Author Topic: Christmas Toys.  (Read 1842 times)

Offline Roger Kettle

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Christmas Toys.
« on: December 20, 2010, 08:07:14 PM »
There was yet another of those cheap shows on TV last night----"The Hundred Best...". This time it was about toys and the winner was Lego. I've no complaint about that. Lego is wonderful stuff and it gave me hours of pleasure when I was a kid. It wasn't quite so amusing when, years later, I had to build a bloody pirate ship out of the stuff for my son but that's another story. I can't really think what my best Christmas toy was. The train set I got when I was about seven was quickly commandeered by my Dad and his pal, Jim, so that has left a lasting scar. Then there was the miniature snooker table I got when I was thirteen but that was commandeered by my Dad and his pal, Jim. I'm filling up.
Okay, what was the Christmas toy YOU ever got?

Tom

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Re: Christmas Toys.
« Reply #1 on: December 20, 2010, 08:30:49 PM »
That's quite a hard question... thinking back almost a hundred years (or so it seems...)

I'll have to agree with Lego. I received a Lego fire station when I was little, but I couldn't build it so I made loads of Lego people instead. Another favourite of mine was a couple of Fuzzy Felt sets - one was Outer Space and the other was On The Farm. I used to love creating loads of different pictures, and occasionally I'd put a cow on the Moon and an astronaut on the farm!
Oh, and one more... Simon, the beeping flashing game that always won.

Offline Bilthehut

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Re: Christmas Toys.
« Reply #2 on: December 20, 2010, 10:03:34 PM »
No question about it.  My chopper bike, the deathtrap.  I even added a large pouch to the back.  There is even one in the science museum.

What they did not tell you, and I had not yet covered the subject at school, was the problem of centre of gravity.  The design of the Raleigh chopper made the centre of gravity just above the rear hub.  That's fine until you decide to squash an empty can in the road by riding over it.  I hit it perfectly with the front wheel then the back wheel.  The problem, discovered in 20/20 hind site, was that the front wheel squashed the side of the can, making a perfect mini ramp.  The centre of gravity ensured that the front wheel headed for the stars above, closely followed by the rest of the bike and me.  Except we were no longer an item.  I went one way as the bike went the other.  Ouch was not the word I used.

Subsequent analysis confirmed I was an idiot in leaning back.   Future similar activities were carried out by standing on the pedals forward of the centre of gravity - great jumps ensued.

Elizabeth

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Re: Christmas Toys.
« Reply #3 on: December 21, 2010, 12:54:59 PM »
Not the best, but certainly the most disappointing toy was a toy typewriter - here it is!
http://shop.vintagetoybox.co.uk/archive-mettype-junior-typewriter-1950s-sold-p-408.html

The keys were just printed on the body and to type each individual letter involved turning a dial to the letter then hitting the "space" bar. It was AWFUL - I had wanted to be like a real secretary :(

Talk about scarred for life...

Offline Roger Kettle

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Re: Christmas Toys.
« Reply #4 on: December 21, 2010, 02:47:04 PM »
WE FORGOT!!!
Happy belated birthday, Elizabeth!

Diamond Lil

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Re: Christmas Toys.
« Reply #5 on: December 21, 2010, 08:16:12 PM »
Not the best, but certainly the most disappointing toy was a toy typewriter - here it is!
http://shop.vintagetoybox.co.uk/archive-mettype-junior-typewriter-1950s-sold-p-408.html

The keys were just printed on the body and to type each individual letter involved turning a dial to the letter then hitting the "space" bar. It was AWFUL - I had wanted to be like a real secretary :(

Talk about scarred for life...

I remember that too!!  I had one but got so fed up with the length of time it took to spin that wheel for a letter!

Happy birthday, by the way ;D

Tom

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Re: Christmas Toys.
« Reply #6 on: December 21, 2010, 11:09:09 PM »
Elizabeth, did you become a secretary?
I never became an astronaut or a farmer...  :(

Happy birthday from me too!

Offline Bilthehut

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Re: Christmas Toys.
« Reply #7 on: December 21, 2010, 11:20:14 PM »
I remember that toy but did not have one.

A very belated but Happy Birthday to you, Elizabeth.

Vulture

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Re: Christmas Toys.
« Reply #8 on: December 22, 2010, 07:15:23 AM »
Happy Birthday, Elizabeth! (Do you find it a nuisance to have a birthday right before Christmas?)

Elizabeth

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Re: Christmas Toys.
« Reply #9 on: December 22, 2010, 07:57:40 AM »
Thank you all - I had a lovely birthday - and Diane wished me happy birthday on Facebook, so she's forgiven :)

Vulture - I have always liked having my birthday at this time - when I was wee I thought all the decorations were up for me. Christmas starts with my birthday! How dull it must be to have a birthday in summer!!

I didn't become a secretary Tom ... I blame the typewriter.

Offline Diane CBPFC

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Re: Christmas Toys.
« Reply #10 on: December 23, 2010, 12:34:09 AM »
I was born to people old enough to be my grandparents so I got lots of “stuff”. But after all these years there is no special toy that stands out in memory. I do remember when I was about 12 finally talking my mother (who was 57 at the time) into getting a real tree. She bought it downtown and her and I carried that spiky bloody thing all the way home (uphill) (yes, really). I loved that they let me paint scenes on the glass with waxy pastels and how they let me bake all I wanted and cleaned up after me and ate the burnt mince pies; I loved how Mum bought and wrapped gifts for my pets. Dad was always in charge of big meals such as Christmas dinner because he was the only one of us who could cook. Christmas  is remembered as a feeling of safety, comfort, warmth and love. My childhood Christmases are very special memories to me and I appreciate them more and more as the years go by.
People will come from strange lands to hear me speak my words of wisdom. They will ask me the secret of life and I will tell them. Then maybe I'll finish off with a song. The Nomad

Joan

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Re: Christmas Toys.
« Reply #11 on: December 23, 2010, 10:18:54 PM »
Happy Birthday, Elizabeth! You certainly didn't miss out not becoming a secretary.  I remember those typewriters - another one of those toys which looked promising and disappointed in the end. Actually, the one skill I do appreciate from being a secretary is the ability to touch type.  I think I got up to 45wpm on a manual typewriter.

My best Christmas toy would have to be my Hornby electric train set, followed closely by the Scalectrix which came the year after.  I can still hear and smell the train going round the track on the dining room table with a rug underneath it to protect the table.  The boy next door was so impressed.  Yes, I was part tomboy, mainly because we lived in the country and the only person I played with was the boy next door!  I did have dolls, prams, etc, but I was much happier playing cowboys and indians outside or jumping off the henhouse roof. My sister told  me recently that she asked for a train set when she was younger (she's 5 years older than I am), never got it and she was most peeved when I got one when I asked for it.  Obviously Santa was a bit flusher by the time I got to that age!

Had lego (I think Sue still has it) and loved Fuzzy Felt too, Tom. Think I only had the farm.  Etch-a-Sketch was another one of those toys which I loved, but it broke after a short time too and only one knob would work - not much good when you're trying to draw something.  Always thought those Choppers looked dangerous, Bill!

Off to do my Christmas Eve jobs, now - clean the pool to start with.  Hubby just phoned me for the 4th time. He's out doing battle at the shops.  Started at 5am, did one lot, home and back out to the major shopping centre, where he reckoned people were doing huge shops. Nearly home - he's at the fruit and veg market up the road which will be hotching as well. It's 9.15am here.  Nice and cool and cloudy, which is good. It's only 18C outside.  8)
« Last Edit: December 23, 2010, 10:22:08 PM by Joan »

Malc

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Re: Christmas Toys.
« Reply #12 on: December 24, 2010, 07:53:59 AM »
I can only remember a cowboy outfit one year and a toy fort that my dad built himself out of plywood and painted a hideous grey/green. My dad was in the army and had plundered the camp's paint supplies. The soldiers I had were actually the wrong size for the fort, which was three times the size by comparison.
After that, my brothers and sisters came along in increasing numbers and reached Santa-aware status which meant that I went to the back of the queue, so to speak.
Yes, I remember putting socks up over fireplaces and finding oranges and walnuts in them the next morning. Apparently Santa was a fruiterer.
I do remember a (gold?) James Bond luger and shoulder holster, I think it was before he was officially issued the famous Walther PPK. I also had a toy Aston Martin with a sliding roof. I was a huge Bond nut as a kid. There is no other bond but Connery.