Sixties
- Remember? Bob Hope performing for the troops
- Kitchen Smelled like: Julia Child’s beef bourguignon
- On the hi-fi: Nat King Cole, “The Christmas Song”
- On the tube: Charlie Brown, Rudolph, Frosty, and the Grinch specials
- In theaters: Babes in Toyland, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
- Under the (flocked) tree: Hot Wheels, Easy-Bake Oven, Etch A Sketch
Seventies
- Remember? Waiting for our Polaroid photos to develop
- Kitchen Smelled like: Butterball turkey
- On the 8-track player: Jackson 5 Christmas Album
- On the tube: The Waltons: The Homecoming
- In theaters: Scrooge with Albert Finney and Alec Guinness
- Under the tree: Pet Rocks, Legos, Wonder Woman dolls, Atari 2600
Eighties
- Remember? Cutting down your own tree
- Kitchen Smelled like: Honeybaked ham
- On the cassette player: “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” by Band Aid
- On the tube: Roots: The Gift, Johnny Carson’s fruitcake jokes
- In theaters: National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Scrooged
- Under the tree: Transformers, Cabbage Patch Kids, Rubik’s Cube
Nineties
- Remember? “Merry Christmas” gives way to the secular “Happy Holidays”
- Kitchen Smelled like: Organic, free-range turkey
- On the CD player: “These Are Special Times” by Celine Dion
- On the tube: Seinfeld’s “Festivus for the rest of us” episode, “Elmo Saves Christmas”
- In theaters: Home Alone, The Santa Clause
- Under the tree: Beanie Babies. Poké mon, Furbles
Aughts:
- Remember? Mulling whether to get a greener— or is it? — artificial tree
- Kitchen Smelled like: Turducken
- On the iPod dock: “Harry for the Holidays” by Harry Connick, Jr.
- On the flat screen: Marathons of A Christmas Story and 007 movies
- In theaters: Elf, The Polar Express, Bad Santa, Harry Potter movies
- Under the tree: Wii, gift cards, Razor Scooters