Timeless Toys

Thinking back on days of childhood play, there were so many toys that stand out in my memory. I was able to find images of a few. Some are still available in updated formats, others may be found on ebay at inflated prices for vintage items. Mom and Dad have hung on to some of the family favorites that stand the test of time. I know I picked up a few sentimental toys at the thrift store over the years (then as kids have grown and we've purged, they've gone back to thrift store for the next sentimental person to find). 

Can you remember the little tune the Fisher-Price clock would play when you wound up the back? Or the "ding" when the little car reached the top of the elevator and slid down the ramp? Making ooey-gooey creepy crawly bugs, racing cars down the orange hot wheels tracks and trying to memorize the code on Merlin ... The colored blocks (pictured above) that had a little figure inside, matching the letter on the outside, and the many different ways those blocks could be clicked together.

I remember the big horse ... I'm still surprised I don't remember anyone's fingers getting caught in the springs. Lots of Big Wheels over the years. The Fun Fountain (clown water toy) in the summer (Derek had a memory, and here's an old commercial featuring it!) Big Henry and Little Henry (Jen's stuffed doggies) and Wendy's Toto. The "musical marble" tower. The stacking rings.  The homemade play rug with a full city for us to drive our cars around on, and the dollhouses (which became "smurf" houses when smurfs were all the rage ... you can see them in old Westra film reels, here's a link to it, starting at Christmas 1972, where you get a good glimpse of them, as well as a bike and big wheel). There was a big box of Lincoln Logs at Grandma Burgener's house, and Grandma Norman had a box of toys too. Grandma and Grandpa Westra have a huge toy cupboard! Pop beads and bristle blocks and lots of balls. Ping Pong, a mini-pool table and lots of legos. 

Big Wheel, and a glimpse of one of the homemade dollhouses in Christmas 1972. The Simon game, SO MANY stuffed animals! And SPOOLS! They work as blocks, or as bubble blowers with Grandma Norman. 

Memories from Mom/Margie ...

We still have the toybox, sans the lid. Remember colored Simon, where you had to repeat the sequence? We still have the orange hot wheels tracks, that the grandkids have loved through the years. I remember every kid in the neighborhood would come over asking to play with our big wheel in Richland.  The big wheel on the front would wear through fairly quickly with use. So it got to the point that I didn't like to let all the neighbor kids in Richland use it----especially when they weren't even playing with our kids! They would just ring the bell and ask to use the Big Wheel. No one else seemed to own one in the neighborhood and we had to keep replacing ours over and over. I don't remember that you could just replace the large wheel, and had to buy the whole thing. I remember the day when I was far pregnant with Jeni and so tired and laying down for a rest, when the doorbell rang. A big truck driver, visibly shaken, told me, "I just came this close to killing your son!" Chris, age 4, had been zooming down our little bit steep driveway and into the street on his big wheel, and the truck had almost hit him! Scary! And guilt for a mom not watching their little kids every minute of every day. I wish we had good photos of your 2 dollhouses---one 2-storied with the open side and the other a top open view. I think they were made by my dad or by LaMar or one by each. Big Henry and little Henry dogs----brings to mind the cute picture we have when you guys buried little Derek in stuffed animals and it is hard to find his little face amongst all the toys. I remember you all as toddlers, pulling the "chatter phone" and the sound it would make, as the eyes rolled and you would "call" Daddy at work. And you as toddlers would push the "popcorn popper" pictured next to the "chatter phone."

Just as kids today wouldn't know how to use a rotary phone ... the little FisherPrice pull-toy rotary phone has been replaced by toy "cell" phones with lots of buttons and noises.

What toys do you think stand the test of time? 

What toys will your kids look back on as a sentimental favorite?

Here's a little look at a toy over two generations.
Derek 1982 //Landon&Callahan 2000