Toys, Toys, Toys

I was thinking about toys and what I played with as a little girl. So I thought it would be fun to write about some of them.

Barbie was introduced in 1959. I had a couple of them through the years. The original, the the strange eyes and the stranger pony tail. Then one with the "bubble" hair cut. My mom found a lady in our town that made the clothes. So, I had a pretty good size wardrobe for my Barbie. The one with the pony tail, I discovered that you could comb out her hair and using straight pins you could make all kinds of hairdos. Not once did it enter my mind that by sticking pins in a dolls head that I was maybe leaning towards voodoo. I wonder if that would work for the Ken doll?

The hula hoop was introduced in 1957. While it was fun for a while, you for the purpose intended, it was also great to use as hoop for the cat to jump through (depending on the cat's mood). I did find that riding a bike with a hula hoop is a bad idea. The only place to put it is around your neck and that was just to much of a temptation for some friend to grab it as you rode by and pull you off your bike.

Play-Doh was introduced in 1956. Great fun, but it does stick to carpet when it dries out. Also sticks in cat hair and the cat did not appreciate that aspect of it.

Mr. Potato Head came out in 1952. Not the kind with the plastic body. You had to use a real potato. Messy but fun. I wish they would have had more expressions. I loved the line from Toy Story when Mrs. Potato Head tells Mr. Potato Head that she had packed his angry eyes.

The Sleeping Beauty Game came out in 1959. A marketing ploy by Disney. I loved this game and would beg anyone coming into the house to play with me. My brother-in-law (at that time my sister's boyfriend) would play it with me. He cheated and then try to deny it.

I always like toy cars and would play for hours on end with them. We also played "cowboys and Indians" and used our index fingers for guns. I could always make a really good ricochet sound. We were like Zombies, dead one minute from an Indians arrow and shooting up a storm the next.

There was lots of hide and seek, kick the can, and flashlight tag. Outside from the time we awoke to after dark.

I feel sad for kids today that don't have that freedom.

My youngest grandson comes to our house, and he is old enough to mow the yard, there is always a story going on in his imagination while racing around the yard. It is so much fun to watch him. I will peak out the window and watch him talking to an imaginary person and see the expressions change on his face. That is when I know all is right with the world. Imagination reigns in the minds of little children.