Trading Post – Christmas Past – Gift Idea

By Pati Egan

I suppose if one looked hard enough around their home they might find these classic Christmas gifts that a Camper lovingly bought mom, dad, grandma, or grandpa at the Camp Trading Post in the 1960s, 1970s or 1980s. Who needs online stores, malls, or specialty shops when you could get it all at the Camp Trading Post? Camp featured many unique items one could buy at the Trading Post. Let’s look at some Christmas gifts that you could have bought during the summer.

Fine Pottery Department

Would you like to give a pottery set for Christmas? If you were at Camp in the 1960s and 1970s, you could purchase this set at the Trading Post. The Whitright girls collected various pieces and gave a set to their parents for Christmas one year!

Clothing Department 

In fine sweatshirts, we have the Chris R collection – each unit appears to have had their own sweatshirt. Some were short sleeve sweatshirts…

Some were hand cut from long sleeve shirts to short sleeve shirts – kind of like ripped jeans and shirts now-a-days.

The collector shirt below must have only been available for a limited time. They were fleece, and only a few exist today.

These limited-edition Tommy the Bear shirts were only available in 1981. They were given to staff and campers exclusively who were at Camp when Tommy was saved after nipping a camper on the finger. Very few still exist.

The Tray and Coasters Department

An excellent addition to any family’s fine dining collection.

Miscellaneous Gifts

Everything from Beer Stein Salt & Pepper Shakers to stuffed animals.

Do all your shopping in one spot! The “old school” 1970s Trading Post was where you could use a Camp “credit card” to purchase items throughout the week. The cards were yellow with various amounts encircling the outer margin – $ .10, $ .25, and $ .50 with your name prominently displayed in the middle. Each time a purchase was made, whether for souvenir items or a candy bar, the amount was either punched out or blackened out. The trick was to be sure you didn’t lose your credit card as you trekked from one activity to the next. Otherwise, you got to sing for it at meals – only if someone happened to find it! As you can imagine, there were a lot of songs being sung!

Now, all you need to do is figure out a way to travel back in time…your Camp memories will get you there! Happy shopping!

Click here to visit Camp Ondessonk online Trading Post.