Toys from my childhood.

I recently found a website all about the “seventies” which I consider to be my era. I was born in………. well I’m not going to tell you that actually! Suffice to say that I was a very young child during the “sixties” and a teenager in the “seventies“. I left school during the summer of 1976. Remember that one? It was the hottest, longest summer for years. I can vividly remember doing my “O” level exams, which took place in the school gym. A huge room with no windows, just some ventilation slats round the very high ceiling. Strange how we managed to get through those exams without fainting from heat exhaustion. We were not allowed the luxury of bottled water as they are now!
Anyway, the website got me thinking about things I can remember. I started thinking about the toys I had compared to today’s children. I never had anything that spoke to me or played songs as Ellie does. There were definitely no computers around!
Our toys were much more basic. They were either things like dolls and tea sets which encouraged imaginative play; or creative toys such as the Playdoh fun factory that I had when I was small. I loved that, you pressed a handle and it turned out long sausage shapes in different patterns.

So, I have dredged my memory to see what toys I can remember. Some will be from my early childhood in the mid “sixties” and some from later on in the “seventies“. Here’s my list:
1. Spacehopper
2. Tiny Tears Doll
3. Spirograph
4. Klackers
5. Playdoh Fun Factory
6. Paper Dress up Dolls.
7. Colouring books and pencils
8. Jigsaws Puzzles
9. Wizzers

These were the first things that came to mind. I had a Spacehopper for my birthday when I was about 9. I don’t really remember using it that much. I was the only kid that had one so I didn't’t have anyone to race. The Tiny Tears was a Christmas present when I was about 6 or 7. I loved that doll! She came with a bottle that you put water in and she weed her nappy and cried real tears.
The same year I also got a set of wooden, dolls bunk beds which my Dad made. They were painted pale pink. They came complete with little sheets, pillows and quilted covers, which were made by a neighbour. I loved those bunk beds. They were kept for years in my Mums spare room. All 4 of her granddaughters loved playing with them. When they out grew them, I bought them home here and they are currently in our loft waiting for Ellie and future grandchildren to be old enough to play with them.

Funnily enough, I had never had a real Sindy or Barbie doll. We had the cheap market versions. Money was short in those days! I remember being with my Mum one day when she was obviously doing Christmas shopping. It was at the toy stall in the town market and I remember her sending me a bit further along to look at some books. I knew what she was doing though and I saw her buy 2 dolls. One was blonde the other brunette. I hoped and hoped the blonde one would be mine. Sadly on Christmas day I received the brunette one and Julie got the much coveted blonde!
Whilst on the subject of Christmas……..did anyone else look for their presents in the run up? I did for years and knew all my Mums “secret” hiding places. The bottom of her wardrobe, the bottom drawer in the kitchen. I used to love squeezing those parcels. Sometimes, I even unwrapped the corners of some for a peek! I still hate surprises even today, but I no longer peek at presents!!
The Spirograph was actually Julies. I think it may have been a Christmas present. It was a really big boxed set with coloured pens, so you could make different coloured patterns. That may have been the same year that I got the Playdoh fun factory. Remember I was younger than my sister.

Now Klackers……..they were more a pocket money thing and I can remember buying them at the local shops. I had a few pairs but my favourite were lime green.
How to explain these to someone who would never have seen them? They were 2 solid plastic balls on string joined at the top by a plastic tag which you held. You would start by gently getting the two balls to bounce against each other until you thought the timing was right. At that moment you would sharply lift and drop your hand forcing the balls to bounce together both at the bottom and at the top of the arc. When you got it right they would bounce very quickly up and down making a klacking noise!. The idea was to see how many Klacks you could do before one of the balls smashed your knuckles. The bruises I got on my hands!

The paper dolls were another pocket money thing although I think sometimes I got some in my Christmas stocking. I used to love those dolls. I had lots of them. I always took great care to cut them out very carefully. They all had names and I used to line them all up along the wall behind my Dads chair, or sometimes upstairs on the landing. I made up whole lives for them and created all sorts of stories in my head. That was real imaginative play. I suppose they were a bit like an “old fashioned version of the “Sims” I also used to get old catalogues and cut out stuff to create rooms for them.

Now the Wizzers, they were

little spinning tops which you used to wind up by rolling the bottom bit on the floor. I got them with some money that I was given for my birthday, I can’t remember how old I was but probably only about 10. I had lots of Wizzers in different colours and shapes. You could make them do tricks by balancing them on top of things. They were very fast and you could race them.

My Dad will certainly remember the Wizzers! My cousin Gary and I ruined my Dads stairs one evening with them. We were at our house and our parents were out with my Mums sister June and her husband Ron. Us 4 children had been left home alone with my cousin Pat in charge as she was the eldest. I think Julie and Pat were watching TV.

Gary and I were playing with Wizzers. We were having races down the stairs. In those days the stair carpet didn't’t go to the edges, just down the middle, so either side was a nice wooden strip. We were using the bathroom floor to get them going and then racing them down the stairs on the left side. Once you let go they would jump from stair to stair. It was great fun! The only thing is Wizzers had a solid metal tip and after we had been doing it for a while we realised that the little tips had made lots of tiny dents in the wood work! It looked like wood worm. In our childish wisdom we thought that if we did it some more on the right side of the stairs; both sides would look the same and nobody would ever know!! How wrong we were! It took my Dad weeks to fill all those holes and repaint.

Actually that reminds me of another story. When we were young we often spent the weekend staying with my Mums sister June and my cousins Pat and Gary. In the evenings the adults would go out to parties. The 4 of us would be left at home with plenty of sweets and lemonade to keep us occupied. Pat was in charge because she was the eldest. I’m not going to tell you how old, because I’m not totally sure and she sometimes reads my blog!! I think she is about 5 years older than me, so she would’ve been a teenager. This isn’t as bad as it sounds as the party the adults were at would be in a neighbouring house.

Anyway, one particular evening while Julie and Pat were doing teenage stuff, listening to music or something; Gary and I decided to fill the bath with water to play with some boats. We must have been young! We left the taps running and went downstairs in search of more chocolate, I think. Of course the inevitable happened, we got side tracked and forgot all about boats and the running taps. The result was the adults came back to find a flooded bathroom and kitchen where the water had seeped down. It had even soaked the stuff in the kitchen cupboards. We got into a lot of trouble for that. I suspect that Julie and Pat did too, although I don’t remember.

The other big “toys that featured in my childhood were colouring books and Jigsaws. I loved Jigsaws and used to do them upside down with no picture! Just the blank pieces. Does anyone else remember the magic painting books? They were books that looked like they were blank but when you painted over them with water they produced a coloured picture. Magic!

That has reminded me of something else!! Transfers. Do you remember them? I can remember spending my pocket money on sheets of transfers. Flowers, butterflies and animal ones were my favourites. You soaked the backing sheet in warm water then carefully peeled it away. You then lifted the transfer with tweezers and put it on paper or sometimes your arm! Primitive tattoos! I also used to love the books of rub on transfers too.

Well those are the toys I remember most. It would be interesting to know what everyone else remembers.