Christmas is coming...

Max charged up the Wayback Machine overnight, so we’re ready to go. The holiday season is approaching. Let’s take a trip back in time and find out what was selling during the Christmas season. What were the popular items that all the good little girls and boys wanted?

Max is going to set the dial for the year 1959 and the location for downtown Kansas City. We’ll arrive shortly in front of Macy’s and take a gander into the decorated front window.

Here we are, and the window looks gorgeous, as usual. There are green trees with white lights. A train is chugging past the animated elves and reindeer. And just look at the toys!

I see a Milton Bradley Candyland game and Chutes and Ladders. There’s a big, shiny red Schwinn bicycle leaning majestically against the back wall right next to a Radio Flyer wagon.

On the other side is Robbie the Robot waving his arms at Betsy Wetsy. And right next to her is Barbie in her zebra striped bathing suit. Next to the Litte Chef Stove there's a can of Lincoln Logs, some Tinker Toys, and an Erector Set. Matchbox cars are driving through the snow, and there’s Davy Crockett wearing his coonskin cap.

Back in the corner is a View-Master, Silly Putty, a Slinky and Mr. Potato Head. Wow! But I don’t see the official Red Ryder 200-shot carbine-action range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing which tells time.

It's amazing how times change. When we were kids we were perfectly pleased with a coiled up piece of wire that would slink down the stairs. And we knew we had to be good or we wouldn't get anything but a bag of coal.

Today it's cell phones, X-Boxes, and the Wii. But even during the fifties things may have been changing. The boy on the left seems to be wondering, "What the heck was I thinking when I asked for this?"

So, Christmas is on the way. And if you've got 99 cents to spare, you could make my granddaughter very happy. See the book cover on the right sidebar? The one that says "Scary Night Music"? That's the link to an ebook. She's the cover model and the star of the mystery. I told her I would split any income it generated. She has a lot of faith in my marketing abilities, so she's hoping for lots of money.

If you have an e-reader you might want to order a copy. If you've got a reluctant reader in your family, it might be the trick to get them interested. It's a wee bit scary, but not too bad. Even if you don't have an e-reader, you can a Kindle for PC or Kindle for Mac free at Amazon.com so you can read ebooks on your laptop. How cool is that? How did we get by without all this high tech stuff in the fifties?