Yup, that special time of the year is fast approaching. I know this because the adverts have started on tv.

So. I have no offspring, so I don't really know what they are into these days. But I was recalling the things I got for Christmas as a kid and got to wondering if they are still on the market, have they been updated or forgotten?

1)View master...........still around?
2)Shaker Maker.......Pour the special liquid into a mold and "you shake it up" You would remove the mold after a short time and you could add hair for a troll doll or a purse or such for a girl. It hardened and then you could paint after it. I have not seen one since my childhood.
3)Creepy Crawlies.......I saw it advertised the other day. You make your own jelly like insects by pouring colored liquid into a mold.


What are some of the things you had as a child that your child will not see? What are some of the things that have come back after decades?

lil'red.
here's a couple of "pithy" recollections of yesteryears.
in-school: 4th or 5th(or 12th) grade sitting in the back of the classroom with a box of rubber bands.
home: rolling the play-doh into golf ball size blobs dip em in mom's gravy and place in dogs bowl.
I'm sure I could come up with more poignant memories but....

Hmmmm... Newborn Baby Tenderlove, Hang On Harvey, Super Slider Sno Skates, Barrel of Monkeys, that blonde haired doll whose pony tail could go long or short by pushing a button or turning a knob....

And Christmas candy... big purple boxes of Ganong chocolates, ribbon candy, chicken bones, satin mix, turkish delight...geeze, my teeth ache just thinking about it!

Merrymobile ( a circular ice cream truck)

Merrymobile? hahahahaahahahahahaahahahaahahahaha !

lionel trains...
tonka trucks....
erector set......
g.i. joe....
g.i.joe w/kung fu grip...
etch-a-sketch...
lite-brites....
easy bake oven...
monkeys in-a-barrel???

for rykat, paper airplanes w/dress pin in the nose.
way better than rubber bands.

creepy crawlers??? we made them into fishing lures... just inserted a hook into the mold.

Cut out dolls that you could create a static when you rubbed her clothes on her and they would stick without the folding tabs.
The Slinky
Charm bracelets
That pink dough like stuff that came in an egg........what was it called?
Kerplunk

silly puddy

Silly Putty - the smell!!!!!!

Chatty Kathy doll. Blonde for me. Brunette for my sister.

Roller skates with 4 metal wheels that attached to your shoes and had a key to tighten them
Atari
A tracing table that was made of semi transparent plastic and had a lightbulb under it. Place the original on the plastic and plain paper on top of it. The light shone through and you could very easily trace any picture you wanted to reproduce.
Eight track players

A side note about silly putty.......it made great "cheat sheets"

Before Atari we had Pong. I thought that was the coolest thing! Man, have times changed!

My mother still has my Barbie (with bendable arms and legs) and all her changes of clothes, and my brothers GI Joes (one red head one black hair) with all their combat gear. I wonder what those would be worth on Ebay?

How about Weebul's? "Weebul's wobble but they don't fall down"

I remember those roller skates - still have the scar on my chin! Atari's Chopper Command ... I rocked!

FYI~~~
Atari MADE POng.
I know, because I worked there

That may be but pong was the first video game. I believe that the console could only play the one game and it was a blast! My memory could be failing me in my old age!

PONG is making a comeback. I was at an event in San Francisco a week ago. One company was promoting Beer pong tournaments.You play pong against opponents and the loser of the point takes one of about ten shots of beer. The winner goes to the next round. Predictably, the games get faster as the night wears on...all in all, a pretty fun event concept, nifty presentation of an oldschool game.

I often think about the times we didn't have cell phones. I recollect conversations being had with friends or family memebers, arguments because lack of communication where a simple phone call would have straightened something out! I often got grounded for not calling... do believe life is much easier with them!!

Why is it that I always feel obligated to answer the damn thing when it rings and then feel I must give a valid reason why I didn't?


On the other hand, Beer Pong is tons of fun.

Yeah for caller id! I make no excuses for not calling people back. They are lucky if they get a call back! I know it sounds bad... I'm just not a phone person but rather prefer computer as a way to communicate... obviously! :P

memory lane!

How about column shifters and the floor dimmer switch on old cars?

I also remember when the Crayola box of 64 with the sharpener in the back was introduced. And the Sears Wish Book.

...and my personal favorite (I still use it once in a while)

hmmm, which ones the rectal temperererer!

And how many kids get the enjoyment of a BB gun, pellet gun or pellet pistol before their 10th birthday nowadays? How about a real sled with runners instead of just a plastic thing that looks like a garbage can lid? And it came without a helmet.

Robbie The Robot, (his voicebox spouting "Hi, I'm Robbie the Robot Mechanical Man, Drive Me & Steer Me Wherever You Can" - drove my mom insane! Oh wait, uymm ...I may have been responsible for that)

Visible V-8 for you modelmaker/engineer types....I'm guessing Bobber had one of those

Capt Jeff probably had those little plastic diver dudes whose bums(?) you filled up with baking soda and sent off through the bathtub

I clearly remember saving all the money I’d earned, then having to decide how to budget before shopping for my loved ones, often having to supplement my meager funds with homemade presents.

When my father died, I had been gone from the family home for almost 40 years, yet when I was going through the house, I found many gifts of no monetary value my parents had kept, and almost none of the expensive things I’d bought them latter when money was not an issue for me anymore.

The best things I ever got were those that Dad and I played with together….model airplane kits, fishing gear, etc.

There is nothing you can ever give your kids that they will remember more fondly in their latter years than your time and attention

Christmas for my kids and grandson this year is...

"SAN PEDRO"

think they'll remember? Yup.

Absolutely!

Might want to check out this website covering toys of the 70's, 80's & 90's....if you have several hours to burn...

Ooops! http://www.inthe70s.com/toys/

One year my little brother gave my other brother a huge candy cane for Christmas. Jaime didn't eat it, instead, it sat on a shelf in the clothes closet for a year. The following Christmas, he gave it to me. It became tradition in our family to "pass it on" each Christmas. In 28 years, that same candy cane has been to Germany, Italy, Taiwan, USA, Toronto, Nova Scotia and many tiny little towns in between. Now it resides in Thailand with my second sister. Wonder if it will make it to Belize, lol.

how da heck did they get 100 pieces in a box 6 1/2 X 3 X 2 3/4???

Spirograph!

and i still have my chatty kathy

My first record player..played 33's , 45's , 78's( i think) and was in a little suitcase.

the doll that you pushed a button and her hair grew.

I remember getting a WInky Dink Magic drawing screen that you put on your tv(attached with static electricity) and drew along with the TV show?

Incredible Edibles

Frosty the snow cone maker

Chatty Cathy mine was a "brown skinned" one

The board game Mystery Date


Damn..I'm old!!!!!

You think 'you' are old with your Chatty Cathys, I Sold them to your parents !

Ernie!!

I loved that doll, so thank you!

Is now the time for the sayings "Old is just a state of mind" or "Like a fine wine.............." ?

People improve with age, like a fine wine or cheese. Up to a certain point, of course, then they get moldy and sour.

I dont know how to define old, I have been berated for feeling 39, acting 19 and enjoying life, so........

You can also add to the Chatty Cathy list, Hot Wheels, Barbie,Dancerina,Kiddles etc,etc. Now I di feel old !

I had a lot of Howdy Doody stuff. Wish I still had it, I could retire. Our first TV had about an 8 inch screen, and was the first in our neighborhood. My mother had a pic of us and the neighbor kids sitting around it, about 10 of us. If my mother had had the foresight not to throw away my comic book collection, the whole family could retire.

Wow Ernie, you had Barbie's too!

Most fun we had was when a big cardboard box showed up for hiding in. We were too poor for toys(uh hem)!

Does mommy let you out of the box much these days?

Has anyone else noticed the one "present" that has survived for years, and is still the favorite of pre schoolers everywhere?

The box that encloses the metro sexual kitchen sets being given to boys these days will make just as good a fort as the box enclosing the actual fort did back in the 60’s!!!!