It's fun to look up what was "in" the year you were born, but in this list, the real fun is looking up what the hot gifts for kids were in the years you were, say, five to ten years old. Did you get the gift you wanted most? Did it end up on this list? It starts in 1955, when Silly Putty was all the rage, and it fit easily into a Christmas stocking. It was quickly eclipsed by Play-Doh, which came in colors and tasted better. As you go through the list, the toys will became less familiar in the years you were a teenager or young adult, and then the memories will be of the toys you bought for your children. Or at least what they asked for. The list ends at 1995, so it should cover most of us.
Some of these gifts were a bit head-scratching, both then and now. Pet Rocks were hot in 1975, but I can't imagine any child being excited about one. It was more for adults who were hard to buy for, or who were into the latest trend, even if it was a joke. However, the entry for 1957 is "water balloons," which are just balloons that you put water in. Did any child ever write Santa Claus asking for them? Maybe there was no historically hot toy that year. See the entire list at History Collection. -via Nag on the Lake
I think my parents watched way too much Ed Sullivan's show with those wonky acts like that talking hand 'puppet' and those animal acts and some guy balancing spinning dishes on sticks while handstanding on a chair because one holiday I got a frisbee on a stick toy. You'd put the stick vertically in your hand and turn the frisbee over so the stick would hold it up and then you spun that disc. What a waste of time and money!
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