...my best Christmas ever was 1983...age 15, I woke that morning to hear The Police's latest album 'Synchronicity' playing on a brand new JCPenney console stereo! Lasted me through college, and the last thing to break was the 8-track player!!...anyway, after the general unwrapping and chaos (see 'A Christmas Story' for visuals) my Old Man tells me to get Mom a glass of OJ...so I take the long way around to the kitchen, and return the same way. Upon my return, Dad frowns, and says "now go get ME an OJ, and go the OTHER way, through the dining room"...I go, somewhat confused...
....until I see a VMC 33 Coke machine - purring away - full of 6 1/2 oz. Cokes, with a yellow Coke case half full on the floor, and a large Coke Santa Claus standing next to it, that Dad had gotten at the local bottler...HOMINA HOMINA HOMINA HOMINA...wish I had a picture of the expression on my face at that moment...
...found out later that the folks had gotten the machine, all original and working (to this day!) for the princely sum of $165 - and from a antique store right on US 301 no less!!
...best Christmas EVER...!
