What gift items do you remember from your childhood which would never be gifts today?

[FredaFrogspawn]

Another thread ended up accidentally debating the fact that ashtrays were common gifts for weddings or twenty first birthdays. I remember big marble or onyx ones, and ones on a stand which went by the arm of the chair. No one smoked in our house and we still had a shed load of these things.
Another thing I remember is steering wheel covers, in pleather. What were those about?? And leather covers for the TV listings magazines we all had to have before papers printed what was on with ‘Radio Times’ self importantly embossed on them. (My dad kept his TV Times in there and ringed the programmes he wanted to watch with a Quink ink capitalised ‘Tell Dad When This Is On.’)

Anything else?

😹😹😹 I had forgotten most of these but now remember them well!

The one that always sticks in my mind is getting a Spirograph for Christmas in the mid 60's. I was thrilled with it!

Oh sugar mice!

Semaphore flags!

I think every girl got a dressing table set for her 14th in the 60s.

@Equimum
Ds is 13yo and loves washing the car and often asks for stuff to do it.

Tights. My mum used to always buy tights for the teachers end of term gifts. I think I was about 8 when I realised that nobody else gave the teacher tights.

This was maybe just my weird family but did anyone else have a glass fake fish tank? With floating glass fish. They’d get hand painted things for it for presents. I’m not explaining it very well ha haaaa

Satsumas in Christmas stockings.

Nylon quilted dressing gowns in pale purple.
Picnic melaware.
Tiny tears.
Those basket toys with a trim offer which flipped a ball into the air so you could catch it again.
Creepy big doll head thing for practicing hairdressing.

And I adored my Spirograph too.

@WinWinnieTheWay not quite drawer liners but my mum (well meaning but has quite poor social skills generally) once bought a basket of Bromley soaps for me to take to a friend's birthday party at that age, I was absolutely mortified!

One Christmas I opened a gift from an elderly great aunt. I looked at it and thought this is a strange looking skirt and I don't wear skirts. Mum laughed and said it is an underskirt and explained what it was for. I said no way am I wearing that and mum threw it away as I recall. It wasn't inappropriate but for me it was a weird gift.

Talcum powder in a plastic box with a big fluffy applicator. I remember seeing the distinct shape in my stocking one christmas and being so excited as it was what grown ups had. I was probably 5 or 6

Pomanders or the fragranced sheets of paper to line your drawers with.

A single pound in a card.

I always had a pair of grey (!) tights in size small from my great aunt - I think she had a subscription for them.

Handkerchiefs.

We had a press down, spinning ashtray thing that would open and hide the ash to prevent it smelling too much.

Jewellery boxes, with a twirling ballerina on top if you were really lucky.

I got a girl from UNCLE set )United Network Command for Law Enforcement). It had a garter gun for shooting baddies and a fountain pen with invisible ink! You wrote your note then the person receiving the blank letter had to hold it over a naked flame to make the words visible again

@VimFuego101 I put satsumas in my kids stockings!

Oh this thread is taking me back! I was thrilled one Christmas when I was about 8 to get a pair of peach fluffy slip on slippers with shiny back soles. Went well with the quilted dressing gown! Also, long party dresses. Everyone wore long dresses to children’s parties.

Fuzzy felt sets.
Matchbox cars in little cardboard boxes.
Those bath cubes came with guest soaps the shape of flat roses.
Cremola Foam
Guest books for your visitors to appraise you in writing.
Telephone tables for the hall - a stool with an attached platform for the phone.

And a shelf for the yellow pages.

Talcum powder
Sented Drawer liners
Bath pearls
Shell covered jewellery boxes

You have brought back some memories here. I still have my very fancy Scottish doll in her tube as well as my original spirograph set from around 1970.

Not quite the gift itself but I remember how lots of gift items came in little wicker baskets with foam fillers hidden underneath

Notelets

Bed jackets

Fuzzy Felt sets.. I loved them, but can't imagine a child playing with them now!

Those timings you held to your eye and through a system of mirrors saw wonderful symmetrical glitter snowflakes