Retro toys

Don't forget Howdy Doody!

 

Of course, there was always the Sears Christmas Wishbook catalog.....we'd drool over that from about October on. I remember one back page was a set of trucks...dump (hydraulic, of course), pickup, bulldozer, grader, maybe a back hoe. The set was $9.99. That may as well have been a million dollars. In school, it amazed me what kids got for Christmas...I mean, my dad had a good job and all, but bikes, GI Joe stuff ($$), chemistry sets, holy cow.

 

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TALK ABOUT NOSTALGIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Man, I used to LOVE that hot "Christmas-sy smell" those HOT colored "C-7" bulbs would give off; even an ARTIFICIAL tree (like ours) smelled like Christmas!!!!

STILL recall when many "mom and pop" auto supply stores stocked train sets and toys for Christmas, 60-odd years ago!

Ahhh, the memories!!

 

Remember back in the 60s, when aluminum trees were in vogue?

Seemed that EVERY department store (and many store windows) had them displayed, with the rotating "color wheel" making the tree change color!

Man, who naive all were, back then, and how little it took to impress us!

 

Compilation of the toy ovens in the U.S. market which started in the early 1960's.


Easy-Bake Ovens: See the vintage kitchen toys that let kids bake their own mini cakes - Click Americana

 

'Tis the season, so let's post some pictures of old-timey
Christmases with toys under the tree!

 

We had strings of ancient C7 type bulbs that were likely my grandparents.....some like these, 7 to a string....some had the cloth covered wires.

 

And you're right, they had that smell....plus you had to be careful not to burn your nose...

 

During Christmas season, 60-something years ago (even on a school morning!) Mom would let me have my breakfast on a TV tray in the living room (we called it the "parlor") and just sit and look at the tree, all lit up with "C-7s" and bubble lights!

As my (German) step-grandfather did for years when Mom and her siblings were growing up in the 1920s and early 1930s) I always set up a Christmas village under the tree with old cardboard houses (lit by C-7s, and covered with glitter!) old tinplate trains, vintage cast-metal vehicles, and ice-skaters "skating" on a piece of wood, covered in foil! (and of course, the ancient, wppden, German Nativity which had been in the family for generations)

I did this every year, until the early 2000s.........wasa LOT of fun, believe me!

That's when CHRISTMAS was CHRISTMAS!

 

Magic Mirror by Wham-O

It utilized fine particles of different densities to make moving, changing pictures.


The Wham-O Magic Window toy let you create mini oceans and mountains back in the 70s - Click Americana

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YouTube video:

 

This one TOTALLY has been buried in th far depths of my memories for years; could NOT resist playing with one, while browsing through the toy section of a local toy or discount store.............CLASSIC POP ART LIVES FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

CANNOT forget "ATARI", the granddaddy of today's high-tech video games!

Recall (among others):

SPACE INVADERS (LOVED this one!)

PAC MAN

MS. PAC MAN

There was a jungle/adventure Atari game (cannot recall the name) that I used to love playing at my brother's house with his kids (now in their 50s!) almost 50 years ago!