Childhood Toys and Games

I’m going to start out with what I think now was one of the most far out toys I ever had. Remember, this was the late 50s or early 60s. I went to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and they had a exhibit where one person stood on a platform and another person stood on another platform that was about 40 feet away. You stood there and you talked to the other person in a normal voice. The sound was transmitted by light! So one Christmas after that I get a pair of walkie talkies that used a beam of light to transmit your voice. It looked like a big fat plastic gun and it had a jack for an earphone. The only downside of course was that you had to have a clear line of sight, but it was a lot of fun talking to somebody else via light waves. I don’t know what happened to that toy, but I wished I’d have kept it.

I got all the other toys a kid of the 50s got. That includes a lot of toy soldiers since World War II just finished up a little while ago. Lots of cap guns, cowboy and marine outfits. I even got a cannon that shot big plastic balls from a spring loaded barrel. I remember my bigger brother coming home from school and I surprised attacked him with a cannon shot. He ducked. I missed. Then I got beat up! A fun beat down like brothers do. I got chemistry sets, Lincoln logs, tinker toys, and erector sets that allowed me to pump water around like it was an industrial plant. I had a microscope and looked at a lot of weird thinks including ants and flies.

One of the best gifts my parents ever gave me was a membership to a book club for kids. The only book I can remember was a book about Navy Frogmen. They didn’t call them Seal Teams yet! I put together a lot of model cars, planes and ships. I had a Strombecker slot car set. My brother had a HO train set and the larger Lionel train set. He later got a 63 Chevy Impala with a 4 on the floor and a 16 foot speed boat. He was 8 years older than me. Our mother made him take me to the drive-in when he went on dates! Sorry, bro! We had air rifles and BB guns. We messed with fireworks around the 4th of July. I had water rockets where you put a mixture of water and vinegar in the rocket then you put it on a stand that had a packet of baking powder. The chemical reaction forced the rocket off the stand and into the air spraying us with water. Speaking of water, we would open the fire hydrants in the hot summer to cool off.

I don’t remember seeing any warning labels on anything! 🙂 I remember playing outside a lot. During summer vacations we were allowed to stay out until 10pm! Pretty good, huh? Not today. Our family was heavy into sports. Bowling, baseball and football were the biggest. Later I played basketball in 7th and 8th grade and in high school. Softball in Chicago was played with those 16 inch Clincher softballs that wasn’t too soft when they were brand new. You played barehanded, no mitts allowed. There were a lot of jammed fingers.

One of my birthday parties at Mom and Dad’s Tavern. They were all at the tavern!

My cowboy outfit with the double six guns. My brother on the right, Aunt Sophie on the left.

Me reading one of those books!

High school grduation on the left, 8th grade grduation on the right from military school