I never had many regular toys bought for me but those that were, we had to share between us all..like snakes and ladders or Ludo.. so any toys I played with were hand me downs from cousins, or were my friends toys.. mostly we'd make our own toys like the Go kart etc.. However, I remember being bought this.. ...and not that I want to sound ungrateful or anything, but even then as a child I remember thinking what fun is in THIS? Now as I ponder on it I realise not once have I ever heard any woman reflect on the fabulous fun times she had as a child playing with a fake Iron and ironing board!!
It's funny that marketers think always that a great gift for mom is always some thing for her to use while doing household chores. I'd fallen for that until one year my daughter told me "dad don't do that anymore".
How about the King of 'em all: The ERECTOR SET! I got one when I turned 10 in 1946! The first thing I built was a Cargo Hoist, which really worked! Hal
Another thing we built from discarded auto inner tubes was the deadly "Rubber Gun"! You used a piece of wood about a foot long or so, 4" high and 3/4-inch thick, and stretched 2 one-inch slices of inner tube around it, holding a spring clothespin as the trigger at the rear end, then for the "projectile", you stretched another slice of inner tube from the front, pinching it between the jaws of the clothespin at the rear. To fire it, you aimed it at the enemy, then squeezed the clothespin, releasing the projectile which flies away and stings the victim if close enough! Hal
My father worked part time installing aluminum storm doors, and he was always bringing home scrap pieces of aluminum channels. I would put those end to end, all over the living room furniture, and make marble runs. I could go for this even now if I had a long enough hill. The fun part would be building the track.
Around 4th. of July, all kinds of firecrackers were sold locally, out of crudely and quickly built little shed-like set-ups along our main drag, Cermak Rd. Not legal in my town, Berwyn, but next suburb west, North Riverside, they were. Just past the west boundary of Berwyn, Harlem Ave., lay the old CTA Car Barn, huge brick building which was before my time the "end of the line", Douglas Park El. Right in front of it stood the closest source for fireworks! Very popular small ones were called "Black Cat". They came in strings; folks loved to light a whole string at once; I never did, used them up too fast! These were called "Ladyfingers". They were tiny, about 3/4-inch long. Report was similar to a cap gun in intensity: This stuff may not necessarily be called "toys", but we sure used them as such! I contrived a firecracker-powered handgun! 6-inch long piece of 1/2" standard steel waterpipe with an elbow screwed on one end, that was the "grip", or handle, it's open side plugged. I found regular glass marbles fit perfectly. A Black Cat lit and quickly dropped into the muzzle followed by a marble, resulted in what probably could have been a lethal thing: the marble flew at least a hundred feet! This was when I was around 13 or 14, at which time I ordered fireworks sets from a place in Ohio; they were delivered by Railway Express Agency (REA) not Post Office. What if you were raising a kid like that? Frank
We had those firecrackers, plus the cherry bombs and M-80s. Michigan made them illegal while I was in high school but we could still get them in Canada.
Yes, my grandmother on my stepmother’s side like to play with that too but without the ball and rubber string. (If you get my meaning)
When I was a kid I loved the smell of Play doh... I know you can still buy it today but I don't know if it smells the same as 50 years ago.. anyone know?