Mine was right after the war. Lionel was back in the train business and advertising in mags like Life and The Saturday Evening Post. I spot the item I dearly wanted, a Pennsy 0-4-0 Bell Ringer1665 for $25. Not cheap for the time, but I thought reasonable. So I left plenty of clues, but, upon opening presents on Christmas, my switcher turned out to be a 2810 operating crane.
Needless to say, my first purchase when getting back into trains in later years, was a 1656 with 6403B tender. I've had a fondness for switching workhorses ever since
