Harold M. Lambert/Getty Images
FLEXIBLE FLYER SLED
Our early sleds were home-crafted by Dad out of wood. One year, Santa Claus brought a wonderful gift: a Flexible Flyer three-man sled! Oh, what joy! We boys were kings of the Reily Road hill sled run for years afterward. I’ll never forget what fun we had!
Thomas R. Haverland
Cincinnati, OH
Courtesy: The Strong, Rochester, New York
MYSTERY DATE
I remember very well the hot, sticky summer that all the preteen girls in the neighborhood played the board game Mystery Date. The game took us to a place we had never been…on a date with a gorgeous hunk! Would we be hitting the corner bowling alley with the cutest guy in town? Or would you choose the handsomest lothario of all…the heartthrob with the white tuxedo jacket? That white door with the blue question mark still holds the fascination of “Who will be my secret admirer?”
Karen Morris
Youngstown, OH
Courtesy: William Hazelton
TRUSTY FOUR-WHEELER
At six years old, I got a four wheel bike and rode it all the time, even in the house. We lived on the second floor, so every day, my dad would carry the bike downstairs, and at the end of the day, he would haul it back up. How I wish I still had it!
William Hazelton
Prescott Valley, AZ
Courtesy: Paul McLaughlin
CEREAL-BOX FORDS
In the summer of 1954, when one of my friends was pouring cereal into a bowl, a green plastic Ford sedan popped out. Wow, I thought, is this neat or what?! I begged my mother to buy more cereal, but she had a better plan. A short time later, a small cardboard box arrived by mail. I was surprised to find a set of five new toy Fords inside: a sedan, a convertible, a Crown Victoria, a station wagon, and a Thunderbird in a variety of pastel colors. I played with those cars until the wheels fell off.
Paul Mclaughlin
Albuquerque, NM
Courtesy: Jack Laansma
ERECTOR SET
I received a Gilbert Erector Set with an electric motor for Christmas in 1944. Shown in the picture are me; my oldest brother, Donald (creating our first project); my sister Beatrice; and my brother Marvin. Over the next several years, I spent hours building things from the manual.
Jack Aansma
Mount Prospect, IL
Courtesy: Tammy Finn
LI’L ABNER
My favourite childhood toy was L’il Abner’s tin Dogpatch band, produced by Pioneer Toy Makers in the 1940s. The characters take after Al Capp’s popular cartoon strip. When wound, Li’l Abner dances, Daisy Mae plays the piano, Grandpa beats the drum, and old Granny rocks back and forth.
Tammy Finn
York, ME
Courtesy: Judith Nielsen
JUST HORSIN’ AROUND
In 1954, in the evenings, I would put on my cowboy boots and hat, sling my guns over my “hips,” grab my accordion, and get on my horse. The hobbyhorse had been made by my father and was my all-time favorite toy.
Judith Nielsen
East Granby, CT
Courtesy: The Strong, Rochester, New York
SLINKY
In the early ’60s, our oldest son was hospitalized for a short time. The nurses would turn off the TV and take the remote, but when they returned, the TV was back on. Bill had discovered that manipulating his Slinky at the right speed turned the TV on! Early TV remote controls used audio instead of radio frequency or infrared signals; the Slinky made the right sound to mimic the remote.
Lois Maywald
Pell Lake, WI
Courtesy: Charles Richard Anderson
CHARLIE MCCARTHY
Reader Charles Richard Anderson plays with his Charlie McCarthy doll in 1938. First produced in 1937 by toymaker EFFanBEE, the doll was modeled after the dummy used by the famous ventriloquist Edgar Bergen.
Charles Richard Anderson
Halifax, MA
Courtesy: The Strong, Rochester, New York
DUNCAN YO-YO
During my junior year of junior high school, I was winning local yo-yo contests around Forth Worth, Texas, in 1961. I finished number two in the state championship and won a TV and an automatic advancement to the U.S. Duncan Yo Yo Championship in California. But my family could not afford to send me, and thus ended my competitive yo-yo career.
L.P. Morton
Forth Worth, TX
