Ghost of Christmas Toys Past

I wonder if the some of the folks who brought us Star Wars eight years later had also played with Major Matt Mason? And if so, would they ever come clean and admit that they had gotten a Major Matt Mason for Christmas?

Daisy BB Gun

Technically a BB gun was not a toy (“you’ll shoot your eye out kid”) but it was what most every young boy asked Santa for and hoped that Santa would bring it. I got my first BB gun the same Christmas I got my erector set. My family was worried about me shooting out an eye (and maybe someone else’s eye) as well as the shooting up windows and anything else that moved or didn’t move—maybe that is why they waited until I was 12 before I got one.

I was careful and didn’t shoot up too many things. One time though, I did accidentally shoot my brother in the butt. Sorry about that Randy.

Erector Set

For all those budding architects and engineers who had mastered Tinker Toys and Lincoln Logs, the next step up was an erector set. I was 12 when I got mine and like so many other toys it was a rite of passage. You started off with Tinker Toys and then you got an erector set.

Bobby Hull/Stan Makita Stanley Cup Hockey Game

I am not even sure if that was the exact name of the Stanley Cup Hockey set, if it was the Bobby Hull or Stan Makita version, but that it is what I asked Santa for in 1968, the same year I found out that there was not really a Santa—that it had been mom all along. That was okay. I had my hockey set. There were all kinds of models—some had flashing lights when a goal was scored—but what I remember most was just how much fun it was to move those metal players around the field with the levers and try to make those goals.

Chemistry Set

Although it was probably not “better living through chemistry” it was one of the better Christmas presents you could get if your parents trusted you with chemicals and stuff that could probably blow up the house. Well, not exactly blow up the house, but there were some flammable and hazardous chemicals that could cause some damage if one wasn’t too careful. Just like the BB gun and the erector sets, these were some potentially dangerous toys that required some, if not a lot of adult supervision. Ironic how the times have changed when almost everything that is sold now comes with a warning. I wonder if people were just smarter back then?

Lionel Train Set

This Christmas present goes without saying. My first and only set was basic, just a locomotive, coal car, boxcar, flatbed car, and caboose that went around and around and oval track. It was cool to have to assemble the tracks and then hook up the power supply to power the train. And even if that small train just went around and around it was a very special present to get.

Etch-a-Sketch

Another one of those, “goes without saying” presents that a lot of kids looked forward to finding under the tree on Christmas morning. Sadly, I could never get beyond drawing squares and rectangles and by New Year’s Day I was already bored with it.

Maybe the kids today are hipper and savvy with all their high-tech toys, gizmos, and gadgets but they all pale in comparison to the days when kids got to use their imaginations more.