What’s in your childhood Toy Hall of Fame?
The catalog arrived in the mail wrapped in brown paper that concealed its cover.
They couldn’t fool us. We knew it was the annual Sears-Roebuck Wish Book. We had been waiting for it since Halloween.
We’d grab a pen, marker or crayon. Circle each toy on our wish lists. Draw an arrow to our name printed in the margins. Bend the crisp edges of each page that carried a desired toy.
I want this. And this. And that. And this. That too ... and this, and that.
This was our toy world. There was no Target, Walmart, Venture, K Mart or Toys r’ Us. Grandpa’s and Sears were our toy stores.
Technology? Not yet. We heard it was coming. Nothing yet, though.
Take a break for a daydream.
What would be in your Childhood Toy Hall of Fame?
Yes, there is a real National Toy Hall of Fame. It’s located inside The Strong Museum in Rochester, New York. In 2019, inductees were Matchbox cars, the coloring book and the collectible card game “Magic.” The class of 2019’s finalists included Care Bears, the Fisher-Price Corn Popper, Jenga, My Little Pony, Nerf Blaster, Risk (game) and the top. Growing up, I was not a fan of traditional guy toys like Army men, G.I Joe, marbles, BB guns, construction or chemistry sets.
If I could catch, throw, shoot it, well, it was on my toy list.
My childhood Toy Hall of Fame:
- Rock ‘em, Sock ‘em Robots. I was a redhead so I was always the red robot boxer. He always got his red blockhead extended.
- Operation (the game). We’d giggle at the physique of the red-nosed, male patient who looked like someone in my class’s dad.
- Stretch Armstrong. The game was to see how far Stretch would stretch before he’d snap.
- Lincoln Logs. As far as my limited construction skills would stretch. My log home was never more than two walls.
- Balls. Baseball. Football. Basketball. Baseball. Wiffle Ball. One of those red balls used in Dodge Ball that left a mark. Anything but one of those black Magic 8 balls that told your fortune. It didn’t bounce. It smashed when you hit it with a bat. Hurt when you used it in Dodge Ball. Left a mark, too.
- Ballglove. One of my favorite gifts was a first baseman mitt. I never played first base a game in my life but it came in handy on the sandlot or backyard. Cha, Cha, Cha. I was Orlando Cepeda.
- Bicycle. I will never forget the cool Raleigh Chopper that I got in fourth grade. Wrecked it once going down Suicide Hill. Got stolen once at the Old Burger Chef on State Street but I got it back. Rode that Chopper until I was too cool to ride a kid’s bike.
- Checkers. To this day, I have never played chess. Too long and too much thinking. Checkers was as deep as I went. Crown me!
- Etch-A-Sketch. Some kids could create houses, dogs or ships. I created straight lines and an occasional square. Shook it. Started over.
- Duncan Yo-Yo. The cool guys would make them dance on a string. I was always good for about three or four draws before that yo-yo was on the floor.
- Mousetrap (the game). A lot of little pieces that were easy to lose, though.
- Frisbee. We played tag with them. They left a mark.
- Electronic football game. Not one touchdown in more than a decade of childhood holidays. A lot of buzzing. Johnny Roland. Sweep left. Sweep right. He’s headed out of bounds, again!
- Hot Wheels. A hot item. I was never into little cars much but I used to trade them to other kids for their dessert at school lunch.
- Scrabble. Maybe a good sign that I was a word guy. It was fun to make up cusswords. Still true today.
- Sno-cone machine. Maybe one of my favorite Christmas gifts ever. Definitely, the messiest. Juice stains on all furniture and every shirt I had. But that homemade rainbow cone was a real holiday treat.
- ViewMaster. As close as I ever got to DisneyLand, Niagara Falls or Mount Rushmore.
