10 December 2010

Advent Calendar: Christmas Gifts-Larry the Lion

December 10 – Christmas Gifts:  What were your favorite gifts, both to receive and to give? Are there specific gift-giving traditions among your family or ancestors?


Some children had Zippy the Monkey, or Crackers the Parrot, but I had Larry the Lion.  I loved Larry the Lion.  I remember getting him for Christmas.  I must have been 5 at the time.  He talked by pulling a string and his mouth moved when he did.  The sayings I remember him saying are:   "Grrrrr, I'm Larry Lion"; "Grrrr, I scared myself" and "I'll protect you."  I remember his felt tongue, furry coat, and whiskers.  I also remember one of my teachers making fun of me because I brought him for show and tell. I never liked her after that.  (I'm over it-really I am)

When I was planning to write about Larry the Lion, I decided to do a little research on him.  He was made by Mattel and had 11 sayings.  You can find a vintage Larry the Lion on ebay for about $40.  The ones with the whiskers still intact are the desirable ones.

I don't know what happened to Larry the Lion, hopefully he went to a good home.  I do remember he was losing some of his fur and didn't sit up very well.  Ahh, what a nice childhood memory.

8 comments:

  1. OMG, I had a Larry the Lion, too! I completely forgot about him until I read your post! What's weird is that I still can hear his voice in my head saying those lines you mentioned.

    I have no idea what happened to my old Larry the Lion, but I'm sure he went the way of all my other old toys (given away somewhere). Thank you for that blast from the past.

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  2. I know I can hear him, too. I am sure our Larry's are in a good place now.

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  3. You are a more forgiving person than I am - I would probably still be holding a grudge against that teacher!

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  4. It is probably the reason I remember this toy! I didn't really like her after that.

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  5. I'm holding a grudge against that teacher and it wasn't even me she made fun of. How unprofessional and mean.

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  6. I met her years later, but never said anything. The funny thing was she was my sister's favorite teacher.

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  7. I'm holding a grudge against the grown-ups who took my Larry off of my bed one New Years Eve and broke him. I just bought one from someone on the internet and have been having fun with him. He says:

    Let's roar like this [roar]
    I'm Larry Lion [roar]
    [roar]I'm king of the jungle
    [roar] Ooh, I scared myself
    [roar] You wanna fight?
    I'm a friendly lion [roar]
    I like children [roar]
    [roar] I'll protect you
    I'm a very very very brave lion
    [roar] I'll step on you!

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  8. How fun that you found Larry! Thanks for sharing his sayings. I remembered a few, not too bad after all these years.

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