you had to watch the shows when they were on or you were SOL until next Christmas. My fondest memories are of my Mom getting us bathed and into our pajamas in time to watch Rudolph. Also getting up early Christmas morning.
My youngest granddaughter loves Rudolph, and Frosty the snowman. She watches it all year round!!! As a kid, I loved Rudolph the best! I enjoyed all the Christmas shows and movies. White Christmas, and It’s a Wonderful Life are favorites!
PJs were a big part of my christmas memories too. We were allowed to open one gift (chosen by our mom) on Christmas Eve… they were almost always, new Jammie’s, a robe, slippers, or something yummy & soft to wear on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. 😊 Such a wonderful tradition I introduced to my Children and now share with our Grandchildren. How the time flys by! ❤️
God bless you Dan I have the exact same memory I'm 59 and still watch Rudolph every year!
I love watching Rudolph! My dad did too. Special Christmas memories 🎄 ❤🤍💚
Me too, raised in the 60's and still watch and cry over it every single year, lol! Such fond memories!
So many of these people are gone, but their memories are still in our hearts.🎅🎄🤶🎁 ❤
My parents were married on Christmas day 1942. My Dad got his first leave from the Navy in the Pacific after his ship was sunk (USS Yorktown) and the surviving crew were released to travel. Every year our Christmas was a normal family Christmas in the morning and then we spent the day preparing the house for our guests to come over and have a Christmas\Anniversary party. We would usually have about 100 people over during the evening. It made Christmas so much bigger. My father played Santa for poor children for 50 years and I continue the tradition today.
I love this story. Thank you so much for sharing.
I have something similar. My Grandpa's birthday was Dec. 28, and even though it wasn't Christmas evening, which sounds wonderful by the way, we all went over to my grandparents house on my Grandpa's birthday and had a party. It was so nice to extend the holiday and I always wore a new article of clothing and took a new doll.
And I really looked forward to drinking a glass of 7-Up.
Your Dad sounds like he was a great guy. My own father went to the Pacific theater on a converted banana transport in '42. Took some weeks to get there. When he was discharged after being wounded, that trip was better being made on a much-better vessel. God's blessings.
Beautiful!
Sounds like you had a wonderful childhood!
❤
In 1969, the Ideal Toy Company brought us the beautiful growing-haired Crissy doll with her beautiful that grows right down to her toes!!! I love her!!!
I never had her but my cousin did and that was almost as good😀
I still have mine with her original box! I was nine in 1969 and now I'm 62. I showed my granddaughter my precious Crissy doll and described how special it was to receive one. I always kept my dolls and toys in their original box to keep them in good shape. Thanks for mentioning the Crissy doll.
I got one of those one Christmas (in 1969!) - I couldn't remember the name of this doll. I remember mine had dark coppery red hair.
My mom sold Avon so I remember looking through that little book & picking out bubble bath, lip balm & jewelry. I also remember Liddle Kiddle perfume dolls. We also had bubble lights on the tree. People also really made an effort to dress really nice for Xmas parties back then.
My grandma too. ☺
Mine too! And me, for a very short time. I had a little brown plastic Gingerbread Man pin from my childhood whose head opened up to reveal creme perfume. I had it pinned to my vest pocket when I went over to S.F. around Easter-time this year to get some free bulbed tulips for planting. Stood in line for hours and they ran out right before we moved up in line. Stupidest endeavor I ever embarked upon; well, not really, but it's up there. Next time, if I really want a handful of Spring tulips, I'll buy them, because the only thing I got for my trouble that day was losing my Gingerbread Man! I walked around looking for it awhile, but it was long gone. That said, I still have Avon items from the sixties thru eighties tucked away here & there. And I enjoyed this holiday past-blaster. Although strangers, I see a little bit of us, our family and friends smiling back at me from days gone by in just about every image, esp Mom fixin' to cut Dad's throat! LoL
These experiences continued for children all the way up to the 90s. I was born in 1977, and with the exception of different toys, our childhoods were virtually identical. I remember the SMELL of the Wish Books as I imagined having all the toys. The letters to Santa that were published in the newspaper. The great big Christmas light bulbs that I would warm my hands on. The orange that "Santa" put in my stocking every year to fill the toe 😄.
People say that it's just "nostalgia bias" when people remember their childhoods more fondly than the present, but today it's more than that. Society underwent a major change with the internet and all it brought with it. Previously, every generation would talk about the "good old days", but there are only a few times in the past 200 years, where society changes so greatly that little is the same. Sometimes it's for the better, but for me, if I could snap my fingers and make the world like it was before the Millennium, I couldn't do it fast enough 😁
Loved being able to open one gift on Christmas eve. One year my Dad picked out the gift for me to open...it was a little transistor radio!!!!! I cherished it for years. ❤💚❤
We did the same. One gift on Christmas Eve. 🎄
I got a am only alarm clock when I was nine. Changed my life! Music in my room!! Used that thing for decades.
Same. A Panasonic transistor radio. Best gift, best Christmas ever.
A great memory. That's awsum. We picked out a gift every christmas eve. Pajamas due to the Osmands tradition. I like transistor better you could listen to music waiting for santa
We did the same.
It was so magical because as kids we didn’t get toys and things all year round like kids today. Christmas was that one time of year to get the toys and things you wanted most. The anticipation was half the fun. Besides in the home, the entire town was holiday spirit. It enveloped your. It was very magical. 💕❤️
I grew up in the 60's. My parents made Christmas so magical ♥️♥️
Mine did too! Grew up at the same time as you.
I remember getting those catalogs but inherently knew I couldn’t have anything out of it. I didn’t even ask because I thought everything was too expensive for my family to afford. It was more of a dream catalog. Anyone else have that experience?
Yeah, but that never stopped us from listing every toy in the catalogue on our wish lists anyway. 😁
Yep, same here!
Yes I'd turn the pages to the girls in bras and dream
@@tomtroy3792 ...this comment made my day🤣🤣🤣
Nothing bad about dreaming.
I'll never forget the excitement I felt when the Sears or JC Penney Christmas catalog would arrive in 1965 or 1966. I spent hours going through the toy section, and studied each page. I remember my grandmother saying "he got his new Bible in the mail" because I would carry it around the house with me. I would give anything to be able to go back to those Christmases, not because of the presents, but to spend Christmas with my family again.
Me too! I’ll never forget the toys lined up in the living room and grandma and granddaddy coming with more presents. So sad they are gone.
My mom saved my Dear Santa 1977 letter complete with pasted pictures of things I wanted that I cut out of the SEARS catalog ❤️💚
My brother probably would have read it for six hours and then get dehydrated and start feeling sick.
Well said
@@homethatilove4595 that's so neat. Treasure it forever!
I was a foster kid from 1962 to 1976. The first time I got a Christmas present was in 1967. I was almost 10 years old. It was a G.I. Joe and it made me very happy. They called them "action figures," but let's be honest. It was really a boy doll. lol
Oh, 5 years not getting a Christmas present💔 😢. I hope you've found a deep & special love in your adulthood to make many happy memories.
Are plastic army men tiny dolls ? The stigma on boy dolls is a cultural thing . In Roman times they sold action figures at the colossium
@@ogarnogin5160 I wouldn't regard little plastic soldiers as tiny dolls. You can't change their outfits and move their limbs. They're permanently stuck in one pose. I remember in the 60s they used to sell 1,000 plastic soldiers in bag for $9.99.
@@ldchappell1 A lot of money I remember buying the Marx Desert Fox set around 1970 for $5.00. Got $5 from granny as an early Christmas present . You got some where around around 50 to100 men , but also tanks and cannons etc I remember bags they used to sell of other brands They were not close to 1,000 pieces They were around $1 or $2 for about 50 pieces 1,000 pieces of 2 different armies with set up should make a few hours of play time
@@ldchappell1 Yep! My little brother must have had 3 bags of them. He was obsessed with the TV show Combat and would spend hours both with his friends and by himself playing "soldiers" and imitating Vic Morrow and Rick Jason. He also got a G.I.Joe for Christmas back then and cherished it until he "outgrew" that special time.
I love the music from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Beautiful voices like Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, John Denver, Dean Martin, Olivia Newton John and so many more. Backed by a full orchestra. The old Christmas music is still the best ever recorded
Since 1998, every Christmas Eve, our family has watched “It’s a Wonderful Life”, a favorite
heck out The Apartment. 1960. Not a Christmas movie per se. But takes place during the last few days of the year.
My wife, two daughters and I have a Christmas tradition of watching "Goodfellas". Both girls now refuse to date Italian and Irish men.
Every Christmas Eve for at least 50;years as long as I can remember I cry 😢 every time. My husband laughs at me 😊
Everything back then was so proper and people had manners. I miss that a lot. Christmas time was bigger than life.
Everyone used to dress better, now they go to the store in their jammies and look so sloppy. Every day.
The loss of manners and basic etiquette is really stunning. What a transformation. There is a good reason that societies up until quite recently conformed to cultural manners and etiquette. Society becomes more aggressive, self-centered, and angry (or depressed) without them.
The hair cuts ! The glasses. My Mom made my 2 sisters the velvet green dresses too ! Fantastic journey back to magical,simpler times. Great time for a kid in the 60's and 70's ..... we were damn lucky to grow up when we did. Born in 1960.
We were so blessed to know those times.They we’re wonderful.
I was born in 1959, I couldn’t agree more the best childhood ever!
That's for certain despite the naysayers.
I agree !! Born in "61 !!
I, too, was born during this golden decade. Noticeable how people dressed special for special occasions. I miss that.
I'm so glad I was born in 1962. Things were kinder back then. People actually talked to one another and smiled at strangers.
My favorite Christmas special will ALWAYS be, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It premiered the Christmas I was 4. It's not Christmas until I watch it.
Same here. That song "You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch" still gets me to this day! At Christmas time neighbors used to give each other Christmas cookies, their kids played with each other, etc.
Those were the days, when people actually cared about each other and were so kind and innocent And were thrilled with the simple gifts like games and new pajamas etc. my sister and I would sit and go through those catalogs for hours, actually for days picking out what we really liked and making a list for Santa
We didn't have the " hate" for our fellow humans that we have today.......WHAT HAPPENED???
Our family had a big entertainment console and every Christmas morning we would awake to the Bing Crosby Christmas album. A few years ago my dad passed and since I'm the musician in the family he left me his huge vinyl collection. Though that record has seen better days it is the most cherished vinyl in the whole collection. Last year I played it for my older sister at Christmas eve dinner and the tears just started flowing. We miss you dad.
May your father Rest In Peace.
The Sprit of your dad will be smiling 😊 a lot when he sees how much you still care for those things....
Is it the album with the white cover and Bing wearing a Santa hat? My Dad brought that one home. I know every song by heart! ❤️🎄
Love your story. Been there, too.
Awe, thanks for sharing.
Merry Christmas xo from New Brunswick Canada
Loved smelling the pine tree scent of the trees for sale as I was walking into the grocery store with my Mom.
I remember getting a dollhouse from Sears after circling it in their catalog. I still have it today. I saw it in this presentation. 🥰 I loved our huge real trees with tinsel. My mom loved Christmas as much as I do. Our whole family enjoyed decorating the tree together. Even my dad helped. And not a year went by when my parents didn’t take us to see Santa. Those were the days.
I was 10 years old in 1960, Christmas at our house was steeped in German traditions. We waited for my grandparents package to arrive from Germany, whenever that brown paper box arrived we got excited, knowing that as a family, we would open it up on Christmas Eve, with the last burning candle of the Advent Wreath. Those years are so special, memorable and there was magic in Christmas that you can't find in the time we have now. Instead of getting the newest and latest presents, we were so happy to see our dolls with newly painted faces and a new outfit that my Mom sewed by hand. We came to appreciate things we had, not always needing "new stuff". I remember we would put a shoe by our bed on Christmas Eve, and in the morning there would be an orange and chocolate in them....so many good and happy family fun times. Love how this video has sparked recollection of better days!! 💚❤🌲
When I was a little girl, we always had a real live tree. I would go with my Dad to the town "tree lot" and together we would pick out the "best" one. I miss my folks. They're both gone now. But whenever I smell that familiar pine scent, I long for the days when I went "tree shopping' with my Daddy.
Pine, and green metallic decors cherish the moments
I love the real tree smell. I will even get the pine tree candles after thanksgiving to get prepped and in the spirit. Always get a real tree. Nothing better.
For our family tree shopping was a family event. We always had a live tree and we always went the first or second weekend after Thanksgiving to the big tree lots. If we didn't find "the " tree in the first lot we just went to the next tree lot. We always liked to get the big blue spruce trees. The needles were soft, not like the scotch pines which were so prickly. We would load it up in the station wagon, get home and set it up right away so we could start feeding it the warm sugar water to keep it fresh. The whole house smelled so good. Then there was getting out all the decorations, untangling the lights, checking all the bulbs. My favorite thing was to lay down underneath the tree once it was decorated with all the lights on. I would fall asleep looking up into those magical trey!
@@LadyLiet
Magical trey? What did you mean by trey?
Life was so much simpler back then. Always looked forward to my parents getting the Sears Christmas catalog.
Not having TV 24/7/365, when seasonal programming came on, it was a real treat to watch. Christmas was made even more special by the airing of select Christmas shows and specials! Christmas wasn't simply a time of joy but a time of solemn and holy reflection.
All the things mentioned here really did make the Christmas season truly magical! They were some of the greatest moments of my childhood, thanks to my mom who went out of her way to make everything so special. I was born in 1957.
I still have the COLOR WHEEL for my family's silver, aluminum Christmas tree! I will be 58 in April. AWESOME PRESENTATION!!!! thank you
Awww thats cool. My grandmother loved Christmas, and varied her trees every year, some live, some artificial, and I remember for a few years she had a silver one with that color wheel. It was fascinating to me as a small boy. I think its all gone now, except the memories.
I loved the 60’s
It was more than magical. It was pure innocence and the 2 weeks off from school made it even better. For my family it was overshadowed by my older cousins going to Vietnam. We were sheltered from this though and didn’t dwell upon it while watching Christmas specials on our black and white TVs. As odd as it may seem I remember my mom busily making candies all season long. I miss it and even get teary eyed when watching the old specials. Thank you for posting this magical and heartwarming time in my life. Ah, youth.
I agree, Christmas seemed kind of magical back then, then it just kind of died.
I remember my mom having a ‘Christmas Club’ account at the local credit union. She’d put in so much every week and then get a check before Christmas. The catalogs were fun. Going downtown in the snow and hearing Christmas music being played on the sidewalks as you went from store to store was wonderful. And there were so many Christmas variety shows and Christmas shows for kids. My mom would make so many cookies, buy grapes and oranger. Christmas was wonderful at our house.
Oh yeah, I remember the Christmas Club, I always tried to have one too.
PeopIe can still do their own Christmas Club today if they want by simply having a certain amount of money auto-deducted from your checking account and put into your savings account every month, and then spending that saved money when Christmas shopping.
Yes!
Yes
I was a Beatles fan, and finding one of their albums under the Christmas tree was fantastic !
This reminds me of a Christmas slumber party that about 8 or 9 of us girlfriends had at one of the other girls' houses at the beginning of Christmas Break in 1974 (we were 14): The other girls went in together to get me the double "David Live" Bowie album recorded at the Tower in Philadelphia in 1974 and released less than two months before Christmas. I was absolutely over the moon!!! I would stay up into the wee hours of the morn, in my bedroom, listening to those albums over and over through those big, awkward headphones, record spinning on my cheap Radio Shack stereo. It was wonderful. (By the way, the first ever "rock" record my brother and I had was the first Beatles album... my brother came home one evening 1967 or 68), holding that album high over his head in triumph... he had found it in a trashcan outside a neighbor's house. Another album that was listened to non-stop.)
I was born in 1964. Everything this gentleman said in this video is true and even toady I still watch the Christmas specials with the family as it brings back those beautiful memories of a time gone by. Things are so different now for the holidays. I wish we could get back to the basic family values and at least get together for Sunday dinner as that has disappeared decades ago as well. God Bless us all
I remember spending part of the summer at my Nana's house in Madison Wisconsin in the early through mid 60s. Remember clearly how people would get together with neighbors after work and before dinner (or after dinner) to play board games and drink root beer floats (no alcohol at my grandmother's house!). Memories of that are very strong - that kind of neighborliness doesn't exist anymore, at least not in most cities and suburbs and neither do the normal 8-hour work schedules.
During the early 60's my brother and I built a Manger scene out of wood and it was up in our parents front yard every year until our mom died in 2019. We also had Erector sets and Junior chemical set to play with and metal cars and trucks,Little red wagons and a riding car with ladders on it to make it look like a fire engine and JC Higgins and Schwin bicycles along with record players and vynal records. Our grandpa made a record cabinet to hold our 45RPM records and a 45RPM record player. I still have it.
Schwinn bicycles! The best Christmas gift!
School Christmas programs, singing around the piano on Christmas Eve, munching on the cookies and candy we baked, driving to see Christmas lights in the more upscale neighborhoods are some of the fondest memories from the 60s. Things seemed less complicated then somehow.
It's because they were. We knew how to treat each other then. It was a golden era for me. Soo blessed to have lived then
Love the old tinsel…so much prettier. I had an ez bake oven…my sis had a Chatty Cathy and my brothers got the Whammo blaster
I’m 50 and I love my memories of Christmas growing up! We did the same thing every single year and I think that’s what made it so special! We knew what was coming and the anticipation of such a wonderful season was always there. Best. Times. Ever.
I'm sixty five years old now and you know what? I loved Christmas in the sixties and I still love it just as much in my sixties.
Wow this brought back some great memories. I was born in 1956 so I remember the magic of Christmas as a kid in the 60's
1956 is my year too.
1962 was my 1st Christmas.. Those were much simpler times!! The 3 Christmas shows they mentioned are my favorites to this day, which I looked forward to sharing my kids and grandchildren. Charlie Brown Christmas is still my favorite 59 yrs later.
Watching this was so much fun. Those silver metallic trees are coming back in popularity once again!!!! Everyone is dressed so nice & the smiles are so joyful.
My Grandmother had an aluminum tree with the color wheel that change colors. I loved watching the colors change on the tree when I was little....great holiday memories!!!🎄🎆
We had one of those. Loved that tree.
I have one now. I love it
We had one also. That was my fondest memory of Christmas. My great uncle came dressed as Santa one year. But we knew it was him. Lol. Much simpler times and so much better. Can we just go back. Born in 1960!
We had that aluminum tree with that color wheel. I did the same thing I loved watching it. And for some reason I remember the tree rotating as well.
Oh my gosh we had that same tree in 1965, Grandma had it in 64 and didn't like it.. gave it to mom..we loved it..forever in my mind.. ty for the memory
My parents, father especially, liked Bing Crosby. Watched that special. Bob Hope was a close second. Perry Como, Johnny Mathis, Andy Williams.....
I enjoy playing Bing's Do You Hear What I Hear? I tried to sing along but by the end I would be in tears hearing 'He will bring us goodness and light. He will bring us goodness and light."
Loved Andy Williams voice. So soothing.
And The King Family of singers...
I was born in 1960, the youngest of 10 kids. I remember the metal jack in the box and a clown that flipped around a bar of some kind when you turned a knob. Also, the older girls and my mom complaining of the tensile getting caught in the rollers of the vacuum...lol
Their really was a Christmas spirit. People were genuinely happy in those times.
My sisters and I were born in the early 60's. The toys we received that are shown are Barbie, Easy Bake oven, Big Wheel, Etch a Sketch. We always watched the stop motion Christmas specials. A great time to be a kid!
Always always wanted an easy bake oven!! Never got one 🥲lol
Im 54 and getting my 4yr old grandson a Etch a Sketch this year...how cool is that...
All these toys bring back warm memories for me.
Born in 1957 and got my first Barbie in 1961 (black and white striped bathing suit and red curly hair). Over the years I received many more Barbies, along with her friends Ken, Midge, Skipper and Stacy. Always longed for a Chatty Cathy but never got one. Did get the Honey West doll though. Got the "Dream Date" and "Twister" games, and had the aqua Easy Bake Oven (those little chocolate cakes that we attempted to bake in them never turned out quite the way we hoped). Those days and the magical memories that were created by our wonderful parents for us each and every Christmas sustain us today, as we experience a much, much different world than the one we grew up in...the holidays of today reflect that...I'll take the 1960's Christmases over the 21st centuries' any day!
I think all of us who grew up in the 60s, can relate to any one of those snapshots! Great representation 👏🏼👏🏼🎄🎄💯💯
We have all of those snap shots! Those were happy days and I miss them.
@Laura….
Cool shades & perfect smile!
Have a great weekend.😉
I am 68, and I feel so blessed to have experienced all of that as a child, as it was happening!
ABSOLUTLEY THE VERY BEST OF TIMES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was born in 1959. I have three siblings. My beloved parents always made every Christmas special! We probably had every popular toy from the 1960’s-1970’s. Thank you for letting me walk down memory lane! ❤
One of my most enduring Christmas memory is of being woke up at 430 Christmas morning to go to the cousins house. And staying in the bedroom and looking at a full moon and seeing Santa's sleigh flying across it.
Before opening presents later that morning
I’ll be damned if the silver tree with the color wheel doesn’t take me back to those times. It’s so vivid and real that it’s more than just a memory, I can feel it inside me. I’m sure everyone has these memories and thinks the decade they grew up in is the best, but I did grow up in the 60s and they were something special. 60 years from now, kids are going to grow up cherishing and reminiscing about how great current times were for them. If they only knew, lol.
I want one of those trees so bad! As it is, I had to settle for mylar, but it's just not the same.
@@benni1023fm - Didn’t even know they make them out of mylar. I think they were aluminum. Merry Christmas!
@@nja3224 - Back in the day, they were aluminum; but now the same type of tree is made with mylar. The upside is, you can string lights on them; the downside, they're just not the same as what we knew.
Merry Christmas to you, too!
Loved those silver trees.
I remember having one of those silver trees and colour wheel. We had it for years.
This was fun to watch. We used to spend a lot of time putting tinsel on the tree. It had to hang perfectly straight down.
I remember my parents always picked up the Christmas catalog from Montgomery wards or Sears or JCPenney's. I'd look through them and make my list but rarely would I ever get anything on that list, they just couldn't afford it. I do remember my school wasn't afraid to celebrate Christmas. We'd make Christmas decorations and give out Christmas cards to each other.
I think the fondest memory was the freshly cut and decorated fir tree in the living room. When the lights were out the Christmas lights would shine and all over, and the smell was wonderful. It was cold outside but the house was warm. All of us kids would sit in front of the TV and watch the Christmas programs.
Our only tradition that I remember, was to open one gift on Christmas Eve and the rest after everyone was awake next morning. One memory I have, was every year our stockings would be modestly filled with fruit and nuts that were still in the shell, maybe a small gift and the only candy was a candy cane.
My friend’s family does this..
Our stockings always had an orange, some nuts in the shell, and a silver dollar or half dollar in the toe. Then we got all sorts of small gifts like color books or yoyos.
Our stockings are filled with fruits and nuts.
Thank you for reminding me. We always got candy, nuts, and fruit in our stockings. 🤗
The good ole days
Wish i could go back one time to be with my family thats no longer alive. That would be the best gift.
Me too.
Or at least give me the opportunity to say thanks now that I understand how hard holiday celebrations are as all have an idea of what the "perfect" Christmas is to them.
Thank you to my grandparents, parents and all the aunts and uncles who have passed on who tried through good and hard times to pull off the best Christmases in my memory.
68 yrs old here and have been watching Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer every Christmas since it premiered Thanksgiving 1964. watching it as I post this.
I am 68 and I remember Christmas as the most special time of the year. We didn't get many gifts but what we got was very special. Daddy would read The Christmas Story from the Bible and The Night Before Christmas each year. We had a box that Santa left fruit candy and nuts in. I wish we could go back to that time. Children get way too much for Christmas now.
Back in the good times, I can remember them well. From getting ready for the holidays, getting up with presents under the tree, to all the good memories of back then, and the smell of the home cooking, things has really changed since then. I'm 67 now and remembering and watching the Christmas specials on tv, then. 🙂🙂👍
I'm right there with you.
I remember the smell of home cooking and eating with the family every single night. I remember having to eat all the food on my plate if I wanted to watch the Wonderful World of Disney (titled Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color between 1961 and 1969) on Sunday nights!
"The Andy Williams Christmas Album" is my favorite Christmas album to this day.
Same here.
Great voice, my favorite back in the day.
The Andy Williams Christmas Specials were great. Early look into The Osmonds on those Specials, as well.
My mom played Nat King Cole ..."OOOhh, I'm the happiest Christmas tree. Ho Ho Ho, He He He."
Yes, I grew up in the 60's. Loved looking at the catalogs when they came. Listening to the Christmas records. It definitely was a magical time.
I can relate to so many of these comments. But I also remember feeling special dressing up on Christmas Day. My sister and I would have new black patent leather shoes which I thought were the coolest. Mom usually made our clothes and we would have a new dress for that day. I also recall having a white furry (fake) muff and hat with pom-poms on the end of the strings that we would wear whenever we went somewhere special in winter. Money was tight in our family but my Mom always managed to get us new shoes. For Easter, we had white shiny patent leather shoes. Ahhh, the stroll down memory lane.
Was 7 in 1960 so my memory of the 60's is very clear.
Favorite gifts - Bike, James Bond Roadrace, Guitar/Amp, Record Player
Favorite memories - making weird faces using round reflective ornaments, smell of the feast being prepared by Mom, the positive/exciting "vibe", Sears Wish Book & making list, bragging to friends what I got, stocking stuffed with small gifts and candy, opening one gift on Xmas Eve and then not sleeping the whole night on Xmas Eve.
Other memories - turning on the outdoor lights and a fuse blows and part of the house goes dark, Xmas star on top of tree always being crooked, taking the tree down (sob), parents being so tired (Xmas morning) they could hardly function after staying up late putting together all the gifts from "Santa"
The 50's and 60'd was the best time to be a kid in history. Neighborhoods bursting with kids of all ages, great stuff to pick out, zenith of middle class buying power, and a general feeling of well-being. Schools were still centers of education and not indoctrination. And as a boy...so many cute girls to dream about. Never went thru the "I hate girls" phase.
I remember my sisters getting Lite Brite, Toss Across, Trouble and Hungry Hungry Hippo!
Those were the best times. God forbid you take a picture today of a kid holding a BB gun. They'll go nuts.
I know I grew up with BB guns and water pistols and playing cowboys and Indians you do that today and you get put in jail it's just so sad sick, have a blessed Christmas 🎄
Wouldn't they ever... a shame everything's so "PC" today.
I doubt very seriously if a kid would be happy with a BB gun! Dream on
They're already nuts, bb guns are just a way to project their insanity
And they're right to "go nuts" because - times have changed thanks to the NRA and some Americans value their guns over human life.
I was born in 1963 so I've experienced everything in this video. It truly was a magical time and I have many cherished memories with mom & dad and my family. Last year my mother died, so both of my parents are now gone. Holidays and life in general will never be the same and I have no wife or family of my own. I think this might be my last Christmas, I have made the decision to join my parents
I too was born in 63. Step dad passed years ago, mom passed in 2012 after 11 year battle with cancer, son passed in 2019 from a short battle of cancer. I know I have to live my life out to join them. Can't take your own life and expect to see them. Hang in there remember the good times and forget the bad.
As was I. Memories not so great, but cherished just the same. All gone, adoptive and birth. Marriage not in the stars. I don't know you, tho I can identify, as the struggle is real. That said, I'm sorry to hear. I hope you reconsider.
I’m 63 and this was a sweet look back at such innocent times. 💕
My house is decorated with decorations from the 50s and 60s. I have many of my parents early decorations. I also have collected decorations as an adult.
I have quite a few vintage decorations myself. I love going to thrift stores and garage sales and finding vintage treasures.
I’m 72 years old and I have the little church that my grandmother would put out each Christmas. It’s lit up and among the other decorations as I type this. It is lit inside with a small bulb and it has a wind up key on the back that will make it play “Silent Night”.
I have all my mother’s and mother in laws Christmas decorations. And all my children’s decorations they made in elementary school on my Christmas Tree with the vintage. I remove all pictures in my living room, dining room and kitchen and place the vintage on the wall, and tables. My grandchildren love the decorations. Some of the decorations are a 100
Years Old. Also, I saw some of mine and sister’s Christmas gifts in the video. We would have a doll each under the tree and the stove in the video that cooked food and the pots and pans. Another Christmas we had a doll each and the Doll house in the video with furniture and baby doll beds. We shared the stove and doll house. We had very nice dolls. And mother would sew our doll clothes. And each year we had a very nice pair of pajamas or beautiful gown. Mother and my Aunts made lots of homemade food and baked goods and cooked for days. We only received toys on Christmas and our Birthday parties. And mother was a beautiful seamstress and made all our clothes and taught us how to sew. We made Christmas Cookies every Christmas and my daughter continues the traditions with her son. And made cookies with my other grandchildren and carried the traditions with them and my son.
@@USHighway66 I have the same church that was my grandparent’s. It’s plastic with stain glass windows that glow when lit.
@@julialane6645 that's so wonderful.
Merry Christmas.
My mom remembers, back than she was born in 1954, she said she loved her Chatty Cathy doll.
I was born in 1953. I was poking around before Christmas, looking for presents, when I saw my Chatty Cathy doll in my parents' closet! I was so mad at myself for spoiling my surprise!
I probably still have Chatty Cathy somewhere in the attic! 1956 here.
@@malloryjines5050 I remember very well the moment when the string came loose from the ring, and disappeared forever into the doll. I kept talking about sending her to the doll hospital, but it never happened. :(
I was born in 1954, and got my first barbie doll...by today's standards I would've been too old at 9, but my best friend and I would play for hours together with our dolls what fun we had!
@@janinegrey6937 Dear me! Maybe put one aside for later, but never saw it again? Seems a bit harsh.
Most of those photos look exactly like my childhood Christmases. Beautiful nostalgia for this '55 Boomer...
YUP, l'm going on 63, and looks like Chritmases gone by❣ More magical than today🎄🎇 Nostalgiac and brings back memories.
Christmas of '68 I got my first Hot Wheels track set. It was the loop stunt set, and I still remember the smell of that new track and the cars as I opened them up. All five senses were reeling in those good, positive days!
I remember the Christmas corsages we wore on our coats to church- artificial and with little brass bells! And ALL the cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents....every year someone had a baby!! Great times...not a lot of stuff, but much happiness!!
I loved Christmas corsages!
I was born on Thanksgiving day 1966, I can remember Christmas in the late 60s and 70s, those times were the greatest of my life , it was truly magical, ,
I was a part of those 1960s Christmas’….What I miss the most are all of those siblings, parents, grandparents, great grandparents that are no longer with us today….We pray for all of them, keep them in our memories and close to our hearts.
My siblings ranged from being born from the 1940's to 1960's, me being a 50's baby. I came fom a large family so my Mum and Dad were up most of the night wrapping hidden gifts and putting stockings together. The stockings were to keep us satisfied so my parents could grab a couple of hours sleep in the morning - we didn't wake them up. We then had our traditional brunch made by my Dad and opened all gifts together one by one. It would take all afternoon. Our gifts were selected from the Sears catalogue. Great times.