All those who were snookered into buying something from the back of a comic book when you were a kid, raise your hands! Come on, raise 'em up there. They promised some fine stuff to our young hearts and we waited impatiently for our packages to show up, did we not? 100 dolls for only $1.00! I couldn't wait to see what I had ordered. Perhaps you boys ordered the soldier set complete with foot locker. 100 toy soldiers, each with its own base. And only $1.25. Wow! What a deal!
I had pestered Mom for days, possibly weeks, before she finally caved in and I filled in those tiny blank lines with all the important information, like my name and address.
Anticipation ran high and patience wore thin as day after day no package came. Finally, the big day arrived and my mother handed it to me. I thought, surely 100 fully clothed dolls each with individual costumes couldn't possibly fit into that little box. Surely this was just one, with 99 boxes yet to come.
I suppose Mom knew, but had decided it might be time for me to start to learn the ways of the world. It was my first lesson in not believing everything you read. And it was a hard one.
When I opened up the box, there they were, in all their pink splendor. They were Styrene plastic alright, whatever that was. I stared into the box, not quite ready to believe that was it, not quite ready to believe that the world could be so cruel.
Heartless marketers. What a disappointment!
ReplyDeleteThey're still heartless and still making the same lame promises. Now they're on TV and internet...obviously, we all keep buying??? I can remember selling what seemed like a million boxes of girl scout cookies. Ended up just a shy short of what was needed for the big prize. Can't remember what I ended up getting, but it was a real dud. Never sold GS cookies again... I still love the mint ones, tho!!!
ReplyDeleteLinda, Disappointment doesn't begin to cover it. Seems like a million years ago. Seems like yesterday.
ReplyDeleteLynn, So young, and so bitter. :)
That's just so sad! I would have been heartbroken, but then again, as you mother thought, it was a lesson worth learning. And only $1!
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm sure your Mother knew and you hit that nail on the head. Maybe she thought it was time to introduce you to the real world. I'm so sorry your bubble had to burst like this.But those little plastic pieces remind me of pictures of something I don't want to mention. How sad. Well, just give warm Buddy a nuzzle. He's better than a hundred dolls, anyway.
ReplyDeleteManzanita@Wannabuyaduck
Oh my. I can imagine the heartbreak.
ReplyDeleteHello Teresa:
ReplyDeleteOh, yes. cruel, cruel world! But how good to learn at an early age that 'there aint no justice' and that life is never fair!
And, we suppose, in addition, you get what you pay for!!
DJan, It was a relatively inexpensive lesson, although at that time even a dollar could buy something of substance: milk, bread, like that. :)
ReplyDeleteManzanita, Buddy's better than two hundred dolls... Way better.
Nancy, Yes, heartbreak. And bitter tears.
Jane and Lance, Ain't no justice, that's for sure. That last lesson has stuck with me, for certain.
Oh the disappointment, but what a lesson. Maybe we children in NZ were saved from this because all comics came from far away in far distant reaches of the world.. out of my reach and all I could do was dream.
ReplyDeleteAh! Caveat emptor.
ReplyDeleteJoan, Saved from crushing disappointment, you were. :)
ReplyDeleteAlan, Indeed.
For a dime you could get a Charles Atlas workout. A friend got it and never became the star it offered to make him.
ReplyDeleteSteve,OOTP
Hi Steve, There were also miniature submarines and sea horses, if memory serves me. Probably others, as well. So many ways to have our hopes and dreams dashed!
ReplyDeleteWhat a disappointment! I would have been crushed!
ReplyDeleteYes, Crushed I was. And scarred. :)
ReplyDeleteLife has a way of smacking us in the face Teresa...:-)
ReplyDeleteSometimes, Paul, especially when we find ourselves learning life's lessons the hard way. Which is usually when we resist learning them a much easier way! :)
ReplyDeleteFirst off, feeling better this day? I do hope so...now about those dolls; yes, I bought one or two things but I joined the SMokey Bear CLub and sent away for free Bibles; I didn't know any better...however I was proud 'To prevent Forest Fires!' because as Smokey says, 'Only YOU can prevent Forest fires!'
ReplyDeleteanyway, I bet that was a shocker to receive that tiny box...awww...
Tracy, You are so sweet to ask. Yes, I am, much better. Thank you. This is so funny, as I won the third grade Smokey the Bar coloring contest and my boyfriend, Billy, was not happy. Apparently, he thought he should have won it. I got a Smokey the Bear t-shirt, a coloring book, and other goodies I can't recall now, but I recall Billy's remarks. Maybe he just liked me and boys tease when they like you. Yeah, that's it, we'll go with that. :)
ReplyDeleteNot Smokey the Bar, LOL, really, Smokey the Bear.
ReplyDeleteThat was a tough lesson. Mine had something to do with seahorses. What a disappointment.
ReplyDeleteYes, Karena, seahorses. Brutal, wasn't it? :)
ReplyDeleteFor clarification: despite my previous pity party post (my Lord, that's alliteration), this post was meant to be light-hearted and slightly tongue in cheek, childhood disappointments notwithstanding. My sense of humor is slightly sideways.
ReplyDeleteWhat is it with all this alliteration?
One of life's cruel lessons, I think those dolls could be put into some type of assemblage art. Now some of those toy soldiers are probably valuable, but not those dolls, Ugh. when I was a child I looked forward to the toy inside the cereal box or carmel corn, but never ordered anything. Last place I lived the UPS guy said he delivered more boxes from the shopping channel than anything else, me I like to see what I'm buying first.
ReplyDeleteLinda, That UPS story is very telling about the mindset here in America. People still equate buying and accumulating stuff as the road to happiness.
ReplyDelete" Our true home is in the oresent moment ". - Thicht Nhat Hanh
ReplyDeletePaul, Absolutely. I agree completely. But it's still fun look back once in a while at my childhood self and find the humor there.
ReplyDelete