Toys R Us was where we went to dream Christmas. Now that joy is gone | Phoebe-Jane Boyd

My mum scrimped and saved for the toys our childhood hearts were set on. The demise of so many toyshops is taking the wonder out of childhood

As a working-class child of the 80s and 90s, memories of my early Christmases are made up of 1) that Coke advert where the lit-up trucks full of toys drive through town with Santa, 2) obsessively memorising the Argos catalogue’s selection of toys, and 3) the repeated promise that there were millions (said Geoffrey) all under one roof at Toys R Us. We weren’t a religious family, so there wasn’t much pretending Christmas was about celebrating Jesus in our house. And most of our relatives lived close in the surrounding villages, always around us, so the festive season wasn’t quite about family either.

Related: Toys R Us confirms plans to shut at least 26 UK stores

Related: Crisis in Toyland: how the shift online places our childhood favourites in peril

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from Children | The Guardian http://ift.tt/2Axl1fm