My parents used the trunk of the car to hide stuff, but only after I found the stash of gifts in the end of their bedroom closet.

I actually never tried to find my presents-I wanted to be surprised on Christmas Day! Now, my brother was another story-he always tried and did find them.

I have no idea where my parents hid the gifts. I never looked and wanted to stay on Santa‘s good list.😉

This is my big sister and me with Christmas gifts. I received a purple Kidillac but I really liked my magic magnet. My bratty sister threw it in the snow later on. 🙁

Same as Ollie - I was happy to be surprised, but our youngest sister was hell bent on finding out, and would snoop until she found something and sometimes aggressively pry at the gifts if they were already wrapped - she also cheated at board games - still does 😄

I think my parents used a variety of hiding places, and I have a hunch that our nearby relatives helped with hiding places too.

Barbies were my all-time fave toys as well. I can't recall getting any for Christmas tho. Never had a dollhouse either, other than a brief time with a hand-me-down original dream home that was made from cardboard, so it didn't last us very long. We had to make our own houses from cardboard boxes and scraps - those didn't last very long either.

It's hard to recall which toys we got for Christmas and which we got at other times of the year. I do recall an Easy Bake oven that was really fun, but the Creepy Crawlers Thingmaker was even more fun.

Anticipation is so exciting, I’m almost let down after giftsare opened. A much loved gift was a rabbit fur hat and muff with red velvet strawberries on it.

Favorites-- football and bicycle. I don't think I looked for presents. With six kids, I don't know where my parents could have hidden them.

My mom hid gifts under her bed and yes, I peeked.

I hid my kids’ gifts in garbage bags in the back of the garage! No one had any idea.

There is probably something wrong with me - I never peeked, still don't. The surprise was too important. My Mom would even let me wrap the gifts and I never looked. I don't even look when I recognize our jeweler's receipt on DH's desk.

One year when the kids were young we had a brand new garbage can that hadn't been used - great place for gifts.

My favorite christmas gift was a black lab puppy from my brother. I was ten years old. My brother bought him from a department store and wasn't the healthiest dog and his poop proved it. I promptly shared ownership with my sister.

I was playing hide and seek with friends in my house. I hid under my moms bed. What a surprise! I came nose to nose with all the Christmas gifts.

Favorite gift: Chrissy Doll

My favorite Christmas gift was a cowgirl outfit my grandparents gave me when I was around 6. I have a photo of me in it. At the time they lived in Texas and had taken us to a rodeo during a summer visit. I loved the rodeo and all the pageantry.

Yes, I snooped when I was older, but do not recall looking as a young child. My parents owned a furniture and appliance store so I have a feeling many of our larger gifts were kept there until Christmas Eve. Except one year I recall my mother had some gifts in the trunk of her car. I had asked for a certain sweater and skirt and I looked one day to see if it was truly there.

When I had just turned 6...that was a crazy memorable Christmas. My sister was 16 years old. Dad got her a 4' tall hand blown glass wine bottle FULL of red wine. I remember the curvy neck of the clear bottle. He didn't hide it. It was behind the tree, with a bow on it....it broke....red wine ALL over the white carpet! I don't think my father thought it was anything she'd open...it just looked cool.

That Christmas I got a tiny film camera. A Cinderella watch that came sitting on a porcelain figurine of Cinderella and a play kitchen. There was so much wrapping paper on the floor...one of my gifts got lost. There was a HUGE "hunt" to find the camera.

I didn't look for hidden gifts. I was always told I wasn't getting anything....that there was no money. My gifts always said, "From Santa." Of course...I was too old later on....6 was the limit on the Santa story.

I didnt search for gifts but I always seemed to know where they were. I don't remember how I found out how the whole santa thing worked but I was very young-- as the oldest, I helped out with the younger kids and very quickly became "santas helper" wrapping and even helping to shop or babysit. Almost all the Christmas shopping -- at least the fun stuff-- was done after dad got his bonus. Some years it was in the beginning of December and I remember at least 2 years it was on the 23rd.

My brother was the snooper lol-- he couldn't contain his excitement! I remember when we were all pretty young, he woke and opened all his gifts as mom and dad slept. After that fiasco, the rule was.. we could open stockings when we woke up. Everything else had to wait until mom and dad were up and had coffee in hand lol.

I wasn't a barbie girl.. but I remember a real (not toy) microscope (mom had had hers from college reconditioned) and the very best gift ever was an art studio in the basement. It wasn't fancy but it was functional ... and it was my very own ROOM away from the younger kids. When i was a teen, my dad gave me my first slr camera and my first pair of pearl earrings. Both cherished gifts I no longer have. Oh and one year, my grandfather gave me a jar of pickles!! LOL. I loved pickles (and still do).

I can’t remember my parents ever hiding gifts. Our gifts came from Santa.

My father also would use his bonus pay for Christmas shopping. Bonus check on Christmas Eve or maybe the day before. Shopping was done on Christmas Eve.

We were a family of 9, seven children. Every Christmas morning was magical. When we were young, there were no wrapped gifts. One gift for each child. Great gifts. A Tiny Tears baby doll is probably the first Christmas gift I remember. Then a couple years of Madame Alexander dolls, then A PUPPY!

Having 5 brothers, at least 5 times we woke up to having a Lionel Train set up and chugging under the tree. My brothers still have those trains.

Gifts changed after Santa belief was gone. There’s a 16 year spread between oldest and youngest, its nice that we kept the truth about Santa quiet for my youngest brother.

eta: One year I received a Ginny Doll. Ginny was earlier then Barbie but came with great clothing.

I never looked. One year I found some by accident: I thought I had left my piano music in the back seat of the car. When it wasn’t there, I thought it had slid behind the seat so I opened the trunk. What I saw was not my music. When I went inside I didn’t say anything, but my mom asked where I had looked in the car. I think she knew. But we never spoke of it again.

i enjoyed ”believing” for as long as possible, until…what day is it today?

Favorite gift, probably stuffed animals, maybe the melodica, and the year I asked for books and got a dozen or so nicely bound classics like Little Women.

I am making emergency food packages complete with recipes and instructions for each of my three kids ... each have four-person households; breakfast lunch and dinner for seven days. Been assembling them in totes for the past month. They'll get something else as well, but just in case SHTF ... the grands will fare well, however.

I had no idea where my parents hid gifts when I was little. Santa brought everything, so I dont think it would’ve occured to me to look. When I was older, I knew where they were but never looked. I loved the anticipation and the surprise. Still do!

One of my favorite gifts was a Paddington Bear and a set of Paddington books that I received in the mid 1970s.

Well, darn. I tried to add my thoughts and Houzz did what's its done before, it repeated a paragraph....it really wasn't me. I deleted, and now need to get some dinner going but maybe I'll type it again later and hope it only shows up once...

My child's favorite present? Their father built them a tree house (the gift was either a 2x4 or the pirate sign for it). Or the bell I gave them, as Santa. From the movie The Polar Express. I'd bet it was a tie.

They tried to tell me it was a Christmas tree where I tied several little presents from Santa to the tree itself. Last year, they gave me several little presents in much the same way, but I know the other two gifts were better! They're too kind.

My parents hid the gifts in the trunk of the car and special edible treats under their bed. When we were little our real tree went up and on Christmas Eve the lights were put on and I always got to put the star on the tree. We hung the longest knitted socks we could find on the fireplace mantle. Santa always came to visit us before we went to bed and brought us each a bag of cream candies. I always wondered how he got in the house because their was always a fire in the fireplace. He said he had a magic key. I didn't know until years later that Santa was a neighbour from down the street. When we got up in the morning the tree was decorated in all its glory and the stockings were overflowing. My Mom was up all night cooking and my Dad assembling toys so they were always in bed when we got up. My older sister came home for Christmas and she would be sleeping on the chesterfield with her sunglasses on. I would always try to wake her up to see what Santa brought me.

My favourite gifts were the baby dolls and Barbies which I still have. One year I got the most beautiful bride doll and my older sister told me not to play with it because it was special and I never did. It still sits in my trunk in the attic never played with. haha I laugh and always said it is no wonder I neve got married because I couldn't pretend to be a bride or play with that doll. I believed in Santa until I was 12 thanks to my older siblings who kept the magic alive. In the picture that was the first year I didn't believe in Santa. I didn't get a baby doll or Barbie doll that year but I got a Baby's Hungry doll with a mouth that moved. I didn't like that doll and never played with it because I was too old to play with baby dolls but I still played with all my Barbies. I got a Barbie Dream House, it was made from cardboard and plastic. I didn't have it for long because I left it in the living room and it went missing because my Dad probably told me to put it away, he burned it in the coal stoker. Every year we went to Hudson's Department store in Detroit to see Santa and my Mom bought my younger brother and I real Christmas stockings with neon writing.

My Dad assembling toys Christmas Eve and the huge turkey on the chair beside him

Cherry, that IS a big turkey! I looked for a smallish one yesterday and found none at all at our local grocery. I'll probably have to do an out of town shopping trip next week - I'd wanted some wings, necks, maybe even a drumstick to make some turkey stock ahead of time and they had none of that either, not even frozen.

I just wanted to say how long its been since I heard someone refer to a sofa as a chesterfield. When I was growing up none of my friends had heard the term that my family sometimes used.

My Madame Alexander Bride and a bike. The large top photo is the same as my doll-16" and oh-so-beautiful. She did not come in a square box, though.

exact Madame Alexander Bride as mine

We only collected the international ones… they were in square boxes

I present, Miss France

I was a terrible snooper and one of my kids has the gene. Before Christmas and on Christmas Eve.

I started putting my kids filled stockings outside their bedroom doors hoping if they had the impulse to get up early and snoop there would be some distraction. It mostly worked.

We follow DH’s family tradition for stockings. On Christmas Eve, they would put their stockings on the foot of the bed. Plenty of ”testing out”, putting little toys inside, then getting under the covers and wiggling toes to see if they can feel the stocking. Empty the stocking, lights out, sleep and wait for Santa to slip in and fill the stockings. (Sometime prior, while kids were at school, Santa checked for fit.) And Santa usually slipped the stockings out into the hall to fill them quietly, then gently lay them back at the foot of the bed.

They contained little things to keep them busy in the early morning, like small Lego sets, a puzzle, a toy, a little book, chocolate.

Our older son, he really wanted a game system. At the time, we didn’t think he should have one till he was 10. So, the Christmas just before he turned 10, we decided it was close enough.

That year, we spent the holiday with my parents at their winter home. But on the flight down, DS#2 got sick. We figured it was the craziness of getting up early, getting to and on the plane, excitement, etc, but he was sick the next day, and the next. We kept calling the pediatrician at home, gave him Pedialyte and fluids, and finally the third morning, Christmas Eve, we took him to the ER. They admitted him, got him on IV fluids, etc. I spent Christmas Eve with him there, missing the family dinner. But Santa came, his stocking was delivered with his gifts.

Nicely revived, we returned to the family in time for Christmas dinner. DS#1 was trying out his new GameCube games, and I gushed about the gift, if he was surprised to open it that morning. He looked at me: ”Weren’t you here?” It was so funny, I couldn’t be hurt, he was adorable how excited he was.

And DS#2 was fine. A few days of recuperation and a story to tell at preschool.

Didn't mention our Christmas Eve tradition was different than many, I think. We opened all the big stuff on Christmas Eve, then Santa filled our stockings to find in the morning. I was always a bit sad there wasn't that much to open on Christmas Day, but I changed it up for my son and he got to open 1 gift from under the tree on Christmas Eve, and everything else was on Christmas Day - including gifts from Santa.

I think our tradition came from my mom, since my dad was Jewish. Mom's Lithuanian family always went to midnight mass on Christmas Eve, while Grandma stayed home, cooked, put up the tree, and put out presents, and everyone opened gifts when they returned home from mass.

Back in the old days - before cell phones and digital clocks everywhere - my neighbor used to wait until her kids were asleep. Then she and her DH would turn all the clocks downstairs back an hour so that they could sleep in a little. Their kids weren't allowed downstairs until 7 am. While the kids were opening presents they would re-set the clocks. They got away with that little trick for several years

As a youngster, it never crossed my mind that someone would hide a gift, because Santa didn’t bring them until Christmas Eve, right? I was oblivious until I turned 6. On Christmas Eve there was a knock at the door. Mom opened it and in walked Santa (we didn’t have a fireplace). I was so excited! My 3 brothers and I took turns sitting on his lap. When it was my turn, we talked awhile. Then, as he began reaching into his red sack, I saw his beard slip a bit. Not only was he a fake, but I KNEW him! It was Ivan, our mail carrier. That was the end of that myth.

Even as a teen, I never looked for hidden gifts. One Christmas Mom actually hid one of my gifts in plain sight, not even wrapped. I saw it every day for weeks and had no clue it was mine, but wished it was. She sewed for friends and neighbors to make a little extra money. She made an entire wardrobe of Barbie clothes for a neighbor’s child. Formal dresses, casual wear, pajamas and nightgowns, etc. I didn’t have a Barbie, but I had a Tressy who was the same size as Barbie. One day I came home from school and it was gone. Mom told me Mrs. X had picked it up. When I opened one of my presents, the box was filled with all the clothing she had been sewing! Best Christmas ever!

I remember when I was 6 or 7 I went into the basement laundry room to hang our snow clothes in front of the furnace to dry and there was a cardboard "submarine" half hidden behind something. I went upstairs and told my mother, who swore me to secrecy because apparently Santa had dropped it off for my brother early because it would take up too much room in the sleigh with all the other toys.

Never looked. My mom made many many outfits for Barbie and my dad made cradles and bunk beds for baby dolls we never suspected. I wonder what their schedule was that 24 hours. I recall more than one Christmas morning we were DONE opening presents and it was still dark. There were five kids and we opened gifts one at a time around the room so everyone saw everyone's gifts. It took at least an hour maybe longer. My folks never told us 'not before _____' for waking them. If Santa had been there then it was full speed ahead. In '72 my dad was over seas--Vietnam war and mom was on her own with the five of us. To this day she maintains all Santa Secrets so I've no idea where things were. I do remember discovering my brother was peeking at presents unwrapping corners and reading box labels as we were teens and the santa issues were long gone. My three found things under the bed in our closet...I figured it's on them if they want to 'ruin' their surprises.

As an adult, looking at Christmas photos with Mom, my mom told me we were really pretty poor when I was growing up. 1950's But I sure didn't remember it that way. One year my own white ankle sock was hung and stuffed with plastic farm animals. I remember being thrilled with that.

Another year I got a baby doll that had tears, and wet her diaper. Thrilled again.

One year I got a doll sized china tea set, I still have it. The Christmas eve I was 12, my dad brought home a tiny chihuahua puppy in his pocket for me! Mom later told me Dad made payments every pay day on that puppy.

I had no other kids around to compare Christmas loot to, and I was always happy.

Never found any hidden presents.

I was the snooper of the family. Until I realized it was more fun to be surprised! The Christmas I remember most was the year I wanted a Baby's Hungry doll so badly. (Cherryfizz mentioned her above). Wasn't under the tree when we got up, and then I got sick and was sent to bed. My grandfather--who always got us the best gifts--came for dinner carrying just the right size box. And there she was. By that time I was out of bed, feeling better, and very thrilled with my new doll.

What fun remembrances and I love the photos. My favorite gift was always the new doll that I received. I remember how excited I was with both my Ginny and a red-haired Madame Alexander. I also wasn't a snooper but DD was horrible. I'd hide gifts in such odd places that I couldn't find half of them when it came time to wrap them.

Ha - that happened to me when I bought some things extra early, then totally forgot about it until I found them many months after the holidays - hid them from myself 😄

Your comments about forgetting where one hid the gifts reminds me of the Christmas that we forgot to put my nephew’s Santa gifts under the tree. (We always celebrated as a family at my parents’ house so that’s where Santa delivered gifts.) My parents had to keep him busy in the kitchen while I snuck around putting the gifts by the fireplace in the den. (The tree was in the living room.) I put down some baby powder boot prints and we made up a story about how Santa must have come down the wrong chimney and that’s why the gifts were in the den and not in the living room. I doubt he remembers that. I think he was about four years old at the time.

I always found where my parents hid the gifts, but I would never peek inside the bag or box they were in. For some reason it was enough for me to know where the presents were and didn't need to know what they were. One year my mother bought my dad a pingpong table from Sears. The table came flat packed and must have been delivered while I was in school My mum covered this box with a huge flowered sheet and leant it against the wall in a our basement laundry room. I noticed it immediately and kept checking under the sheet to see what it was. My dad was oblivious!

I think one of my favourite presents was a Pekingese dog stuffed toy. We used to place our stockings at the end of our bed. The stockings were actually a pair of my mum's silk stockings! Santa would fill the stockings and leave a small pile of unwrapped presents beside out bed. Our main present would be from Mum and Dad and would be wrapped under the tree. We weren't well off so our stocking would be full of useful things like tape, pencils etc. Our little pile of gifts would also consist of useful items like clothes but we would always get a Children's Annual book, a box of chocolates and some homemade items.

My parents were old school. Our stockings had an orange in the toe, some unshelled nuts and a few chocolate candies or a candy cane. Frankly, my brother and I weren’t very interested in those. Our wrapped gifts from my parents were usually whatever clothing items we needed. Santa would leave one or two items from our wish list unwrapped under the tree. Our gift from our grandparents was always fun and interesting. I think we looked forward to that gift more than anything else.

We had an uncle who worked for Whitman Publishing, and every year they would send us lots of coloring books, paper doll books and comic books, along with board games.

I also remember when we were very little, my dad (we learned later) had a Santa head decoration and some sleigh bells, and on Christmas Eve he went around outside the house and held the Santa face up to the window, ringing the bells. We had no fireplace, so Santa left our gifts outside the front door in a big cardboard box.

@carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b, I would have been in heaven if I received that gift. What a great resource!

What great memories, love the photos.

My mother and an aunt always swapped hosting Christmas Eve. Both sides of my grandparents came when it was my parents' turn. We always went to my maternal grandparents' house on Christmas Day since Thanksgiving was at my paternal grandparents.

As far as snooping, I still do not like surprises. I looked for and found our presents around 13yo. Mom hid them in a closet in my dad's study/office. I found the skeleton key in her night table. I only recall opening one wrapped present - very carefully lifted the tape and opened. It was a ring and I remember being disappointed when I saw it. I never snooped again.

One Christmas a local bank had tin cans of various sizes, and you could bring whatever you wanted to go in the can and they would seal it so that a can opener was required to open. My sister and I received some cash and a necklace in our cans. Mom received a diamond ring and a legal document saying the mortgage had been paid in full.

Some of my favorite gifts when I was little were clothes my maternal grandmother had desigend and made for my Barbie dolls. She had designed and made all of my mother's gowns for dances, some party dresses and coats. Also a bike, roller skates and a skateboard given in various years.

I don’t thinkmy kids were snoopers, but my older son, when he was two-nearly-three, was just starting to understand about Christmas and baby Jesus and opening presents. The tree went up, as we shopped or as the mailman arrived, wrapped presents went under the tree. One day we walked into the living room to see DS unwrapping a few gifts. We said oh, not until Christmas, sweetie. He was very confused, because all one hears for weeks is ”it’s Christmas”. Finally he asked ”but Mommy, when is it Christmas?” I think we agreed that ”Happy Christmas Morning!” would be ”the code word”. The gifts were re-wrapped, we said the code word on Christmas Morning, and all was well.

Ha -that's what advent calendars are for. 😉

Here's a recommendation for online advent calendars! Over the years, my DGD has spent hours playing with the Jackie Vernon interactive ones. This year's is A Victorian Christmas.

Chisue - do you have a link ? I tried searching, but didn't find anything except a Jacquie Lawson online advent calendar, and it was Edwardian - not free either.

A holiday craft I've made with our campers for years is a paper chain countdown to Christmas, where you tear off a link every day until the 25th.

I never looked for mine. Even today I still like opening gifts Xmas morning. My favorite gift was the Dawn Dolls fashion show and dance party. Lol Even though they forgot to buy batteries

I still have my Dawn doll 🙂