Merry Christmas Charlie Brown!

Dear Glob,

I remember one especially cool year when the Adults gathered us Kids in a room and told us to chant what we wanted most of all for Christmas. Little Chewie closed her eyes, balled her hands into tight fists, and repetitively whispered, “I want a Scrub-a-dub-doggy. I want a Scrub-a-dub-doggy.” After a minute of feverish wishing and hoping, Santa came through the front door with a big sack of presents. One by one, he called each Kid by name, handing them a personalized gift. When Chewie’s name was called, she ran up excitedly for her special gift, and underneath the magical wrapping paper was the much sought after Scrub-a-dub-doggy! “Wow… Cool, Cool! How did he know!?!?!” Little Chewie thought in amazement. Although this Scrub-a-dub-doggy was one of my most memorable Christmas gifts, one in particular still holds a special place in my heart…

As pre-Christmas ritual, Mojo and I would crawl underneath the branches of our tree in search for our gifts. Once we found one with our name on the tag, we would shake, poke and prod the box, each speculating on what could be inside. Through the eyes of Little Mojo and Little Chewie, the bigger the box the better the present. Usually the bigger gifts were for bigger people, like the year we gave Father a Compact Disc player, but Little Chewie never gave up hope as Little Mojo and she diligently checked each present. One year, Little Chewie noticed a nicely wrapped Big Box in our Yaya, Neila’s room. It was on the top shelf of a very high bookshelf, far from the reach of a curious Little Chewie. Everyday she would look in Neila’s room to see if the Big Box had been moved under the tree, but it would irritatingly remain fixed atop what might as well have been Mt. Everest. After furtively trying to reach the Big Box a couple of times, Little Chewie gave up, assuming it wouldn’t be for her anyway. Come Christmas Eve, the Family opened all their gifts in the usual state of frenzy and excitement. When all the gifts were distributed and unwrapped, Little Chewie looked around to see who had received the elusive Big Box. Not seeing it among the other opened presents, Little Chewie decided to ask Mother and Neila about the missing gift. At first, Mother and Neila were confused and had Little Chewie lead them to Neila’s room to point out the Big Box. Mother stood on the bed and, with ease, lifted the Big Box off the shelf. Much to her surprise, Mother then said, “Why, this is for you Chewie. Merry Christmas!”

Inside was something she had not requested, or even thought she ever wanted. It was a Talking Snoopy. Keeping in line with Mother’s no brand name frivolties, Talking Snoopy was Teddy Ruxpin’s unknown less successful spin-off. Like Teddy, Talking Snoopy wiggled his ears and nose as he read and sang songs along with an accompanying book. After the first story Talking Snoopy read to Little Chewie, they became inseparable. Eventually Little Chewie knew all the books and songs by heart. P. and Mojo quickly picked up on this development, and soon incorporated various Talking Snoopy songs into their famous “Sister Shows.*” Sadly, Little Chewie played with her beloved Talking Snoopy so often that it soon broke and faded into obscurity; Forgotten Again.

One year in college, my friend searched high and low on Ebay for a working Talking Snoopy after hearing this very same story, but unfortunately Worlds of Wonder had discontinued the toy and eventually went out of business in 1988. Talking Snoopy is now a rare collectors’ item, but will live forever in the memory of Little Chewie and others who were lucky enough to have him as a trusty companion and friend. Amazing how I still remember the lyrics to this entire song, but I believe Charlie Brown says, or sings, it best in this song excerpt from one of Talking Snoopy’s many books:

“Oh Snoopy, you’re such a friend to me
And nobody else knows what it means
To have you by me, whenever I feel blue
It’s good to know that you will be there…

Oh Snoopy, you make me feel secure
I'll hold you in my arms and you’ll be
The one and only Snoopy for me!”

*Interested parties need only ask and I’ll happily put on a tape of one of our shows. Being the Diva that I am, I have nothing to hide.