Forget the silk ties and fuzzy slippers.
When it comes to memorable holiday gifts, such seasonal mainstays are, well, just not all that fondly remembered.
Ask a notable Chicagoan.
We did, talking to everyone from an alderman to a zoo director about their most memorable holiday gifts, and there wasn’t a tie, a pair of slippers or pricey bit of jewelry among them.
There was, though, a boa constrictor. And a mezuza. And a tiny piano. And a kid-size Cubs uniform.
Some of the fondest holiday memories, it seems, can be found in tinsel-trimmed childhoods.
“I remember the first time I got emotional over a gift,” said WGN-Ch. 9’s Joanie Lum. “I was 6 and I got a little piano — it was only 2 1/2 octaves. We have a picture of me and there are tears in my eyes.” It took another similar holiday gift, a adult-sized piano presented to her by husband Bart Moy while they were dating, that touched her as deeply.
Performance artist Brigid Murphy was so taken with a cowgirl outfit she received in 1968 from “Santa” (actually, her mom, confided Murphy) that she had no problem tracking down a picture of herself decked out in the dress, hat, cap guns and boots. “It was an unbelievable ensemble,” said Murphy, which is something of an understatement considering Murphy regularly dons sequins and false eyelashes as Milly May Smithy, creator of the offbeat “Milly’s Orchid Show.”
A dress-up outfit is what lawyer and author Scott Turow calls his most memorable gift. “A regulation Chicago Cubs uniform that I got when I was 7 or 8 from my parents,” said Turow, whose latest book “Personal Injuries” has been picked up by Hollywood. And no, he no longer has it. “I outgrew it.”
For Rick Bayless, master of the kitchens at Frontera Grill and Topolobampo, his “coolest” holiday gift was a Charlie McCarthy ventriloquist doll he got when he was 10.
For Bob Falls, Goodman Theatre’s artistic director and director of Elton John and Tim Rice’s “Aida” now at the Cadillac Palace, it was a small tape recorder his parents gave him when he was 8: He made his own radio shows with it, playing disc jockey.
But Falls was quick to note that he also has received memorable gifts as an adult, with the winner a piece of art that his wife, Kat Moynihan, gave him the first year they were dating. Moynihan was at a party at a friend’s home. She saw a portrait of Falls done by an Art Institute student hanging on the wall. She explained to her friend that the subject was her boyfriend, convincing the friend to give the portrait to her, which she then presented to Falls at Christmas.
For University of Chicago paleontologist Paul Sereno, his most memorable gift was a boa constrictor named Huxley given to him by his wife, Gabrielle Lyon, as a Christmas gift two years ago. Why did Gabrielle go the slithery Santa route? “I think that I’m sort of into reptiles . . . big, old ones,” said Sereno.
Lincoln Park Zoo Director Kevin Bell isn’t surprised when he receives animal-oriented gifts. He has worked in zoos his entire life. Yet the gift he received for Christmas 1993, right after he was named zoo director, sticks in his mind. “One of the staff gave me Dr. Seuss’ `If I Ran the Zoo.’ ” said Bell. “I believe it was a book they had as a kid. It was particularly touching.”
There are, of course, quite a few memorable gifts that would frustrate those in the wrappings and ribbons business.
Architect Stanley Tigerman’s most memorable holiday gift arrived without a glossy bow, but with a good howl: His son J.J. Tigerman. “He was born when I was at Yale in graduate school. It was 1960 just prior to Christmas.”
For Ald. Burt Natarus (42nd), it is a photograph he received two Christmases ago: It stars Natarus and Michael Jordan and, noted Natarus, “Michael signed it.”
Pepe Vargas, who heads the International Latino Cultural Center, which oversees the Latino Film Festival of Chicago, cited lessons taught by an elderly gentleman, an artisan, whom he met while attending high school in Colombia. Vargas explained to the man, Raul, that he wanted to attend university but lacked the funds to pay for it. “Raul said I am going to give you something that will allow you to do what you want,” recalled Vargas. Raul gave Vargas some jewelry that he made and sent him off to sell it, with young Vargas sharing in the profits. “He taught me to believe in myself. He convinced me I should set goals. He gave me the tools and power to think I was capable of doing what I set my mind to.”
At 94, Senior Judge Abraham Lincoln Marovitz has celebrated more holidays than many of us. Yet a tiny mezuza, which he wears on a gold chain around his neck and received dozens of years ago, is his most memorable gift. The small religious symbol was given to him by the late Harry Karsch, a longtime friend who had planned to present it to Marovitz in Chicago before he left on a holiday trip to Europe. “He missed the plane in Chicago when I was leaving and when I got off the plane in Vienna, Austria, there was Harry. He followed me because he had this little Jewish charm with prayer in it that he wanted to present to me. I am never without it,” said Marovitz. “There is no monetary value, but it is about the importance of friendship, family and friends.”
Then there is the gift comic/actor Bernie Mac received from his grandmother one Christmas: Nothing.
That’s right. Zip. Nada. Sort of.
Explained Mac, when he and his brothers came down to look under the tree, there was nothing. Bernie and his brothers were dumbfounded. Announced his grandmother: “Your gift is your health.”
