Toys of yesteryear

[Aggie_Ama]

My 91 year old Mammaw decided to sell her home and buy something nicer and bigger, it was time. :p Us five grandkids were invited to take things we wanted and help pack. I stated I wanted this book on wonders of the world, a tiny old iron (which oddly my mom already had for me) and Logstix. Seeing as there are 4 boys and me it was a bit of a heated debate who would get the Logstix, none of us have children which would logically win the argument and all of us played with the toys. I am the only girl but not the youngest nor oldest. I desperately wanted this remnant of my childhood though!

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y258/AggieAma/LOGSTIX1.jpg

I was not there Saturday to help pack (oddly wasn't told they were going but it was Valentine's day) but got a text message from Mom "you are getting the Logstix". My birthday is tomorrow and I could now care less if I get anything, I will be picking these up and building log cabins!

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y258/AggieAma/med_grooved_logs.jpg
Popular Science, March 1950

I am a child of the 80's but this toy from the 50's knocks my socks off! Anyone have a toy from your childhood or wish you still had?

[tulip]

I've never heard of Logistix, but they look like fun. I still have my cylinder of Lincoln Logs, though. I love them.

[Aggie_Ama]

My older brother had Lincoln Logs and would never let me play with them or his legos. My Dad's parents believed in gender specific toys but Mammaw just had the toys and crafts us to share, I don't know if it was easier or she just didn't believe in letting me be "girly" and them be "boys". So I got to play with my uncle/mom/aunt's Logstix, race cars in the living room and climb up on the little shed. The boys made pot holders on little looms, would stitch coasters or make ornaments with beads. It was always an adventure there!

I bought my niece and best friend's little girl the baby legos for their birthdays. All the girls love their building blocks, my oldest niece loves going to the hardware store! :p

[sundial]

I think toys of yesteryear are so interesting. Mother still has her jax set. My brother grew up with Lincoln logs and the rector set, which I had to ask permission to play with. :rolleyes:

[Aggie_Ama]

I got these yesterday from my mom's and behold my stars- there were two sets!! And the unexpected shock of suddenly remembering the little metal box Mammaw kept them in and the jar she kept the "two-ers" (what I called the smallest ones) in.

The boys all got a jar of my Pawpaw's marbles and a pocket knife from his collection. Mom said I have to go see Mammaw to see if she kept any of his things for me.

How cool about the jacks! I had some but never could get the concept. :(

[tulip]

I loved playing jax. I could play well when I was a child before I lost one eye; now I don't think I could do it. I hated stepping on those jax, though (and my brother's little green army men that were everywhere on the floor)

[Aggie_Ama]

You lost an eye? Do you have a glass one? One of my husband's best friend lost his in a BB gun accident. He has a glass one, pretty weird how that is an option.

[Biciclista]

yes. Jax (jacks?) hurt worse than legos on bare feet.
I never had an erector set, but we were able to buy one at a high priced toy store in the early 90's for one of my sons. After hours of constructing a little vehicle, there were parts that didn't quite fit right. that was the end of that.
very disappointing.

[eclectic]

. I hated stepping on those jax, though (and my brother's little green army men that were everywhere on the floor)

Ditto on that one!

My children's former elementary school and other local schools still hold Jacks contests to this day.
A nice, fun, innocent past time which is great for coordination.

[GLC1968]

I hated my brothers little army men...those things ended up everywhere and they hurt when you stepped on them!

We were big fans of anything that would allow us to build. Lincoln logs, legos, etc. We had this cool toy called Riviton that was an erector set from Parker Brothers where you had these rubber rivits that stretched into holes to attach things. It was cool because you could take it all apart and build something else without wasting anything. My dad worked for Parker Brothers, so we had all the different sets and my brother and I LOVED them. Then some stupid kid shoved the rivits up his nose and choked to death...so they recalled the entire line. We begged my dad to let us keep them if we promised never to put them in our nose, but he wouldn't let us...some liablility issue due to his position at Parker Brothers. Bah.

I found this pic of an ad from 1978 for Riviton (on ebay):
http://i17.ebayimg.com/05/i/001/23/4b/cd64_1.JPG

We were also big fans of the 'little people' line from Fisher Price (when we were younger). Those all got recalled as well (and redsigned) because kids choked on those, too.

[emily_in_nc]

We were also big fans of the 'little people' line from Fisher Price (when we were younger). Those all got recalled as well (and redsigned) because kids choked on those, too.

YESSSSSSSSSS! Little people, little people, little people! I just LOVED me some little people! Had no idea they eventually got recalled. :(

[Zen]

Some of the toys I don't know, the old standbys (Lincoln logs, Legos) I do.

i have my Matchbox car collection in it's carrying case and a Spirograph but I actually bought the Spirograph on ebay:o

[solobiker]

I use to play with my Dad's old army men he had when he was growing up.. He used to buy them on his way home from school back in the late 30s and early 40. They are definately not the plastic kind.;) He ended up giving me them which is pretty cool. I also had a Spirograph which was way too much fun, and of course legos. Other then that I used to spend most of my time playing outside.

[GLC1968]

Oh yeah...loved the Spirograph! My mom even used it to 'decorate' her holiday newsletter one year. And there was another creative 'toy' that we had where you put a blank white card into this spinning thing and squirted paint onto it while it was going around. Then you had these psychadelic designs on the cards when it dried. Anyone remember those and what it was called? Man - that thing made a mess (maybe that's why we loved it so much!).

Emily - I don't know that the little people were actually recalled, but they did stop making them in favor of a much larger version (that a child couldn't possibly swallow). My dad eventually worked for Fisher Price for a few years and was telling me about the end of the little people. Now, I believe they are just called "People". Original, huh? ;) I loved the little school bus where the little people moved up and down as the bus wheels turned! And I was also a big fan of the farm set - go figure. :D

[Tuckervill]

SpinArt! You can actually pay money to do that at State Fairs these days.

I had Spirograph, and my sons had never heard of it. But one day I was at a garage sale and I saw a Spirograph from the same era as mine...the kids on the box were exactly the same. The pens were still in it, too! (They were dry of course.) I still bought it, for only 25 cents!

Karen

[emily_in_nc]

Emily - I don't know that the little people were actually recalled, but they did stop making them in favor of a much larger version (that a child couldn't possibly swallow). My dad eventually worked for Fisher Price for a few years and was telling me about the end of the little people. Now, I believe they are just called "People". Original, huh? ;) I loved the little school bus where the little people moved up and down as the bus wheels turned! And I was also a big fan of the farm set - go figure. :D

My favorite "little people" item piece was that garage thing the cars and trucks for them to ride in and the curved ramp to drive up to the top level. My friend had most of the little people stuff, so I just played at her house.

I also loved Barbies, Spirograph, Legos, Lincoln Logs, classic games like Candyland and Clue and many, many other old toys and games. All that stuff was so cool! I guess kids today start with video games so early they never get to experience all the neat toys we had.

Did anyone happen to have this really cheesy "Mystery Date" game? You opened the door, and a "date" was behind it -- either a "cute" guy in a tux, or a bum, or a policeman, or whatever. I just loved that silly thing!

Oh, the memories. I am suddenly feeling very old.

[Deborajen]

I used to play "Mystery Date" at my friend's house all the time - totally cheesy, but we loved it.

We also had an old electric football set. It had some bubbles in the field that would make the players just stop and spin in the middle of the field or suddenly take off and go out of bounds. The "kicker" was the best part. It was a springboard of sorts. If you pressed down on it much at all it would shoot the tiny football all the way across the living room and down the hall past both bedrooms. Quite a change from the precise video games nowadays!

Deb

[Tuckervill]

All that stuff was so cool! I guess kids today start with video games so early they never get to experience all the neat toys we had.

Then what explains the garage full of every imaginable toy, PLUS all the game systems left over from 26 years of raising kids? :)

Karen

[tulip]

I loved Spirograph, as well as making potholders--remember the loops and the toothed frame?

I did not like Operation. I hated that buzz, not to mention the thought of operating on someone!

[Zen]

those potholders always shrunk to about the size of a coaster. If they could just stay the same size they'd be good quality potholders.

I may just look for one of those and go into business:D

[Aggie_Ama]

My Mammaw was constantly going out to her shed and bringing toys from her kids, I was in heaven. She never bought anything modern except a swing set and beads or yarn to make crafts for us grandkids. My aunt was born in 1944, my uncle 1950, my mom is the baby from 1955. Their toys were great! She had an old Chinese checkers board no one new how to play but she had a ton of marbles, we would just arrange them on the board.

[tulip]

You could make a bigger one...but the loops would have to be bigger, too. We had lots of potholders. I actually found one in the back of my folk's drawer in the kitchen a while back. It must be 30 years old! Yes, it is coaster-size, and more of a parallelogram.

[Aggie_Ama]

We would make multiple potholders and then Mammaw would help us join them together.

[tulip]

Aggie, I love your Mammaw!

[Crankin]

I loved the old Lincoln logs, that were actually made of wood. The ones my kids had were plastic (from the 80s).
I used to play incessant rounds of jacks up through 5th grade. Tons of sleepovers with my Barbie and my 3 suitcases of Barbie clothes. That was an addiction! I put them away in fifth grade and wonder what happened to them.
Re: the little people. I have a friend who used to say that they mysteriously multiplied overnight. She would get up in the morning and they would be all over her house, causing everyone to trip and hurt their feet.
When we moved to MA, we gave the Little People house, or maybe it was a garage, to our kid's preschool. Scott never forgave me.
Aggie, your mom is younger than me...;).

[Aggie_Ama]

You know Tulip, I took me a long time to realize how much I do too. That sounds harsh but she is a very cold woman. My mom said she isn't sure she can count how many times she said "I love you" on more than one hand. If I say "I love you Mammaw" she will reply "Uh-huh. Be careful going home". She was born to a woman that didn't know how to show love in 1918 (according to my mom).

I think now all those crafts and keeping the toys was her way of showing love. She is a bit crazy but the world needs more people like her I think. And they need more pot holders, Logstix, Lincoln Logs, craft time, Spirographs and sandboxes full of old pots and pans.

Did you know that an old flour sifter is one of the greatest sandbox toys ever? Hers was so rusty but was great at breaking up the sand when it got all clumpy after a rain or getting the leaves off the pecan tree out of the sand. :p Oh look, you can get a rusty one on ebay! http://cgi.ebay.com/Neat-old-Very-primitive-flour-sifter!-rusty-vintage_W0QQitemZ220318257477QQcmdZViewItem

[Aggie_Ama]

Crankin- But my brother had wood Lincoln Logs! He was born in 1976. :p My mom said her Barbies had they heads you removed to change them around, Mammaw still had a couple of them when I was a kid. I thought they were gross.

[Crankin]

Maybe they didn't sell the wooden ones in AZ? Or maybe your brother had hand me downs.
I don't remember seeing a Barbie with a removable head!

[Aggie_Ama]

You know the wooden ones may have been my dad's from when my grandparents adopted him in 1960-61. I remember my Dad saying he treasured them (and Cootie!) because they were the first toys ever received. It is very likely the Lincoln Logs I remember were my brother's that were at my Nanny and Pawppaw's house because they still had Cootie so I bet they were dad's Lincoln Logs and not the ones that could be bought when my brother was a kid?

[DebW]

I loved Tinker Toys. My grandmother had a wooden set for us. When I bought Tinker Toys for my kids, they were all plastic. My favorite modern building toy is K'nex.

[tulip]

My friends and I used to switch heads on Barbies all the time. My favorite was Ken's head on Skipper's body for some reason. I was probably 7 or 8 at the time.

I couldn't remember the name of Tinker Toys! I loved those and also the math blocks, something like Cuisinart, but of course, that's not right!

[GLC1968]

Oh, I loved tinker toys, too! I remember getting so annoyed at our dogs, because they'd chew on the connectors just enough that the wood rods wouldn't fit into the holes anymore (or wouldn't stay in). I'd forgotten about those!!

[Crankin]

Cuisenaire Rods (the math blocks).

[redrhodie]

I didn't have a Barbie. I think my mother thought she was a bimbo. Instead, she bought me one of Barbie's less sexy friends, I don't remember her name, but she was brunette. She lasted until about the day after Xmas. Death by Borzoi. It was ugly.

My favorite toy was my Hippity-hop, which was like one of those big Pilates balls, but with a horse head and handles. That was fun to bop around on in my cowboy hat. I also LOVED my Romper-stompers, which were yellow plastic upside down cups that you would strap to your shoes, making you tall and loud. In retrospect, they were totally dangerous.

Oh, and Silly Putty and Slinkys were always fun.

[OakLeaf]

Skittles.

And most of the same building toys you all had. I'd forgotten about those Cuisenaire rods, but I don't remember doing math with them at all. I think we just built stuff out of them, too. :p

[emily_in_nc]

Oh yeah, Tinker Toys (all wood), loved 'em! And our Lincoln logs were wooden too. Sometimes it pays to be older; some things were just better back then. :D

[Aggie_Ama]

We used the Cuisenaire rods in elementary school, didn't know the name. Of course by the 1980's they were clear plastic- oohlala.

I had a ton of My Little Ponies, now that I see my nieces with them they are kind of lame but I loved them.

[salsabike]

Pick-up sticks (I'm simple-minded). And we used to have HUGE jacks tournaments at my summer camp.

[Deborajen]

I didn't have a Barbie. I think my mother thought she was a bimbo. Instead, she bought me one of Barbie's less sexy friends, I don't remember her name, but she was brunette.

Was her name Francie? I had a Francie doll instead of Barbie. My mom's name is Barbara and everyone called her Barbie - I don't think she wanted me to have a sexy doll with her name when I was little. :D

Oh, and I was just going through a closet and found and old pair of clip-on roller skates - the kind with a key to lengthen-shorten and widen. Anyone remember those?

Deb

[emily_in_nc]

Was her name Francie? I had a Francie doll instead of Barbie. My mom's name is Barbara and everyone called her Barbie - I don't think she wanted me to have a sexy doll with her name when I was little. :D

Oh, and I was just going through a closet and found and old pair of clip-on roller skates - the kind with a key to lengthen-shorten and widen. Anyone remember those?

Deb

Yes ma'am! I had both a Francie doll (and a Barbie, and was there a Stacy too?) and keyed roller skates! We had a broken tile floor screened porch off the side of the house I grew up in in Raleigh, and I used to skate around and around in it. That was also the same porch in which I played many a game of Mystery Date with my best friend! :D What great memories!

[Zen]

Francie was Barbies cousin, Skipper was her sister.
Midge was her friend.
Where can I get a job that calls for a specialty of useless information?

[shootingstar]

We never had even 1 Barbie doll. (and I have 4 other younger sisters). Alot of this was related to cost and my parents' friends weren't rolling in much money themselves to feed their own families,, much give gifts like that.
I do recall 1 blonde haired doll with blue eyes, that was shared amongst us all. Curly hair and rough. And the doll, now I remember after all these decades, the doll...wore a blue and white dirndl. LOL. How coincidental, since we were growing up in a German immigrant-based city.

So, most fun was jump the rubber ball, where the girls in our elementary school threw the ball way high against wall of 3 story school, on the side with no windows, and we would try to jump the ball bouncing onto the pavement.

Simple days. And we had hula hoop, jump footsie bell and long marathons of double-dutch skip rope contests. Can't believe I could jump up to 1,000 jumps on double dutch...once upon a time.

[Aggie_Ama]

Francie was Barbies cousin, Skipper was her sister.
Midge was her friend.
Where can I get a job that calls for a specialty of useless information?

I find Trivial Pursuit is a good place to flex this sort of brawn. Can you find a job paying you to do that?:p I also had KiKi, her Hawaiian friend. She was quite exotic and an african american I called Whitney because I liked Whitney Houston in the day.

Last year I was told my older niece wanted Hi Ho Cheery O for Christmas, I remembered I loved that game so I bought it and was baffled that there are now multi colored cherries? She still loved it.

[Zen]

I loved that game so I bought it and was baffled that there are now multi colored cherries?

Genetic engineering?

[blueskies]

I used to play "Mystery Date" at my friend's house all the time - totally cheesy, but we loved it.

Deb

Hey Deb,

Soon as I read this, I could hear the jingle:

Open the door
For your
Mystery date!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHsQpTbQ9Uo

Thanks for putting a smile on my face!

[emily_in_nc]

Hey Deb,

Soon as I read this, I could hear the jingle:

Open the door
For your
Mystery date!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHsQpTbQ9Uo

Thanks for putting a smile on my face!

Oh, how wonderful -- I was the one who originally mentioned this game. Seeing the commercial brought it all back. The ultimate cheese! I could have been one of those girls in the ad, ringlets and all...

I just can't get over how much times have changed since I was a girl!

[Deborajen]

It was definitely Emily who brought up that cool memory - boy, the things we used to do to gush over cute guys! My friend and I used to collect baseball cards, too. We'd give a lot of the "valuable" ones to our brothers - just so we got to keep the cute ones. ;)

Who would've thought you could find something like that on You Tube? That was great - thanks for sharing!

Deb

[malkin]

Hearthsong has those pot holder looms. Real metal ones.

http://www.hearthsong.com/hearthsong/product.do?section_id=0&bc=1005&pgc=198

[Aggie_Ama]

Hearthsong has those pot holder looms. Real metal ones.

http://www.hearthsong.com/hearthsong/product.do?section_id=0&bc=1005&pgc=198


You rock!! I was telling my husband that I wanted to see if my Mammaw still had these for our almost 6 year old niece who loves crafts. But if not I see what she is getting for her birthday come June. She will have a blast I think.