Everyone has experienced a holiday when the gifts haven't been so great. Either your parents bought you an ugly sweater, or your significant other tried really hard but didn't quite nail the ideal gift or you simply agreed with spouses, family or friends that you wouldn't exchange at all.

But when you receive the perfect gift, even the biggest Scrooge or the person most annoyed with the over-commercialized aspects of Christmas, gets caught up in holiday happiness for a moment of two.

The OnMilwaukee.com editorial staffers were all fortunate enough to receive a holiday gift at some point in their lives that really tickled their fancy (as grandma used to say), and here's a recount of those precious items.

Molly Snyder Edler
Staff Writer
Favorite gift: Cabbage Patch Doll
Christmas / Hanukkah, 1982

During the height of the Cabbage Patch doll craze -- you know, when parents stampeded over each other in toy stores circa 1982-'83 -- I was just another wee gal who wished that I would be one of the lucky six million children to receive the highly coveted doll that year. I'm not exactly sure how my "Santas" did it -- I think it had something to do with going to Toys 'R Us at an ungodly hour -- but both my sister and I received one of the soft and homely dolls in 1982. Jenny's was big and blond, mine was the African American, bald-headed "Premie" version. Interestingly, part of the charm of these dolls what that you "adopted" them, complete with a birth certificate stamped with their name and birth date. (I still remember mine was named Katarina Jean and she was born on Oct. 1.) Interestingly, as the mother of an adopted child today, I really think the Cabbage Patch experience was the first to plant the seed in my head that adoption is awesome.

Julie Lawrence
Staff Writer
Favorite gift: Trip to Guatemala
Christmas, 2002

The best gift I've ever received for the holidays was a picture of an airplane cut out of the newspaper and stuffed into a white envelope. My mom was leaving for a four-month trip to Guatemala just after the new year and her Christmas gift to me was a plane ticket to come visit her for a week over my spring break. I was in college at the time and that trip was the only "spring break vacation" I ever took. We toured small villages, saw Mayan ruins, bought indigenous jewelry, ate fresh avocados daily and slept in thatched huts. Even after only a short time there, returning to the states was a bit of a culture shock -- especially for mom who had completely forgotten how to work her car stereo and cell phone when she got home.

Drew Olson
Senior Editor
Favorite gifts: World Book Encyclopedias, iPod, etc.
Various Christmases

As a child of the '70s, I received a lot of Christmas presents that would be worth huge cash today had I not opened / broken them. Among the standouts: the G.I. Joe Headquarters, a slew of Parker Bros. board games, a Magic 8 Ball and a whole lot of sports equipment. It's interesting that two gifts that really stand out arrived before my ninth birthday: my giant teddy bear, Herbert, (I was five at the time), and, this is going to sound totally old-school, a set of World Book encyclopedias. In the age of Google, kids today will never learn the value of looking up information for school reports. As an adult, my all-time favorite present is a tie. My iPod, which is like getting your entire music collection, and a hi-def TV set, which makes even cooking shows look compelling.

Andy Tarnoff
Publisher
Favorite gift: Waterbed
Hanukkah, 1984

I have no idea why I was so enamored with the idea of getting a waterbed when I was 10 years old. Maybe I got sucked in by those commercials for all those waterbed stores floating around Milwaukee: Sun Valley, Ground Water, etc. (Wonder what happened to those places?) Anyway, my dad built me a water bed, which was pretty typical at that time: he also built a dollhouse for my sister and a bedroom set for him and my mom. It wasn't one of those waveless beds, either -- it was pretty easy to fall off if I wasn't tucked in firmly. Of course, my mom wouldn't let me have a heater installed, since she thought I'd electrocute myself in the middle of the night, so it got pretty chilly, as I recall. I enjoyed that waterbed all through high school, and it even made the journey to my parents' house while I was in college. It's probably sitting in their basement right now, waiting to be repurposed. Runner up: the Commodore 64 computer I got the year before. It was my first computer and served me well for almost 10 years.

Bobby Tanzilo
Managing Editor
Favorite gift: Record player
Christmas, 1973

In 1973, my grandmother bought me a portable record player, which I loved. It was one of those self-contained things, like a Dansette, so you just flipped open the lid, plopped on a 45 and off you went. I have a picture of me with it right after I got it and the joy on my face is crystal clear. It led to a life-long (so far) passion for music. When my grandmother, who lived with us for my entire life up until then, died two months later, that record player -- along with some really bad records from that era -- were my solace. Even now, I would trade the joy music has brought to my life for 10 more years with her. But, since we don't get to make those deals, I treasure that now long-lost record player and everything it brought to my life.