‘Little House on the Prairie’s Alison Arngrim Remembers Swapping Christmas Gifts with Michael Landon & More (Exclusive)
Alison Arngrim is famous for playing the very naughty Nellie Oleson on Little House on the Prairie. But on the show’s set, she made some very nice holiday memories — including the time the cast pooled their money to buy Michael Landon a golf cart!
The actress and bestselling author of Confessions of a Prairie Bitch shared her favorite holiday memories with Remind’s Mike Pingel during the Hollywood Museum’s holiday tree trimming event. Read on to learn more about Little House‘s lavish Christmas parties, the best Christmas gift she ever received, and “swag on the prairie.”
R: What was your favorite gift you ever received?
Alison: There was a year when my parents gave me a big, fuzzy snake. It was one of those long, stuffed snakes, hot pink and yellow, with a great little tongue that stuck out, and glued-on eyes. It curled at the bottom, twisted up in a spiral, and came in a cardboard box. When you opened it, it shot out of the box and hit the ceiling. That was freaking impressive. I’m not even sure my parents realized it, but it was awesome.
My mother figured it out because she worked in downtown L.A. around Olvera Street. There was great stuff for next to nothing. I remember getting a beautiful piggy bank with Mexican flowers painted on it, but my favorite gift was in my stocking. My mother had the stroke of genius to do it a couple of times: a plastic tube full of tiny, tiny miniature things. I had a dollhouse, so here’s a miniature plate, a miniature cup, a miniature baby, and other assorted household items, dolls, and people things jammed into a plastic tube. I believe it cost $0.99, and they went up to $1.99 a couple of years later, but it fit into a stocking and contained a couple of hundred itty-bitty tiny toys. I thought this was the greatest thing in the world, and my mother was going, “Yes!” because she spent all this money on a $0.99 plastic tube of toys.
The funny thing is that my favorite gifts were not the expensive, high-ticket ones. As a kid, I learned very early on, when times were hard, to remember my birthday’s in January when the sales were happening, so I could get things on sale after Christmas for my birthday. Which I totally did.
R: What is your favorite Christmas special?
Alison: Oh, I am a sucker for all Rankin/Bass specials. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is absolutely #1. Oh gosh. The Little Drummer Boy. I cry during The Little Drummer Boy because it’s really sad, violent, and terrifying, and a little dramatic. But Rudolph also gets a little rough too, actually. Poor Rudolph.
R: Do you have memories of Christmas on the set of Little House?
Alison: We had the most lavish, fabulous Christmas parties. Sometimes they would even have musical acts, such as a jazz quartet. There was food for days. The Little House wrap parties and Christmas parties were the two killer parties every year. We all dressed up, and everyone’s families would be there.
We would get each other little presents. With Michael [Landon], we did two things. Sometimes we got him a little something, but also everyone would chip in, and I think at the time it was 20 bucks, which was kind of a lot of money in the ’70s. But with the cast of thousands, the crew, and everyone, that added up to a lot of money, so that would be the group giant gift for Michael. There was the golf cart done up like an 18-year-old Surrey, and there was an 1880s safe. There were huge, giant, enormous things, but then we got him some small, stupid things too.
Then we got the one Michael Landon/NBC gift. One year there was a silver belt buckle signed by Michael. Another year, a tea set. I didn’t get the stereo, but I did get the gold watch. See, you got swag on the prairie!
Cowboy Christmas
November/December 2024
Saddle up for some Holiday Cowboy fun with movies, music and your fav Christmas episodes of classic Westerns.
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