Childhood hampers

I received a clothes hamper just recently as a gift and it brought back some of my fondest childhood memories. Hampers are connected with food stuffs generally (sometimes clothing too) but when I was young I did receive a present of a hamper containing just toys. I was about 10 years of age and had been rather poorly and I was just home from the hospital. It was left for me by a maiden Aunt who had not previously shown any interest in her nephews and nieces.

In the hamper there were several small wrapped presents and the first one I opened contained three die cast cars with tiny rubber tires with trunks and doors that opened. They were red, yellow and blue in color and I could not believe my eyes to see such a bountiful present. I began to play with them immediately by allowing them to roll across the floor which was not very level and ideal for rolling toy cars.

After about 5 minutes my Mom reminded me that the hamper contained yet more gifts (I had completely forgotten in the excitement). Imagine my surprise when I unwrapped another three cars and then another three and by the time I unwrapped the final package of yet three more cars I was ecstatic with the excitement of it all. I had a dozen brand new toy cars and each one was a different color and shape.

Today’s hampers

I have made hampers for my own kids (including toy car ones) over the recent years but I don’t think they will ever get the same surprise or enjoyment from a hamper as I did many years ago. The nearest time was when I made chocolate hampers for each of them at Easter time when they were really pleased with the surprise. Children are not as impressionable today as they were 30 or 40 years ago and that is a great shame in my opinion.