The Beagle Log, 15 December 2007 -- Gifts

Subject: The Beagle Log, 15 December 2007 -- Gifts Sat 15 Dec 2007 - 1:03

Good Morning, welcome to another weekend
Counting today, 10 shopping days left until Christmas.

This got me thinking about memorable gifts: not the most expensive, the flashiest, or unique, but ones recalled with some fondness. When I was 11, I received a “Prince Valiant” shield, helmet, and sword; much like the ones shown here.

Picture from wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Valiant

Well maybe not exactly the same.
(My little brother about age 5 is next to me.)

After a short period I came to realize that the helmet and sword were of little practical value, but the shied, the shield was very functional for snowball fights. With it strapped to you forearm, you had two hands free to make a snowball, and when needed just grab the hand strap. It did become rather battered after a few days, but no less functional.

What memorable gifts do you recall?
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Don

Subject: Re: The Beagle Log, 15 December 2007 -- Gifts Sat 15 Dec 2007 - 17:46

Hi Don!

My most memorable gift was a 'doll's pram' towards the end of WW2.

Such things were unheard of in war time Britain, however, my grand father was in the Merchant Navy. He travelled all over the world and during the war of course he never knew where he would go next or for how long. (On one occasion he virtually circumnavigated the world without an escort. Merchant ships often felt safer without an escort as they could evade the attention of u boats if they were alone. A flotilla of boats often drew unwanted attention from enemy craft. Of course if they had no escort they had no fire power so in itself it was a risky undertaking.)

My grandfather decided that I was to have a pram for my much loved dolls and set out to find one in USA whilst the ship was in port. All the cargo had to be stored below decks in the hold so when he returned to the ship he handed the pram over for storage. That was the last he saw of it for some very considerable time. The ship voyaged on no doubt other things occupied his mind untill the wonderful day when they docked safe and sound in England!

Unfortunately, they didn't dock in Liverpool. However, his first thought, naturally, was to get to Liverpool as quickly as possible to see his wife and family. There was no question of waiting for the ship to be unloaded! Some time later he was contacted by his colleague who had been left in charge of the ship. The pram had been discovered and now needed to continue its journey!

At this point Grandfather really did have a problem! In those days of rationing etc how was he to fetch the gift? No one was going to risk the journey just for a child's toy! It was decided that the pram would have to travel alone. I can imagine my grandmother, and a few other people, telling him just what she thought of that idea! How could such a prize possession be trusted to the rail network at a time of great hardship and deprivation? Surely it would never be seen again. And so the pram, without any wrapping or protection, was entrusted to the guard on the London - Liverpool train. So far so good.!

This is when the real difficulties began. In war time a train travelling that distance could be diverted and take days rather than hours to arrive. How was anyone to know when or where the pram had arrived in Liverpool? I seem to remember that by this time my grandfather had been recalled to sea and so the women at home were left to chase the pram. It seems that the pram was put in the guards van of a local train on its arrival in Liverpool and travelled the local network until such time as a member of the family managed to track it down. It was very much a case of luck with lots of helpful comments such as 'last seen at.........' along the way! No one, by this time, thought it would ever be seen again by the family. But it was. It was found, without a scratch on it, in the back of a guard's van, the guard being very reluctant to part with it without proof of ownership, of which we had none!

So what does this say about war time Britain? Amidst all the horror many, many people were totally trustworthy and cared about the small things in life. I loved that American doll's pram for many years-until it was worn out.

Gillian
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''What will survive of us is love.'' Philip Larkin

Subject: Re: The Beagle Log, 15 December 2007 -- Gifts Sat 15 Dec 2007 - 18:38

Gillian, that is a great story! Good things do happen Smile

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Don

Subject: Re: The Beagle Log, 15 December 2007 -- Gifts Mon 17 Dec 2007 - 19:20

Mine was Monopoly and its dated 1972...and i went to bed crying because i was out and my mum,dad,nan and granddad where still playing it at midnight.
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Maxine
Friendship~
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