Well, this may not be an extravaganza to you, but it is to me.

My favorite Christmas decoration and most memorable Christmas gift ever is one I do not remember receiving. That’s because it was given to me by my grandfather on Christmas 1956, one week after I was born. It was a “Happy Santa”, sold by the Cragstan Corporation, 136 Fifth Ave, New York, 11, NY. Back then we had no zip codes.

Happy Santa was quite a mechanical marvel, with a wired remote control and a metal skeleton of moving parts. He walked, beat a drum with one hand while shaking a bell with the other hand. A light on his hat flashed while his head turned from side to side.

Happy Santa occupied a place under the Pickens Christmas tree at my folks' house every year since 1956, alongside the Nativity figurines and the white church that played “Silent Night”.  Although he always stood under my parents’ tree, I always considered it my toy.

Finally, last year, when I noticed it was not under my parent’s tree that year, I mustered up the nerve to ask my Dad where it was and if I could take it home with me if he hadn’t thrown it out. He found it, and I took it home with me, and now it sits under my tree, and will continue to sit under our tree every year from now on.

Happy Santa is pretty much intact, but all that remains of the original box is the bottom part and disintegrating fragments of the lid.

Last year I put some D batteries in the controller on the off-chance that Happy Santa would still work. No luck, but I'm happy to have him under my tree.