We have an ancient dog-eared Advent calendar, made out of paper, that is decades old. How many I couldn’t tell you exactly, but it has the traditional numbered windows that count down until Christmas.
Each day, you open one of the windows and see a picture of a doll (most definitely not a Barbie!), a baseball, a wrapped gift or something similar that harks back to a less-complicated era.
Because this calendar has been with us for so long, I haven’t paid attention to the advances in Advent calendars that in many cases these days, seem not actually to be calendars, but rather, a set of gifts.
I saw one that offered exotic chocolates (it sold out long before Thanksgiving when I checked on it) and another that offered different types of whiskey. Then there was the Advent calendar for cats from Trader Joe’s (didn’t see a dog Advent calendar). This one featured salmon and dried seaweed treats. Yum.
The cat Advent calendar.
But what really got my attention was the Breyer model horse Advent calendar.
The Breyer horse Advent calendar. (Photo courtesy of Breyer)
You know Breyer models. What horse lover hasn’t collected them at some point; it’s not just children, plenty of adults have a Breyer collection or hobby.
Stephanie Macejko, vice president of marketing at Reeves International, Breyer’s parent company, noted the calendars containing little model horses “are popular, because the kids get to open up something every day leading up to Christmas.”
The items include tiny riders, a jump and a hay bale, among other accessories. They’re all sized to fit in with the horses, which are called Mini Whinnies, about an inch and a half high.
There’s also a unicorn Advent calendar, with not only the horned equines, but also fanciful accessories, sparkly water troughs and buckets in fantasy colors, to coordinate with their fairy tale image. The Breyer calendars are available at Amazon, tack stores and independent toy stores.
The unicorn calendar. (Photo courtesy of Breyer)
“What’s fun is that it offers kids, or adults, an opportunity to get a little surprise that they open every day,” Stephanie pointed out.
“Even once the holidays are over, the kids have a set they can play with all year round. It provides a lot of ongoing value and they have a set that would travel.”
