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Our childhood toys

We must all have been the owners of large arsenals of cap and spud guns over the years and I know I've had all of the ones below. I suppose it must have been a spin off from the war years and the influence of endless american cowboy series shown on 50's and 60's TV but we always seemed to be playing war games or cowboys and Indians - I even had a Davy Crocket hat!. My Dan Dare space pistol was a bit of an embarrassment as it was too futuristic but if you didn't have anything suitable then you made pretend or improvised. One of the older lads had a length of metal tube and old spark plugs as dummy ammunition. which he used as a Bazooka or Mortar, depending on the state of play. We were most impressed and everyone wanted to be on his side!

Ammunition for our cap guns could be bought from shops at both ends of our road at Wally Goode's sweet shop and Woodroffes (but not on Sundays!). Woodroffes was also a hardware shop and in later years was where we bought pellets for out Gat air pistols.

I dread to think how many cap rockets have blocked the guttering on the roof at home as that's where most of them seemed to end up!

Now my grandson plays with Nerf guns and insists I join in. As he always chooses the best armoury I have to improvise using the tube off the vacuum cleaner!!!
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great stuff.i had one of these. Jaco will always stay with me. even the g/kids could not have him and a diana mod 15
 

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Jaco! - haven't seen one for years. My friend's sister had one, its hands were made of plastic and were slightly curled so that could hang from a bamboo cane lodged on the picture rail in the corner of their living room - when Jaco came down it was a sign that someone had misbehaved as it was the cane that was coming out to play!
 
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Jaco! - haven't seen one for years. My friend's sister had one, its hands were made of plastic and were slightly curled so that could hang from a bamboo cane lodged on the picture rail in the corner of their living room - when Jaco came down it was a sign that someone had misbehaved as it was the cane that was coming out to play!
:mad::mad:
 
I never heard of Jaco, not sure I would have wanted one....but maybe, all those years ago. I saw one, or something very similar undergoing restoration on a recent tv programme. I do remember a friend having a money box of this style.1577701368762.png
 
I never heard of Jaco, not sure I would have wanted one....but maybe, all those years ago. I saw one, or something very similar undergoing restoration on a recent tv programme. I do remember a friend having a money box of this style.View attachment 140264
nice Alan we had 2 of them a red one and a green one. you put a penny or what ever, on his hand pressed the lever and he eat it.
 
nice Alan we had 2 of them a red one and a green one. you put a penny or what ever, on his hand pressed the lever and he eat it.
I believe some banks issued them as an encouragement to save money rather than spend it. Today is reverse it seems, banks want you to be in hock to them. Anyway that particular item and the Robertsons jam item are not pc.
 
Not so much a toy but I had this exact same radio off my grandparents for Xmas 1964, a sign that I was growing up. Unfortunately, I found it before it had been wrapped and had to pretend I was surprised when I opened their present on Xmas Day. Like the fascination of having a torch I was endlessly turning it on and off and re-tuning the stations until the on off switch failed! It was my first and last transistor radio.

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My father brought back a German torch when he returned from Norway in 1946. It was rectangular in shape (akin to a present day cycle light in shape). U2 batteries were needed, I think two of them. It had four options: clear - standard torch light and three slider lenses. Red, green and a deep blue. Sadly, like many things, they disappear over time.
He also brought back a German hand torch which had a lever which, when depressed rapidly, acted as a dynamo to power the light, which could be quite intense. It had a leather tab, similar to those on mens braces, so that it could be attached to a coat button. I believe this type of light was copied, in the UK, post WW2.
 
Not so much a toy but I had this exact same radio off my grandparents for Xmas 1964, a sign that I was growing up. Unfortunately, I found it before it had been wrapped and had to pretend I was surprised when I opened their present on Xmas Day. Like the fascination of having a torch I was endlessly turning it on and off and re-tuning the stations until the on off switch failed! It was my first and last transistor radio.

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sad. I had one and walked around with it stuck to my ear like people do now with mobile phones. but i was listening to Radio Luxembourg:)
 
Deja vu? My grandson had this for Xmas, following a recent visit to our son in London, and is insisting that we build it TODAY! All I need now are my glasses and plenty of patience. I fear that it will take a while lol. Rather than the old metal parts I think this is now mainly plastic?

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How many of you bought one of these type of construction toys for about £5 from a petrol station?
They were made in East Germany in the 1970s?

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Earlier in this thread mn0njm posted a picture of a metal money box which I now can't find. I was trying to find an illustration of a money box that I had as a child. Finally found one and this is it.
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It is a either a French Foreign legionaire or a French Gendarme.
To operate it a spring loaded slide on the top of his rifle was pushed back until it locked then a coin was placed in front of this (Usually just an old 1d) When his foot was pushed down, the gun "fired" and the coin was shot into a slot in the hollow tree. I used to play with this for hours and money being a bit scarce to a four year old, anything tha would fit into the slot would be shot into the tree. I don't know whatever happened to it, I suppose it went the way of most of my childhood toys and disappeared over time.
 
I never heard of Jaco, not sure I would have wanted one....but maybe, all those years ago. I saw one, or something very similar undergoing restoration on a recent tv programme. I do remember a friend having a money box of this style.View attachment 140264

We had one of those, I think it was my mother's, I'm not sure what happened to it!
Of course not very pc nowadays.
 
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