Last months responses were wonderful and although contributions were small the comments on all the posts were wonderful and well worth reading. If you are interested in food I suggest you follow the links and read the posts as well as the comments. As expected our Mother’s cooking provided most of the favourites mentioned and often these favourites were then passed on to the next generation again, not necessarily becoming that generations favourites but an expected dish at certain times of the year. Processed food such as TV dinners, appeared in the United States a long time prior to England and Australia.
On to this months prompt: Toys I wish I still had or do have. Child hood toys. When posting don’t forget to put your generation and where you grew up country + rural or city. Full post rules can be found here.
If you can’t think of what to write perhaps answer these questions:
Have you kept or still wish you had any childhood toy?
Did you have a favourite toy as a child?
Did you have a lot of toys or only a few?
Were your toys gender determined?
I hope you’ll join in.
Baby Boomer: Rural Australia
From my childhood I kept three toys and hankered after one that I didn’t have until eventually I bought a reproduction copy on a visit to England. The first toy I didn’t have in my childhood apart from visits to my Grandmother who lived in Sydney. My Grandfather had made this wooden toy (photos above) when my brother was born. It was kept in Sydney to provide entertainment for us grandkids along with a game we played on the dining room table and a money box which was the head and upper torso of a coloured man dressed in red. You put the coin in his hand and hit a lever and his hand went to his mouth and dropped it in. This is the one I replaced and on my reproduction model (and it may have been so on the original) as the hand went up the ears also moved. I loved it.
The other two toys were gender driven as both were dolls. One was a Barbie Doll. Every Christmas my Aunt made me more clothes for her and I spent many happy hours dressing and undressing her. When my nieces were at an age that I thought they would appreciate her I gave her to them along with all the clothes – by this stage very old fashioned clothes. Sometimes I wish I still had her as I don’t know what happened to her but I hope that there is some little girl out there playing with her and loving her as much as I did.
The other doll I still have is a German antique. I don’t know the maker or her name but I wish I did.
© irene waters 2016
She was given to me by an old (she looked old to me but she was probably on reflection in her late 50s or early 60s) lady who taught at the local school where my Mother also taught. I thought all my Christmases had come at once when she gave me this doll. It had been her doll as a child and the dress was made from the material of her mother’s wedding dress and the hair was a lock of her own baby hair. Her blue eyes opened and shut depending on whether she was sitting or lying down and I just loved her to pieces until Barbie came on the scene. Somehow I knew she was precious and I looked after her very well considering the care I gave my other toys (not that we actually had many toys or none that I really remember).
For the last 40 years she has lived in a shoebox barely seeing the light of day. This I think is sad as she is truly beautiful and should be loved. Sadly I have no-one to pass her on to and am considering that the time has come to give her a new lease of life with someone that will love her the way I used to. But we will see……..
USA City (New York)
Australia City (Adelaide)
USA mainly cities
England/Australia
https://taswegian57.wordpress.com/2016/07/28/toys-i-do-or-wish-i-still-had-times-past/
BABY BUSTERS
Rural USA
Reflections and Nightmares- Irene A Waters (writer and memoirist) 
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Irene, Thanks for this topic. Love your answers and the doll baby. Here is my entry: https://dancingpalmtrees.com/2016/07/02/child-hood-toys/
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Thanks for joining in Deborah and with such an interesting post. It would have been an interesting time growing up then and your parents did well to make you feel proud of your heritage and then you continuing on with your niece. Loved reading your memories.
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This one made me think! Here is my post. http://wp.me/p4d8rD-ib
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I too don’t remember too many toys. Do you think this made us appreciate those we did have or did we have more than we remember? Thanks for joining in.
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My brother assured me that we didn’t have toys. We did have a few different board games we played as a family and my auntie was an enthusistic card player but my parents weren’t. I can’t remember ever longing for a particular toy, there was no TV and we didn’t go anywhere near toy shops. I was enthralled by a Meccano set I had the chance to play with. We did have marbles but I don’t think of those in quite the same way. Real knuckle bones too.
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I think you and I had very similar childhoods with real knuckle bones and marbles. Board games particularly monopoly and snakes and ladders and I can remember a game called ludo but I have no recollection of how you played it. I don’t think without television we had mass toys that you simply had to have but were happy devising games.
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Our grandkids love playing the board games, I didn’t expect that. Have you ever played, Squatter? We’ve had a few laughs with that one.
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I’ve heard of it but never played it. Is it an Australian version of monopoly but you win sheep stations?
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You have to build them up while contending with diseases of sheep, drought etc but it can be as long winded as Monopoly. Fun if you have OS visitors.
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It does sound like fun. I’ll keep an eye out for it.
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Great topic, Irene, and it’s got me thinking. Hope to be back later in the month.
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Thanks Anne. Look forward to seeing you.
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Oh wow! What a wonderfully special, personal gift that doll was. And what a treasure it will be to someone else some day.
In the absence of a daughter or granddaughter or niece to pass her along to, what about adding her to a museum’s doll collection?
I enjoyed your post very much. Have a blessed day.
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Yes she is a treasure and that is a great idea – a doll museum. Will look into that. Thanks.
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You’re welcome, Irene. I want you to know that I really enjoy your writing challenge very much. Have a wonderful day!
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I’m glad you enjoy the challenge. I know I get a lot of joy reading everyone’s responses. It is amazing the memories that will be triggered by them that had otherwise been forgotten. It also tells me so much about the world we live in and the differences and similarities that occur despite the miles that are between people. Hope you both have a lovely weekend.
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I’m behind on reading the other responses, but I know that they are going to be fun to read. I like to hear the stories of others’ lives. Like the little song says, it’s a small world. I hope that you have a wonderful weekend, too. 🙂
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Don’t worry. I am behind on lots of visiting also. You can only do what you can fit in a day and not beat yourself up about what you can’t do. Take care. 🙂
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Some times I feel bad about it, but I know most folks understand. We’re all leading busy lives and have responsibilities off of the computer, too. Thank you. You take care, too, and have a great day. 🙂
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🙂
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Here’s the link to my post:
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I wonder how many people “loved the fur off.” Thanks
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I imagine quite a few folks have loved their teddy bears like that. I know my youngest daughter has loved her that much. 🙂 Have a blessed day.
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I think you either do or you don’t. I have one nephew that has a stuffed dog he loved like that whilst his brother had no interest in a similar toy. Have a blessed weekend. 🙂
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That is interesting. I don’t think that my sister ever had a stuffed toy that she loved as much as I loved my Teddy. But, she was secure in the fact that our mother loved her. I didn’t have that. You have a blessed weekend, too. 🙂
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You’re sister and I are both lucky. 🙂
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Yes, you both were. 🙂 Have a blessed day.
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Hi Irene, I was trying to respond to your comment back to me on my post, where you mentioned the koala bear and it disappeared from my screen as I was responding. Now, I can’t find it anywhere in my notification screen nor either of our posts. I can’t remember all of what you said, but I wanted you to know that I wasn’t ignoring your comment. I just can’t find where it went. Have a blessed day!
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Pingback: (nf) Past Times/ Toying Around (July 2016) | Jules in Flashy Fiction
I always think I am going to get here sooner than later…
But at least I got here…
Toying Around
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Love it that you made it Jules. Your childhood made you leave a lot behind but glad you had that special animal.
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Sincere apologies, Irene! I have been so engrossed in editing and my Wattpad activity that I simply forgot this challenge. I remembered as soon as I saw your latest wonderful photo post pop up in the reader. However, while I am too late for your stats, I will still do the topics and catch up in August. This toy one is terrific and I may manage it next week. 🙂
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Don’t worry Christine. I’ll enjoy reading about your toys whenever you get around to posting. We are all so busy I totally understand. I have yet to finish the prompt for August. 🙂
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I’m keen!
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