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Our childhood toys

Before Skateboards, we made our own device,we used to put a Annual (those hard back books you used to get at xmas) on a Roller skate sit on it and go down the road which had a small hill, if we only and patent it then we would be rich
 
I still have a Spirograph somewhere! Also still have my teddy bear - my earliest memory is of losing him and being carried to the local shops to see if they had found him. He turned up at home having falling between my doll's pram and the wall. I remember fuzzy felts as well but my memory is that they did not stick very well.
 
I had a Spirograph too, loved it.

My other favourite was a Merit Chemistry Set, I was totally absorbed with it.
 
Have we had Bayko? It was one of my favourites. I was lucky enough to have lots of things for birthdays and Christmas. I can also remember a miniature sweet shop complete with scales and a post office set (I got the ink all over my new lemon dress!) My Merrythought teddy was loved to bits - literally - he had a succession of new pads for his paws, a growler-ectomy and finally I had to make him a very small babygro to stop him disintegrating altogether.
 

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I remember when I was about 6 0r 7 Woolworths used to sell little yellow plastic chickens and I had one. If it was stood on its little legs and given a push down it used to lay a little egg. Fascinated me for hours!

Regards, Ray T.
 
Ray T, I remember the little yellow chickens - nowadays it's reindeer and poos. Typical lowering of standards I'm afraid.
Anyone remember those 'jumping beans' that didn't actually jump but would run down your hand. I think there was a ball bearing inside (I was told that it was an insect so I wouldn't go anywhere near them - very gullible, me).
 
Around 1959 at my school in Gower St, lozells, we had this craze where all us kids seemed to have a little Derringer cap gun keychain. It was the "must have" thing of the month ( or however long that particular craze lasted).
 
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I didn't have any little girls to play with when I was growing up. All the children in our row of pre-fabs were boys and they were around my brother's age so all their friends would come round. Sometimes I was allowed to join in just not very often. One game that they played, or rather trick I should call it, was to cover a penny with silver foil and stick it to the pavement opposite the park. They'd dash over to 'our' side and hide behind the trees until some unsuspecting person came along. You can guess the rest.
 
Another memory is pouncing on shoe boxes when anyone had a new pair (not too often needless to say). We cut a small peep-hole in the one end and then cut out different things from birthday cards leaving a bit on the bottom to stick them to the base so that they'd stand up. The lid of the box was discarded and tissue (old fashioned loo paper) was pasted over the top. This gave a strange light in the box (well it would wouldn't it...). Anyway, it took ages to do this but of course once you'd finished there wasn't a lot you could do with it was there?
 
If you have some "treasured" dolls stored away it might be worth checking that they are still safe. I looked at one my plastic dolls the other day and it had gone sticky. It seems older Barbie-type dolls can go like this, and older Pedigree-type ones can go brittle.
When I looked on the Internet it says some dolls are not safe to pass on to the next generation because they are releasing chemicals so it might be worth checking.
My brother stored his train set in the loft and it was so hot the coaches buckled and bent!
rosie.
 
Oh, what a sad story Rosie! But a real warning to all us hoarders. I had to make my old Ted a 'baby-go' some time ago as his pads had long gone and the felt replacements disintegrated. He'd already had a squeaker-ectomy some time in my childhood - the bear equivalent of a heart by-pass? Last time I located him in the loft (in his shoe box) his legs were all soft too. He was made from sawdust so I hate to think what was going on inside his suit. He still had the lop sided, much squeezed face of a well-loved bear though.
 
I had to let my doll go a while back as - sad to say - she was losing her head. My teddy is still going strong but was I think filled with what felt like thin strips of wood so I suspect he might be fading on the inside. Like Pen's he has the worn appearance of a much loved bear. He features in one of my earliest memories - crying my eyes out, being carried round the shops by the Wheatsheaf on the Coventry Road asking if anyone had found him after he went walkabout. No one had which was not surprising as he had fallen out of my doll's pram and was wedged between it and the wall. Imagine the joy when we moved the pram and I found him!!
 
I vividly remember Dad once asking me this question, 'If we were on a ship and Ted and I fell overboard and you only had one hand free, who would you save?' I don't remember answering - I couldn't have been very old but I still get upset at the thought. It was also a very strange question to ask a little girl wasn't it?
 
Yes Lady P, it might seem like an odd question. But today family members sometimes ask questions along those lines in a joking way. It probably just amounts to parents having their own insecurities too, something which wouldn't have occurred to us as youngsters.

Your boat question reminded me of my grandmother and my aunts who lived in the US and who travelled back for visits here in the 1950s. They travelled on a Dutch ship on one trip and brought me back a Dutch doll. She wore the Dutch national dress with the traditional pointed hat. But the fascinating thing to me about her was the body. She had a cloth body but all the joints were wooden A cross between a doll and a puppet. Her hair was quite yellow and plaited and she wore clogs. Because of the jointed wooden legs she constantly moved, so, to me, she was quite lifelike. I thought she was wonderful. Viv,
 
Vivienne, do you remember whether the doll had any form of jewellery (imitation of course) and was there a waistline, in the clothing, to be seen or not.
If you recall these things I will explain their meaning.
 
Hi Alan. I don't remember any jewellery. I think the dress had a waistline. The fabric was pale blue/white striped. Think there was some lace on the hat. Viv.
 
Thanks Alan, interesting. Didn't know there were so many different costumes. Think my doll must have been a general representation of Dutch costume, maybe for the tourist market.

Anyone remember Topo Gigio, the gorgeous Italian puppet on TV ? I loved the smell of the toy, it was bendy and smelt quite sweet. Don't know what it was made of. Maybe some form of plastic ? It had a foamy type texture. Viv.
 
He was quite famous in the United States as well. Although his origins were Italian, he was loved in Spain and subsequently the UK.
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I have a tiny Topo Gigio that we hung on my son's first Christmas tree!
His Rupert was a sponge Bendy toy but it became dangerous with the wire poking out. A lot of those 1970's toys weren't safe until people realised and the laws changed. I loved his chiming carousel until I found the spikes were sticking through the base after he dropped it!
rosie.
 
I just loved these. This one’s from Bunty magazine (a favourite magazine and Judy of course). It’s obviously a bonfire night edition with all the essential clothes for warmth beside the bonfire.

You used to get these on the back of Christmas selection boxes too in the 1950s/60s. Eventually the fold over tabs would disintegrate through use, but simple fun while it lasted. Viv.

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viv i have just been transported back in time...spent hours playing with those and ages cutting them out

lyn
 
lol viv and i recall getting annoyed when the clothes kept falling off but still great fun
 
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