On November 28, 2002 in “More than Just Turkey,” I shared our family’s custom of selecting an annual theme for grab bag gifts at Christmas. As reported then, this year’s theme was “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure Christmas,” inspired by the movie in which two spaced out high school students manage to go back in time and witness historical events. As such, each participant in the grab bag had to purchase gifts that collectively signified an historical event.

It turned out to be more of a challenge than any of us realized at the time. Of course, my putting the grab bag gift out of mind until the last minute did not make things easier.

Here’s a sampling of the gifts that were exchanged:

Gift: A book about Kites, Photocopy of the front side of a $100 bill, and the book “The Perfect Storm.”

Event. Ben Franklin’s experiment proving that lightening was an electrical phenomenon.

Gift: Bottle of Fab Detergent, American Flag Pin, “4” birthday candle, and a can of “Raid”

Event. British/Beatles’ Invasion of America

Gift. Small globe, toy soldiers, “Uno” game.

Event World War One

Gift. Toy Firemen, box of wooden matches, small cow, Video Tape of “Chicago Joe and the Showgirl”

Event. Chicago Fire

Gift. Tea set, tea, Samuel Adams Beer, Tastykake Krimpets

Event. Boston Tea Party

Gift. Can of soup, two apples, loaf of bread

Event. The Great Depression

Gift. Bottle of Crown Royal Whiskey, Bottle of sweet vermouth, check in the amount of $24.00

Event. Dutch purchase of Manhattan Island

As in the past, we had lots of laughs, but we all agreed that, by comparison, the Elvis Christmas was a snap.