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Toys of Christmas Past
“No one ever forgets a toy that made him or her supremely happy as a child, even if that toy is replaced by one like it that is much nicer.” — Stephen King
“‘Tis the season,” so they say, so now I offer up something light, silly, and hopefully a little fun. Because I am Mr. Fun! All my friends say so, right? Right? (Nobody here except us crickets, man.) Ahem. Well, be that as it may, I got caught up in a conversation the other day about the toys we had as kids. Sure, it’s not an uncommon conversation, but whenever they start, it quickly evokes the same feelings of competitive envy I had when I was nine, when everyone would go back to school and compare notes on who got what for Christmas.
So here’s what I propose, if you’re game: go hit your search engine of choice, and load up the comments with pictures and remembrances of your favorite toys from your childhood (ages 1 to 92). If the post fizzles out early, well then, you’re all humbugs.
Here’s just handful of a few of mine, to get things started. Wanna play? Post as many as you’d like, after all, he who dies with the most toys, wins.
The kid in me still wants that …
Tonka! I forgot about Tonka Trucks. And bulldozers. Man.
You can buy one, factory sealed, for a mere $12,650!
Oh, the Crissy doll was awesome!
“She’s got a short bob, no, a long bob! No, she’s got long, luxurious locks . . . [push the button on her belly], no, a short bob!”
Speaking as someone who’s never managed to maintain the same hair style (or length) from one month to the next for most of my life, I’m thinking perhaps this was my most influential childhood toy. (A friend in college once dubbed me the living embodiment of the Crissy Doll.)
The Lemon Twist employed a bit more aerobic effort and dexterity. Despite hours spent with mine on the back patio, growing up, it clearly did not have as much of a lasting influence on me but I remember it fondly, just the same.
No but I can still sing the theme song.
I was pretty good at hula-hoop. Had a first-generation one. But this toy was my favorite, hands down.
I can honestly say that this toy changed me. Irrevocably. Even today, in my own mind, I say to myself, I have an appointment at the dentisk (from Popeye’s saying Even I Yam a Artisk).
The round object just below the SK in Skittles is the top of a spinning top. In the upper left hand corner of the box you can see some holes. A string was wrapped around the stem of the top, the top was set against the inside with the head sticking through the top hole and the string sticking out the bottom hole. The string was pulled hard and the top starts spinning all around the entire box. Points are given for each “bowling pin” that is knocked over.
Here’s another view:
Holy smokes! The Border and Panel building set. I spent hours creating commercial plazas that were destined to be urban blight. Great fun.
Fascinating. And unique!
On behalf of Gen Xers, the most memorable presents were transportation:
I put many miles on My Kick & Go:
and the “big wheel” ain’t no big deal, the Green Machine was the thing:
You win, Jimmy. Green Machine, hands down.
Pretty sure I had this one. I don’t remember motorized anything but I definitely remember launching planes off of the deck with the spring loaded catapult.
Whenever I had my toys out around my grandfather, he would say in a mournful, wistful voice, “All I had to play with was walnuts.” He was born in 1905 and spent some time in an orphanage, so that was probably true. On the other hand, he was a lot of fun to play with and had a great sense of humor, so I’m not sure whether he was kidding or not. I still use that line whenever I see kids or adults with toys, but only I get the joke.
I had a friend in elementary school who had that. It was too large for their family to keep it out all the time, so they only set it up in the winter when the kids were indoors.
I was going to pick that one. My earliest memory was opening Castle Greyskull at my grandparents on Christmas Eve, I couldn’t have been more than two or three at the time.
Definitely not a toy, but most life-changing gift was this when I was 10 years old:
Oh, I’m totally stealing that.
Can’t wait to use that line on my nieces and nephews.
I have the only store-bought toy my great grandfather ever got, a lead crystal ball with a pewter animal figurine embedded inside (these are sometimes called cameos). It had a flaw, a bubble next to the figurine, so it was only a dime. After four generations of boys rolling it into stuff, it’s scarred and pitted; it’s impossible to identify what the animal was. Hippo, maybe.
My grandfather’s reported collection of toys dwindled with each retelling. Originally he had a few things, including a painted wooden fish with wheels and a long pull string.
By the time he died he swore he had no other toys, and that fish no longer was painted. Or had wheels.
Guess his imagination wore it out?
I smashed one of these once. Pro-tip. Don’t smash it at your feet, especially if you’re wearing your good pants.
Had one of these back when:
Had it stretched from Our mailbox to the one across the street.
It lasted about a day until My older Brothers decided to cut Him open to see what was inside.
Family stories. Always something to be thankful for.
A few years ago we bought a new one of these and it’s companion, the Excuse Ball. Made of some very light weight stuff compared to the old ones, but still fun.
I mentioned once to the Mrs that I had never had Rock Em Sock Em robots and they showed up the next Christmas.
I was often told that the only thing my grandparents would get for Christmas was oranges in their stocking.
“The Green Machine: the Color of Envy™”
The only Star Wars toys I ever got were a few figures of minor background characters like General Crix Madine and 8-D-8 (the torture droid from Jabba’s basement).
As a Star Wars obsessed child, the paucity of my Star Wars collection was a perennial hardship.
I was a Trekkie when SW came out. I converted some time in my adulthood.