Vidler’s Is Stocking-Stuffer Central!

Sock Monkey asked us to tell you that this year, like every year, Vidler’s is Stocking-Stuffer Central.  

Should you trust Sock Monkey just because we have him in stock and we’re discerning about what we carry in the store? Or because he’s been around since 1932 and old socks don’t lie, they just lie about?  

That’s debatable; the iconic Sock Monkey is a great toy and fun to make, but his motives aren’t always pure. In this case, for instance, Sock Monkey just wants a home and thinks he might be able to gain entrée to yours as a stocking stuffer. Or maybe as the stocking itself. Or as an oven mitt. Or a windsock. Sock Monkey isn’t picky.

But, hey—even if you can’t trust Sock Monkey, you can trust us, especially when we say Vidler’s is Stocking-Stuffer Central. Because, unlike Sock Monkey, we’re not looking for a way into your home, although we’re sure it’s quite snuggly, especially during the holiday season, and we certainly wouldn’t mind if you saw fit to invite us over to sit by the fire and sing songs and eat cutout cookies and sip eggnog. All we really want is just to give you a head start on your holiday shopping. Who doesn’t need that, right?

Stocking-stuffer shopping left as an afterthought is no fun and leads to desperate, sometimes kind-of-dumb purchases. So, we make stocking-stuffer shopping an adventure and call the whole thing to your attention early. Like we’re doing now.  

This year we have all kinds of options: Novelty gifts. Goofy trinkets. Yo-yos. Silly Putty. Ornaments. Even stuff you didn’t know existed! Most other stores, on the other hand, don’t have the kinds of toys and gifts you want to stuff stockings with. There’s no variety, and they all carry the same 20 options.

Here are some stocking-stuffer ideas, straight from the aisles of Vidler’s, where we’re stocked up and ready for even the most fervent shoppers:

• The Original Crystal Beach Sucker—a nostalgic blast-from-the-past for all Western New Yorkers. In nine flavors, including the classic loganberry

• Pez dispensers—a wide variety of ’em.

• Dr. Squatch soap—that, um, very trendy “guy” item.

• The five-and-dime coffee mug—your favorite in a new style.  

• Davis Hill Weather Stick—known in these-here parts as the Tom Jolls Weather Stick, in honor of the longtime weatherman on the hugely popular “Eyewitness News Channel 7.”

• Marbles—lots of marbles!

• Eclipse glasses—for the big event, of course, the total solar eclipse, on April 8, 2024 (Get ‘em before it’s hot—pun fully intended; we’ve already sold hundreds, and, though we have a lot of them, they’re going quickly.

• Axolotls—because everybody needs an amphibious-looking salamander with frills that, like Peter Pan, never grows up! Right? Ha, ha! Huh???

• Surprise Mashems—don’t worry; kids know what this is, and they love it!

• Penny in a bottle—that age-old mystery, and a five-and-ten classic!

• Handi-Claus--and now there’s a holiday edition!

• ‍Possum-flavored candy canes—need I say more?  

And, of course...

• Sock Monkey—take a bow, old friend! Wait—what, Sock Monkey? Mm-hmmm. Mm-hmmm. Uh-uh! No way! I will not say that! Go get back on your shelf—and don’t come down until some nice customer takes you to the checkout counter.