Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Looney Tunes and Dwarfs
When I was in my teens and twenties, giving gifts was my talent. I listened to everyone about things they wanted, what caught their eye, and what was going on in their life. It became my badge of honor to give "the gift". It didn't have to be big, just memorable and thought out.
On one side of the family, there are 13 grandchildren in my generation. The first 6 were boys, then 5 girls, a boy and lastly a girl. With the last seven, I started giving themed, unified gifts for the group. There's 11 years between the oldest and youngest, but at the time I could get away with it.
As with many shopping stories, it started with a trip to the mall. Wandering around looking for a gift at Christmas for kids 15-26 years younger than yourself can be a challenge. Considering I'm doing the shopping, it shouldn't be a surprise, I ended up at the Warner Bros. store. Laid out on one of the tables are white t-shirts with character faces printed on them. At the time, I only had the 5 girls needing gifts. Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester, Tweety, and Road Runner. Perfect!! The five girls were each given their own character. After the other two were born, Wil E Coyote and Speedy Gonzalez were added to the mix. Because a touch of thought went into it, the characters were appropriately matched up with siblings. Bugs and Daffy were sisters. Road Runner and Wil E Coyote were sister and brother. Bugs, Daffy and Speedy were sisters. This last group may not seem an appropriate match with Speedy in the mix, but since Speedy popped out after about 15 minutes in labor, quite appropriate.
Being the gift giver required year round shopping. The 5, then 7 characters required consistant awareness about what was available. Anytime I saw a Looney Tune character, I checked to see if the other six were present. If so, was it a good gift for kids. Over the years I was able to do t-shirts, mugs, ornaments and a couple of other things. The year I gave mugs, I obtained them while on a trip in NY. It turned out not only did the mugs have all seven characters in the picture, but they were also personalized with each kid's name. I found six on the shelf at the store. The seventh required a call to the company that would personalize if the name wasn't available. Eventhough the company had ended the promotion, I was still able to get the seventh mug thanks to a very nice lady at the company.
After a few years of Bugs and gang, I was looking for other options. You only need so many t-shirts and beverage containers. Plus when you need seven variations, challenges increase. I thought about going the Disney character route but that seemed a little like cheating. Plus which characters? The original five Looney Tunes were picked on chance and fate. Too many preconceived thoughts and missing the perfect thing can happen.
While Mickey and Donald might have been my initial thought walking into The Disney Store, it didn't take long for me to find seven fellows who'd end up fitting the bill perfectly. It might seem like a no brainer, but it wasn't until I started looking at a bunch of figurines that I stumbled upon them. Once I found them, how do I match up the characters with my cousins? With the Looney Tunes it was a bit by chance and logic. Bugs with Daffy and Sylvester with Tweety were matched pairs. I gave my favs Sylvester and Tweety. Easy enough to split. The dwarfs were challenging because each one had a personality quirk. Who got Happy? Who was Doc? Even harder who was Dopey?
By this time, the kids were definately showing their own personality quirks. I started matching them up. The oldest got Doc. Happy and Bashful were fairly easy to match. Grumpy was a breeze. The last three, well, that's when I got a touch evil. Actually, I'd already crossed that line with Grumpy, but Dopey was there with the final three. I chose the kid who resembled him and Dopey, they got. Next came the hard part, how do I explain how each kid got which dwarf. I couldn't exactly tell the truth on Christmas day. Between the parents and kids, I was bound to hurt someone's feelings. I called in the reinforcements....Mom. A 15 minute conversation later and "Each kid was matched up by pulling names out of a hat". That's the story and I'm sticking to it. I think only 3 people know the truth.
For the dwarf year, I started the kids off with a 9 inch stuffed dwarf. Can't think what has followed, but soon Looney Tunes and Dwarfs have gone by the wayside and Gap/Abercrombie/Banana Republic have come to the forefront.
I've got a list of each of the kids and which character they are matched up with. I figure at some future date I'll do another themed holiday gift. Until then, there is still the Tiffany keyring with engraved initials on their 16th birthday. Nothing like a little blue box in a little blue bag. Four down, three to go.
When I was in my teens and twenties, giving gifts was my talent. I listened to everyone about things they wanted, what caught their eye, and what was going on in their life. It became my badge of honor to give "the gift". It didn't have to be big, just memorable and thought out.
On one side of the family, there are 13 grandchildren in my generation. The first 6 were boys, then 5 girls, a boy and lastly a girl. With the last seven, I started giving themed, unified gifts for the group. There's 11 years between the oldest and youngest, but at the time I could get away with it.
As with many shopping stories, it started with a trip to the mall. Wandering around looking for a gift at Christmas for kids 15-26 years younger than yourself can be a challenge. Considering I'm doing the shopping, it shouldn't be a surprise, I ended up at the Warner Bros. store. Laid out on one of the tables are white t-shirts with character faces printed on them. At the time, I only had the 5 girls needing gifts. Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester, Tweety, and Road Runner. Perfect!! The five girls were each given their own character. After the other two were born, Wil E Coyote and Speedy Gonzalez were added to the mix. Because a touch of thought went into it, the characters were appropriately matched up with siblings. Bugs and Daffy were sisters. Road Runner and Wil E Coyote were sister and brother. Bugs, Daffy and Speedy were sisters. This last group may not seem an appropriate match with Speedy in the mix, but since Speedy popped out after about 15 minutes in labor, quite appropriate.
Being the gift giver required year round shopping. The 5, then 7 characters required consistant awareness about what was available. Anytime I saw a Looney Tune character, I checked to see if the other six were present. If so, was it a good gift for kids. Over the years I was able to do t-shirts, mugs, ornaments and a couple of other things. The year I gave mugs, I obtained them while on a trip in NY. It turned out not only did the mugs have all seven characters in the picture, but they were also personalized with each kid's name. I found six on the shelf at the store. The seventh required a call to the company that would personalize if the name wasn't available. Eventhough the company had ended the promotion, I was still able to get the seventh mug thanks to a very nice lady at the company.
After a few years of Bugs and gang, I was looking for other options. You only need so many t-shirts and beverage containers. Plus when you need seven variations, challenges increase. I thought about going the Disney character route but that seemed a little like cheating. Plus which characters? The original five Looney Tunes were picked on chance and fate. Too many preconceived thoughts and missing the perfect thing can happen.
While Mickey and Donald might have been my initial thought walking into The Disney Store, it didn't take long for me to find seven fellows who'd end up fitting the bill perfectly. It might seem like a no brainer, but it wasn't until I started looking at a bunch of figurines that I stumbled upon them. Once I found them, how do I match up the characters with my cousins? With the Looney Tunes it was a bit by chance and logic. Bugs with Daffy and Sylvester with Tweety were matched pairs. I gave my favs Sylvester and Tweety. Easy enough to split. The dwarfs were challenging because each one had a personality quirk. Who got Happy? Who was Doc? Even harder who was Dopey?
By this time, the kids were definately showing their own personality quirks. I started matching them up. The oldest got Doc. Happy and Bashful were fairly easy to match. Grumpy was a breeze. The last three, well, that's when I got a touch evil. Actually, I'd already crossed that line with Grumpy, but Dopey was there with the final three. I chose the kid who resembled him and Dopey, they got. Next came the hard part, how do I explain how each kid got which dwarf. I couldn't exactly tell the truth on Christmas day. Between the parents and kids, I was bound to hurt someone's feelings. I called in the reinforcements....Mom. A 15 minute conversation later and "Each kid was matched up by pulling names out of a hat". That's the story and I'm sticking to it. I think only 3 people know the truth.
For the dwarf year, I started the kids off with a 9 inch stuffed dwarf. Can't think what has followed, but soon Looney Tunes and Dwarfs have gone by the wayside and Gap/Abercrombie/Banana Republic have come to the forefront.
I've got a list of each of the kids and which character they are matched up with. I figure at some future date I'll do another themed holiday gift. Until then, there is still the Tiffany keyring with engraved initials on their 16th birthday. Nothing like a little blue box in a little blue bag. Four down, three to go.
