VINTAGE TOYS: THOSE GHOSTS OF CHRISTMAS PAST

Did Santa bring you what you wanted this year? Even if he did, it can’t be better than these gems from days of yore!

LINCOLN LOGS

I loved my 1970’s version of these! The idea of building a house with my own two hands, and the smell…

SLINKY

Just look at his face. Enough said. Well maybe not. Slinky was the happy accident of a mechanical engineer who was working on a system to keep shipboard equipment steady during World War II. He knocked it off a shelf and was surprised to find it “walking” down from its perch! Slinky took the toy world by storm after the Christmas of 1945 when Gimbel’s department store allowed its creator to demonstrate the toy in-store. You really need to see it in action, right?

HOWDY DOODY

I have no words for this. But maybe you do?

TIN TOYS

This is just so cute!

DOLL HOUSE

A classic from the 1960s! Gotta love the plastic bay window!

COLORING BOOKS

I admit it, I still like to color. So there.

VIEW-MASTER

One of the best toys ever! High tech, sometimes educational…Ok, I know it’s a glorified stereoscope, but still super cool! It debuted at the 1939 Worlds Fair in New York and was a specialty item sold at photography stores. Initially, it was a way for people to “visit” national parks and sites across the country. The View-Master really took off when a deal was inked with Disney to promote its films and parks through the toy.

FUTURISTIC TOYS

That’s right, it’s an early 20^th century toy from the 25^th century, the first toy ray gun ever produced. I want one!

MR. POTATO HEAD

And then the toy designer checked into rehab…

But seriously, this guy started out in 1952 as just a set of features you would stick into an actual potato. The plastic potato debuted in 1964.

PLAY-DOH

Oh the smell! I wanted to eat it. I didn’t. But I wanted to. Also fun to play with, and not at all messy. Still super popular with kids over 50 years later, and still not at all messy.

RUBIK’S CUBE

How many sides did you solve? (Without moving the stickers.)

LEGOS

One of my all-time favorite ads. Talk about a classic toy, timeless…

MAGIC 8 BALL

Conceptualized in the 1940s by Albert Carter, son of a psychic, he didn’t live to see it come to market in this form. His brother-in-law Abe Bookman converted the original cylindrical version into the familiar water-filled 8-Ball. Amusement for all ages!

BARBIE

Oh Malibu Barbie, you were my girl…even though you can’t stand. I mean look at them! They look drunk.

FISHER PRICE

Fisher Price anything was fun, but I loved all the possibilities this toy offered, especially the car elevator.

COLORFORMS

Yes I had this! A little foreshadowing perhaps but I loved Holly Hobbie and the General Store rocked!

MATCHBOX CARS

This classic was created by Lesney Products co-owner Jack Odell when so his daughter could take a toy to school: the rule was it needed to be small enough to fit in a matchbox.

I much prefer the old packaging; put the Matchbox car in a box please.

SHRINKY DINKS

And here’s one from my mom’s “you don’t need this” file.

BABY ALIVE

Gross. My friend left hers out in the rain and it got ants. I wasn’t a baby doll girl anyway.

What were your favorite toys? Did you “shoot your eye out” on Christmas morning? Share in the comments, or over on Facebook!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

SOURCES:

“All-TIME 100 Greatest Toys,” Time Magazine, http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,2049243,00.html.  Accessed December 16, 2014.