Friday Follies - Don't Toy With Me

Shiny and sparkly!!!

A Facebook post popped up in my newsfeed the other day.  It was from a group that posts things from the past - 'do you remember...'.  This particular post was about Lite-Brite.  Boy, did that bring back some memories.  I loved my Lite-Brite and I remember playing with it all the time.  I still have quite an affinity for sparkling, bright flashy objects - perhaps my obsession started there?  Then again, I remember staring at those sparkly rainbow stickers that would change colour depending on the angle of the light.  They were big in the 70's and I'd stare at them for hours (it's okay, they've done tests, I'm not mentally challenged, I just am distracted by sparkly things.).

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

I started thinking about other favourite toys that I had during my childhood.  The more I thought about it, the more I remembered.  I've listed some of my favourites below.

According to my parents, my first baby toys were a beer can and a tobacco tin.  That may have laid the foundation for my teen years, but that discussion is for another day.  I can remember a few favourite toys from my toddler/early childhood years.



The record player was a staple in many houses in the early 70's.  I can't recall the tunes that it played, but I am pretty sure it would have been nursery rhymes.  It used to fascinate me how it worked.  They must have been well made because I don't think we were gentle with it at all, we may have used the 'records' as Frisbees, I don't know for sure. 

TinkerToy was another big hit in our house.  We would spend hours joining the bits and pieces together.  I don't think we made anything particularly creative, but looking back I imagine that most things built resembled a model of a molecule.  Lots of fun, and WAY less painful than Lego.  

My brother had the Fisher Price garage (Fisher Price made great, sturdy toys, didn't they?).  We had hours of fun with this, and it went well with the Matchbox cars that we got when we were a bit older.  I believe that some of these are still in the possession of my parents, and they are still a hit when little kids come over.  The original cars were solid steel, very heavy and could really take a beating (or just about take out an eye if you winged it at your sibling...who we all know deserved it anyway).  We had all sorts of jumps set up and created many daredevil tricks.

Pretty in Pink

Camping anyone?

Moving on to the more 'girly' toys, of course there was Barbie.  I had the Barbie Corvette, and Barbie and GI Joe would travel together in pink perfection.  We also had the Barbie Camper - I can still remember the smell of the vinyl.  In fact, some of the promotional stickers that we have at work have the same smell, and I have been busted sniffing them....oh, the shame!


Another favourite of mine that I did not own, but played with religiously at a friend's house, was the doll head that you could put make up on and style her hair.  We used to play with that for hours.  I knew early on that I was 'hair illiterate' and could not master anything more complicated than a ponytail.  Maybe if my parents had given me one for Christmas like I begged for every year, I would have better luck in the styling department....but I doubt it.

Looking good, Miss Barbie



As we got older, the games changed.  We played Operation, fought over the Atari, made pretty pictures with Spirograph and drove Mum insane with Simon.

 

But there was one toy that brought great joy to our house - the slot cars.  Dad loved giving us slot cars, and we'd spend hours setting up the tracks and having races.  I can still smell that distinct electrical odour that the triggers gave off as you eagerly tried to beat your opponent.  The only problem was that when Dad had his friends over, we all got kicked off the track and, from the sounds of it, a lot of beer was consumed and a lot of good-natured competition ensued.  I suspect some of our toys were never really meant for us in the first place - our parents may have chosen games that they enjoyed too. 

Race anyone?

I wonder what kids of this generation will remember when they are our age?  I hope they have some memories like this, and not just memories of screens.