What Were Your Favorite Childhood Toys?

Reading of the recent passing of the Slinky inventor's widow Betty James at age 90 (Betty was President of the company from 1960 to 1998) sure brought back memories of the many hours I spent as a child letting my Slinky go down our steps! How about you? I cannot believe that simple original toy is still being sold after 65 years!! Did you have the Slinky Dog perhaps?

That led me to think about the other toys that kept me busy in the days long before television!

Another simple toy was "ball and jacks". Even the skinned knuckles were worth the fun!!

What about "pick up sticks"? And dominoes?

I can't remember how far back Scrabble goes, but I remember playing it all my life.

Were you a reader? Did you enjoy Nancy Drew or the Bobbsey Twins or the Hardy Boys or Louis L'Amour (when he died, all 101 of his works were in print - 86 novels, 14 short-story collections, and one full-length work of nonfiction)?

And Monopoly!! I understand there are current updated versions with all types of themes, but until recently it was the same game that many generations enjoyed and still gather around to this day.

What about Hopscotch? Or just playing with a ball and a stick with all the neighborhood boys and girls? Or playing Hide and Seek?

Did you have a dollhouse? Did someone in your family make the furniture and curtains, etc., or did you have to buy those items?

What about the Betsy Wetsy doll that you fed with a tiny bottle and then had to change her diaper?

Did your mother or grandmother teach you how to knit or crochet or embroider?

Did your father or grandfather teach you how to use tools and build things?

My very favorite was paper dolls. Back then you had to cut them and their clothes out with scissors from their books (and remember the Betsy ones in the McCalls magazine?). The clothes had tabs all the way around that you folded down to hold the items on the doll.

I was delighted a few years ago that paper dolls came out again!! This time they are self-adhesive so that they can be put on and off easily. My grand-daughter Elise was just the right age for me to show her what fun it is to put on a variety of beautiful costumes (including hats, shoes, jewelry, etc.) from different time periods.

Tell me the stories of your favorite toys, okay?