Silly things from my childhood

a child with a Hula hoop

It's been a  funny kind of day today for me...my thoughts have been all over the place, and I have found that my emotions have been too.  I started out the day, feeling at loss over how far my children and I have drifted apart over the last few years...something that I hoped would never happen.


Then, it was thoughts about the progress I have made since my breakdown in 2001, and how I have to learn to let go...and let what will be take it's course...it is out of my control. (I am a worrier and tend to take too much to heart sometimes.)


Tonight, I can't tell you what brought the thoughts on, but I have sat here for the past hour or so, thinking about all the other toys that I had as a child. Wow...finding the images sure brought back some very fond memories and fun times!


So here we go as I take you down memory lane...


One of the earliest memories I have is of poppit beads...mine were strictly all white, but I had a lot of them and made necklaces and bracelets all the time...back and forth...popping the beads apart and remaking what ever I wanted to make for me or my dolls.

bracelet made of poppit beads

colored poppit beads as you can buy them today

As a treat whenever we went to the store or when my mom went grocery shopping while I was in school, she would bring me home these candy cigarettes. To a child of about 5-6-7, I thought they were just the thing...although I can't ever remember liking the taste of them all that well! I guess that I equated them with being "grown up" like my dad who smoked back then!

candy cigarettes

the various "brands"

as they look in a bowl

Then came the beloved Easy Bake oven. The photo looks exactly like the one I had...same color and all. The thing I can remember most was that it got mighty hot...and I would get burned every time I used it...yet that still didn't keep me from baking cakes, brownies and cookies!

Easy Bake Oven...1960s

I can't remember how old I was when I got my View-Master...but it was another toy that captivated me to no end. Before my eyes, cartoons characters played out their stories, princesses danced and far-away places held me spell-bound by their beauty.

View-master

photo disc 

As I grew, so too did my wish  list. I received a Spirograph one Christmas and you'd have thought it was worth a million dollars!  I had that thing for years...well into my teens. I probably wasted a few reams of paper too...so went the trees for my past time!

Spirograph

Last but not least, was the Fun Flower maker. I don't know how many people remember this specific kit, but maybe they better remember the boy's version: Creepy Crawlers (A photos down shows the inside of a Creepy Crawlers kit). 

Fun Flower Kit

I can remember making my mother bouquets of flowers...and having random flowers stuffed into houseplants and in anything that would hold the flower upright on its wire stem! 

The liquid goop

the metal trays that the goop went into to bake/make the flower pieces

Creepy Crawler kit with oven--bugs galore

And remember the Hula Hoop? Hours and hours I spent trying to get hoop to stay on my waist! When I finally got the hang of it, then I wasn't so interested in it anymore!  Same thing held true with the Klackers...bruised and battered until I could work them for several minutes non-stop!

Klackers

I haven't thought about these things in a good 20+ years...yet they all came back to me tonight, as I thought about the differences between the toys from my youth compared to those we see now for today's children. Today's children see a whole big world of high tech toys, computers, and the list goes on.


It saddens me because I find that the children now don't use their imagination near as much as I (and anyone who is considered a boomer) did growing up. I know with a certainty that is where most of my creative talents came from...from a childhood well spent using my mind "creatively"!


Thanks for reading!