Thursday, September 14, 2006
Toys
Being an only child for eleven years gave toys a special meaning. they were my playmates when I couldn't get out with friends. My earliest favorites were...
a plastic jointed purple elephent. I think it was the bendable feature and the smoothe plastic parts that I liked the most. This was in Parkersburg when I was a pre-schooler.
cap guns. One in particular was a small likeness of a German Luger. It fit my hand well and when I had spending money I could get a roll of caps and make some noise. I liked the noise but not the powder burns that mared the finish of the gun from then on. That gun I had when we visited Niagara Falls.
planes. Any kid that made a gun out of everything and a plane out of everything else loved a plane with guns. The problem with WWII model planes is that they either came with landing gear up or down. That's why I liked this metal plane that Mom let me take on her escape from Dad on the B & O railroad to Baltimore from Parkersburg. The wheels would fold up into the wings and the wingtips would fold up just like the carrier planes on the second World War. it was a crude toy as I later found out when purchasing on on eBay.
building sets. I had Lincoln Logs as did every other kid but didn't find them to creative. I had an erector set but found that rather time consuming to work with. My favorite set was all plastic with junction octagons and various lengths of square tubes that press fit into the plastic pieces. I made guns and planes out of them, mostly. I would erect stuctures as well. If they were big enough, I would pretend any structure was a fort. Now I know why I didn't mind being drafted into the Army!
models. Dad would pick up a random plastic model kit for me all the time, from the time I was three or four. He didn't bother helping me put it together. My first models were pretty bad. I found that too much glue woulsd dissolve parts! Eventually I learned to paint the parts, trim the edges, weigh down the ships and the front of planes so they would stand correctly when on their landing gear and took a long time detailing the cockpits to make them as realistic as possible. I vicariously flew in those planes so I wanted a realistic experience. During some of Dad's sermons with which I didn't identify, I often imagined my model plane pilots coming to life and taking off, flying through the house and out into the neighborhood, and returning before I got back. I could picture myself as that pilot flying above everything.
chemistry set. Yes, I got a chemistry set and a microscope as a Christmas gift when in Atlanta which would make me 8 to 12. I read about Louis Pasteur and Madam Curie and wanted to be a chemist. I lived in the past century and wanted to make new discoveries. I had a table for my equipment and played there pretending to be a scientist quite often.
legos. No I didn't have those, but I would have loved them. I know this because I got to play with them when my son was growing up. I finally got to build a real castle that had a working cannon and I could make a catapult. How fun!
a plastic jointed purple elephent. I think it was the bendable feature and the smoothe plastic parts that I liked the most. This was in Parkersburg when I was a pre-schooler.
cap guns. One in particular was a small likeness of a German Luger. It fit my hand well and when I had spending money I could get a roll of caps and make some noise. I liked the noise but not the powder burns that mared the finish of the gun from then on. That gun I had when we visited Niagara Falls.
planes. Any kid that made a gun out of everything and a plane out of everything else loved a plane with guns. The problem with WWII model planes is that they either came with landing gear up or down. That's why I liked this metal plane that Mom let me take on her escape from Dad on the B & O railroad to Baltimore from Parkersburg. The wheels would fold up into the wings and the wingtips would fold up just like the carrier planes on the second World War. it was a crude toy as I later found out when purchasing on on eBay.
building sets. I had Lincoln Logs as did every other kid but didn't find them to creative. I had an erector set but found that rather time consuming to work with. My favorite set was all plastic with junction octagons and various lengths of square tubes that press fit into the plastic pieces. I made guns and planes out of them, mostly. I would erect stuctures as well. If they were big enough, I would pretend any structure was a fort. Now I know why I didn't mind being drafted into the Army!
models. Dad would pick up a random plastic model kit for me all the time, from the time I was three or four. He didn't bother helping me put it together. My first models were pretty bad. I found that too much glue woulsd dissolve parts! Eventually I learned to paint the parts, trim the edges, weigh down the ships and the front of planes so they would stand correctly when on their landing gear and took a long time detailing the cockpits to make them as realistic as possible. I vicariously flew in those planes so I wanted a realistic experience. During some of Dad's sermons with which I didn't identify, I often imagined my model plane pilots coming to life and taking off, flying through the house and out into the neighborhood, and returning before I got back. I could picture myself as that pilot flying above everything.
chemistry set. Yes, I got a chemistry set and a microscope as a Christmas gift when in Atlanta which would make me 8 to 12. I read about Louis Pasteur and Madam Curie and wanted to be a chemist. I lived in the past century and wanted to make new discoveries. I had a table for my equipment and played there pretending to be a scientist quite often.
legos. No I didn't have those, but I would have loved them. I know this because I got to play with them when my son was growing up. I finally got to build a real castle that had a working cannon and I could make a catapult. How fun!
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