When my mother passed in 2006,I acquired a number of photographs that I had not seen in years,or at all,for that matter. There was one in particular that proves that the parents started me on the road to ruin: This is circa 1961,maybe '62,and as you can see,there's a racecar,a truck,a toy gun,a toy plane,excavator,and the crowning jewel,the "Superior" gas station. As years went by,and my love of cars and such didn't ebb,I often heard the words "Grow up and stop playing with toys". Well,Mom and Dad,you started me on this path,so you had only yourselves to blame for the lack of "maturity" on my part. I thank you for being the "corrupting" influence that you were. Now,if you had given me a dollar bill to play with... Who else has kool pics from their childhood that show similar scenes? Oh,I saw one of those "Superior" stations at an auction about 10 years ago,complete with the cars,pumps,and all the stuff that usually came up missing,in the original box. You don't want to know what it went for-I was in the game up to $250.00 and dropped out. All together now: "YOU DUMB ASS,YOU SHOULD HAVE KEPT BIDDING!" I had already scored some gas/oil goodies,and couldn't go further.
Great story. I lost both of my parents this year, mom March 17th, dad April 17th and my mom in law too, bad year. I remember distinctly the day my dad ruined me when he bought me a 65 Mustang Japanese tin toy, it was battery operated and it would never fall off the edge of a table, it would back up when it got there, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out this magic. Dad wasn't a gearhead but he turned me into one. Hope my folks are still frolicing about somewhere.
that's a cool story. i remember having all that cool stuff too. train sets , slot cars, die cast cars, toy guns, sting ray bikes, erector sets, etc. taking stuff apart and putting it back together just to see how it worked. on the path to gearhead at a very young age!now all that the kids want cell phones they can text with, and video games so they can sit in the house all day and poison their minds thinking that tuner cars are the shit! they don't even know the difference between a regular screwdriver and a phillips head!
I had one like that too. I'd spend hours and hours on the living room floor with my cars and trucks. its a sickness i tell ya..
Here's my haul from Christmas 1963. I had the Sears Automotive Service Station. I still have a couple of the figures that came with that. You're right about finding these things on eBay ... they go for a chunk. I'd love to have one of these again. While we're at it, notice the "Big Lew" robot by Ideal. Those babies go for $1000.00+ on eBay. I took a ball bat to mine . Also notice the Doctor's bag on the right (on top of the game boxes). My parents did make an effort to plant some kind of seed. But alas, the gas station, robot, tank, and wrecker were my hands down favorite. I played with the doctor's kit once or twice and threw that piece of sh!t aside.
I bet the younger people on here are asking... what is that under the little TV. Kewl pic and it brought back memories of my hot wheel and garage play sets...very kewl
Hey! Whered you guys get pictures of my house on Christmas? I think it brought back memories for a lot of us. Thanks for posting.
LOL;those are antiques now. No,kids;it does NOT play CDs(wait,aren't they passe now?) and does not have Blu-Ray capabilities.
I wasn't even born 'till 83, but this is even bringing me back! I grew up with a bunch of steel toys, a heavy red fire engine, and a bunch of other hand-me-downs from the 60's. I also had a Big Wheel, which was a terrible idea. For the most part, I appreciated all those toys that were specifically designed for kids to injure themselves on. I blame my parents for all the times I put some superglue on gashes received while working on cars, rather than running around screaming and going to the hospital (like all those kids who grew up with plastic and foam toys do).
You know, one of the best memories of my childhood was building model cars (hot rods & drag cars) and listening to my 45s on a phonograph like that. It required multi-tasking. When a record finished, with model parts in my left hand, I'd put down whatever was in my right (glue, other parts) and flip the record over or change it. Then I would resume model building with my right hand. It was an art ... I would keep this process going for hours without missing a beat. Man, oh man, those were the days.
neat pics guys. ...and about all there "kids now-a-days" comments, this is a "traditional" site we know what records are. they may be even more popular now than ever. i have quite a collection myself. how often do you here from a younger person on this site say "i was at my parents place earlier, why the hell can't they set the clock on the microwave"? i know most of these comments are just light-hearted so i figured what the hell... so how much for your mousetrap game?
Those are all toys that promote progress, ingenuity, control over one's own enviroment and most of all fun. The direction of the play was totally the responsibility of the child. Today's toys are controlled by the programmers and marketers so growing in a potentially positive way can't result. The current generation of toys promote domination of other people, glamour and a general poor spirit. We had fun, wore toys out or broke them resulting in a high memory to surviving item ratio. That has driven the price of boomer generation toys through the roof. Today's collector mentality combined with a low fun factor may result in low prices for the recent toys in the future.
Personally, I try to be careful about makin' "kids now-a-days" comments. None of us can do anything about the time in which we were born. And I agree, lps (and to some extent 45s) seem to be coming back somewhat. It makes me very happy when a younger person takes an interest in knowing about things from the past. I always was interested in things that existed before my time. You know, I have a dial telephone from the 1940s that I still use. I use to get a kick watching my kid's friends ask to use the phone and I'd say there it is and point to that phone. It was so fun watching them try to figure that thing out. Yeah, I don't think anyone is trying to offend anyone here. I think it's a nostalgia thing ... It was a great time being a kid in the late 50s and 60s. I think as time puts more distance between a person and his youth, there is something of a longing. So when the present reminds that person of that distance, that longing is felt more keenly. That's my take anyways. As far as I'm concerned, the mid 60s IS the golden age for toys. And that Mousetrap game is one of the greats. Fortunately, it is still available. We got it for our kids. Nothing has changed. That original you see in the photo is long gone. It went the way of "Big Lew" ... it couldn't survive my abuse.
We didn't have a lot. One Christmas I discovered a metal car I was missing under our tree. My mom had painted it with fingernail polish. Never told her I knew.
In my age group "Tonka" was king. Had a sand lot next door all of the kids that lived around it gathered everyday and built roads and raced cars. Great fun
I had a bunch of Tonka Trucks as kid and today I have '59 Ford truck. ya think there is a connection there? One of my fondest memories is being in the garage building models while listening to the Indy 500 on the radio, before they started televising it. I still have some of those models wish I still had the Tonkas...
It's a wonder how "us kids" from the 60's survived at all!.Sharp edges on toys made from tin , guns that fired , chemistry sets with instructions how to make explosives , fireworks for all ......good times! LAWN DARTS!!!!!.....jeez I almost forgot lawn darts!....we'd see how high we could throw them........ Wow, that really sounds dangerous now....must be getting old!
This really hits home, my mom was divorced in '58 raised two sons on her own, we never knew we were "poor" I am still amazed at how she did it. My guess is she did without for herself alot...
Yep. Tonka was it. We had some friends that lived out in the country who made a small mountian town for there kids, and friends, to play with our tonka trucks on...... wonder if there are pictures of that around? I'll have to look. What was so "hard" about it. It was a simpler time with a slower pace. Peaple weren't in such a hurry to get somewhere. Everyone was more laid back. I would go back to that in a heart beat... except there wouldn't/wasn't the HAMB, and that would/was a bad thing.
Still have the American Flyer set Dad gave me in 56 (I was 5), still love the 969 rocket launcher car. But the best present my brothers and I ever got was the Johnny Reb Cannon, a Civil War style spring-operated muzzle loader about 3 feet long on a two-wheeled carriage. It shot black plastic cannon balls about the size of tennis balls almost 50 feet when you pulled the cord. We used it to knock every glass decoration off the Christmas tree from across both the living and dining rooms. Mom was not happy, but it didn't get taken away. And I remember it smarted pretty good if one of those cannon balls hit you in the head at close range! Brothers!
Yea, my mom was divorced too (1953) and had us 3 kids (before "child support" or alimony). Saw her get 3 different cars, her stove, etc. repo'd, but somehow we made it. When we got sick she'd give us turpentine & sugar heated in a spoon. I wouldn't take a million for it though. I learned that if I wanted something I would have to make it. I treasure all the skills that I thus acquired and have made a good living and even better hobby with them. I'll bet a lot of HAMBstrs have similar backgrounds since we seem to be very much "self made" (like our rides). I have far more respect for the guys and gals who drive our cars than the folks who just go buy expensive crap.
My Mom was divorced in 1949, about 6 months before I was born. She raised me and my older brother by herself. She would go to the stores the day after Christmas and put stuff on lay away, and pay on it all year. We always had food, clothes and a roof over our head. They may not have been the fanciest of clothes, but they were sturdy and clean. There weren't any of the welfare programs that exist now, and knowing her, she wouldn't have used them if there had been. One very strong independent woman.
Yeah, got a Cape Canaveral Layout for Christmas one year around '59 or so. Little Nike rockets on spring loaded launchers. But I didn't become a rocket scientist. Went to my best man's parents house one evening. They have every Tonka toy they ever bought him, stored in a closet, in the original boxes. Same for his Lionel train set, the slot cars, everything. He was never allowed to take the Tonka stuff outside and had to always put it back in the box when he was done playing. Stuff has never even been scratched. He also is a totally anal triple A personality. I wonder why?
Somewhere there is a pic of me with my first truck (a Tonka) I was about 2 on Christmas '66 and I wanted to eat my breakfast out of the bed of the truck, mom let me I hope it wasn't lead paint.
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