Childhood.....Part 2- Toys and Stuff

"Backward, flow backward O tide of the years........
Give me my childhood again."
I could bust right into tears seeing images of some of these items again. So, so many happy memories. Each picture conjures up recollections of the little details of my life way back when. Where I played with these things and with whom. Where they were kept when we put them away each day. Playing on the bricks next to the wood stove, or right in front of the heat vents blasting hot air. Car trips. Christmas mornings. Best friends. My family. I seriously had the BEST childhood ever!!
FYI-Most of these images I found online. So they are not good quality after copying and pasting them. Pretty grainy pictures.But it doesn't matter.If you don't recognize the toy, they mean nothing. And if you do recognize it...the memories will flood back even with a grainy picture. It was so fun to just see some of these things again.One memory led to another and another and I just kept doing searches for each item. Vintage 1970's and 1980's toys. Best decades ever to be a child in!
Fisher Price. Timeless. I bet some of you will remember these things too. The bell on the school rings. The hospital X-ray machine really shows an X-ray picture. Mr. Hooper's store rocks! And the barn door moo's when you open it.

I think the chalkboard and letters were a hand-me-down toy from older siblings. In fact, probably most of these toys were not mine first. And many of them were never just mine, but everybody's. That 64 pack of crayons was so very cool! 

The little stove here is actually a photo from my camera. I found this second hand and bought it because it is identical to the one I had as a little girl. It lives in our playroom now. Makes my heart smile every time I see it! 

Classic, timeless toys. Some of these are being reproduced and sold in stores now. Apparently I am not the only one overly nostalgic about the past. 

We actually played marbles in our living room all the time. Makes it seem like a hundred years ago. Ladies, remember the tins of lip gloss? Before I had my own I would always sneak into my sisters. 

Games. We played a lot of games growing up. And we watched very little T.V. In fact there were years we did not even have a T.V. What a beautiful thing! Can you imagine that today? No movies. No shows. No Netfix. No Wii. Yep, a beautiful thing! 

More games we played.

We had several pairs of metal skates like this, passed down from older sisters. And Amy's leather roller skates were the bomb! I was lucky to inherit them. We didn't have swing bikes, but our neighbors did and we rode them a lot. A remember this thing you hold between your feet and bounce on? What's it called? We also had a pogo stick and the original Hoppity-Hop. We played outside a lot.

Oh my heart! These were some of my all time faves! The little tweety bird that you put water in and blow and it sings. I know they make similar ones now. But surely they can't compare to these originals. I can vividly remember filling them with water at the sink in the old bathroom. I can still remember the sound. So sweet! Mon chi-chi monkey. If you are near my age I don't have to say more. That little teddy bear picnic basket went with me everywhere for a time period. I saw one at a yard sale once during the past decade and almost cried! I bought it instantly. It's somewhere in this house, but I can't find it. And the LEMON DINGER!!! Wear it on one leg, skip with the other. I swung this thing around for hours and hours and hours and hours. And hours! Outside in the summer and in the kitchen in the winter. 

Toys I used with the boys. Classics. So many fun memories of playing with my two brothers and their toys. 

Magic. Pure magic just seeing these things!

We had many, many good books. These were a few of my favorites.

And just for a great family laugh.....check out these record covers!! The Sesame records were for me and the younger part of the family. The others belonged to my five older sisters. High quality LDS musicals. (Wink-wink.)  My sisters listened to these often, therefore so did the rest of us. I think today I could still sing nearly ever word to nearly every song on these three records. And I was a very little girl when I heard these played over and over. 

Some memories will never leave me. Playing with homemade play dough or Memory at the kitchen table while mom sewed or cooked three feet away. Endless hours of drawing and coloring on the pull-out wooden  cutting board, while sitting on the white stool. Play mobile horses and guys on the bricks by the fireplace. Dolls by the heat vent with my yellow blanket, "Old Yeller". 

Is there such a thing as a perfect childhood? I must have come pretty close to having one. Thank you to my mom and dad for creating such a happy, safe, carefree place for me to be little in.