EP 41 - GENX CHRISTMAS

The Girls discuss a few of their favorite things from Christmases of yore... which Wrapping Type was your house? Random Slapdash, Artform Wrapping, or Gift Wrapped at The Store? The Giant Barbie Head. String tinsel. Robbie-Ann's magical mid-70s favorite cozy Christmas, when the power went out: a fire in the fireplace, her family intact. The Traditions: Amy reveals her family's Christmas Eves spent at her grandmother's house in Los Angeles. 60s ornaments, and all the vintage decorations. Groovy wrapping paper. The Nut Bowl. Christmas carols and the Christmas ham. Robbie-Ann describes the vast difference between her father's parents' (Oma and Opa) perfect formal Christmas Eve dinners, and her mother's parents' (Bill and Helen) chaotic but fun Christmas Day meals at their restaurant tavern. Oyster stew. Sticking a Cheeto inside a Bugle. Tiny vintage Coke bottles. Robbie-Ann's Oma: Wrapping Artist. Gramma Helen and Grampa Bill's cast of thousands at Christmas Day dinner. "Hasty" present wrapping. Total chaos when the kids tore the gifts open. Gramma Helen's maximalist decorating style - every inch covered with garland and holiday tchotchkes. Robbie-Ann and her cousin Michelle's almost-matching gifts. Pre-divorce Christmas vs. Post-Divorce Christmas. Amy describes the magic of dressing up with ribbons and tights and patent leather shoes. The end of the formal holidays. Amy and Robbie-Ann talk about restoring the formality. Inviting the TV for dinner: killer of family interaction or much-needed friend to the latchkey kid? Sidebar: Robbie-Ann recommends the movie Avalon for a stunning movie about how TV destroyed the "family." Amy disagrees, offering the value of TV to a lonely latchkey kid. Amy discusses the awkward phase when you are no longer the adorable center of attention, and when you grow up and have to actually work on Christmas. Blanking out unhappy Christmases. The Psyche Wounds of GenX Kids after divorce. The Girls talk about an infamous Christmas they spent together years ago after a miserable 7am-3pm shift at The Famous Deli: drinking their sorrows away in a ratchet strip mall Old Man Bar. Amy recalls several lonely Christmases, staring at her apartment wall. Sidebar: TV is a friend and companion for the lonely and sad. Amy's window on the world, through the TV. The Rankin-Bass specials: celebrating Misfits. Look up behind the scenes of the Rankin-Bass videos on YouTube! Robbie-Ann's staunch belief in the Magic of Christmas, fed by movies and television. Amy reveals she was never told about Santa Clause. Robbie-Ann recalls believing at four years old, when Santa wrote her a nice note explaining why she couldn't get a camera for Christmas. The Proxy Santa. The Food! Baked goods, ribbon candy, the Lifesaver story book gift sets. The Bonne Bell Lipsmacker gift set.  Robbie-Ann's memory of receiving grown-up Blue Jean perfume. Amy recalls Tinkerbell bath products. The ritual trip to Hickory Farms. Christmas cookies. Peppermint bark. Peanut butter cookies with Hershey's kisses mushed in the top. The cornflake green wreath cookies. Gingerbread houses. The music. The smells. Real vs. Fake Trees. Is there a loss of "specialness" of Christmas rituals and traditions because we can get anything we want any time we want? The right Christmas "vibe," the right Hallmark Christmas movie. Stocking gifts: batteries and Lipsmacker. Wonky bossa nova "modern" Christmas Carols from the late 60s.  Robbie-Ann describes working during Christmas season at the record store: little grammas trying to buy modern music for their grandkids. Christmas shopping back in the day: decorations wall-to-wall, big crowds. PSA: be KIND to your local retail clerk during Christmas Season. They are in hell. Robbie-Ann shares her magic, never-fail secret for surviving busy Christmas shopping, handed down to her by a fellow cocktail waitress when she lived in New York City. Sidebar: yes, Robbie-Ann was once a cocktail waitress in a big Times Square nightclub. Hello to our listeners all around the world, and Merry Christmas!