In 1938 a five-year-old called Christine Way wrote a sweet little letter to Santa, which was then shoved up the chimney of her Powys home – to be found this year. The family were rich enough to have a nanny – it was probably she who did the shoving – but Christine’s demands were modest. “Dear Father Xmas,” she wrote. “Please bring me some nice toys and a hymn book … Love, Christine.”
“I wonder how many children now ask for a hymn book,” 82-year-old Christine said. “I get absolutely aghast with how materialistic we have become, especially at Christmas.”
She may have a point. According to Hamleys, the world’s biggest toy store, the top presents this Christmas include an interactive Tracy Island for £80 (not counting the Thunderbirds vehicles to go with it, priced £15 and up), a Wi-Fi- and camera-equipped LeapPad Platinum tablet at £120, and a remote-control Skate and Sing Elsa doll at £40. Press a button and Frozen’s chilly little princess will belt out Let It Go. It might be more appropriate if she sang Santa Baby, with its demands for “a sable”, “a ’54 convertible”, “a yacht” and “the deed to a platinum mine”.
Tell us what you asked Father Christmas for when you were a child – and what your ultimate gift would be this year.
