FC Posted August 23, 2005 Report Share Posted August 23, 2005 http://www.playthingspast.com/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emul8 Posted August 23, 2005 Report Share Posted August 23, 2005 I still think a cardboard box is one of the best toys ever for kids. A cardboard box was anything and everything in an imaginative kid's world! But if I had to buy a toy, I would buy a Wheel-O! That used to be my favorite! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FC Posted August 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2005 I was thinking about Wheel-O. Remember the commercial? Gumby was pretty popular too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emul8 Posted August 23, 2005 Report Share Posted August 23, 2005 LOL, FC! Yes, I remember the commercials for Wheel-O...didn't they make that look like the ultimate toy? Those kids in the commercials were just having WAY too much fun with a magnetized disk and a simple wire framework! I remember driving my Mother crazy by demanding a Wheel-O everytime I was in the toy section of any store! The thing is, I must have gone through at least 10 of the things, but I don't recall what I ever did with them! Oh, and yo-yos were another favorite of mine...gyroscopes too...I still have a gyroscope that I got years ago...I was just playing with it a couple of weeks back! If I can find a good-sized cardboard box now, my playset would be complete! LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FC Posted August 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2005 I couldn't afford a Wheel-O, but I wanted one! I also used to pour over the Sears and Wards catalogs looking at the guns. I wanted a lever action in the worst way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montea6b Posted August 23, 2005 Report Share Posted August 23, 2005 Aaah, Sears catalogs and BB guns. I used to want one of their lever action brass plated receiver Henry look alikes in the worst way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fritz Posted August 24, 2005 Report Share Posted August 24, 2005 What the hell is a Wheel-O? fritz (62 years old, or young) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doble Troble Posted August 24, 2005 Report Share Posted August 24, 2005 I always wanted one of those submarines in the comic books that were big enough to climb into. I was convinced that if I could figure-out a way to buy it that Dad could modify it to really work under water. He could do anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinkerfive Posted August 24, 2005 Report Share Posted August 24, 2005 What the hell is a Wheel-O? fritz (62 years old, or young) 2739[/snapback] I'm 50 and don't know what it is either. Perhaps it was something regional and it never came to our part of the country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roscoedoh Posted August 24, 2005 Report Share Posted August 24, 2005 Wheel-O? This must fit the 30-40 age bracket. I'm 22 and haven't the foggiest what it is. As Jimro will agree, Legos are still far and away the best toy for a creative kid! (I do admit to having lots of fun with cardboard boxes and wrapping paper tubes too!) And, for its worth, I always wanted a Power Wheel - never could sell Dad on that or a go-cart. Bummer... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emul8 Posted August 24, 2005 Report Share Posted August 24, 2005 Apparently, according to the website I am linking here, the Whee-lo (sorry, I misplaced the hyphen in my previous posts) was invented in 1953. That predates me by 10 years, but yeah, I am sure that those of us in our 40s would be more familiar with it. Maybe some of you guys will recognize it once you see it here: Whee-lo! There are actual Whee-los at the site that FC has linked to at the head of this thread, well, they are out of stock currently...they cost $5.99, and have features like speed control now! And, they are blister-packed, not in boxes like they were when we were children...ah, progress! FC mentioned Sears and Wards catalogs...I used to look at them too, wishing, wishing, wishing for a 1911 style BB gun, or a Crosman air rifle...I don't really remember the real firearms offered by the catalog companies...but that may be because a real firearm was out of the question for me as a kid. I was usually pushing it wanting an air pistol! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emul8 Posted August 24, 2005 Report Share Posted August 24, 2005 Hey, what about Clackers? Those acrylic balls on string that were 'clacked' together both below and above the hand? That's a toy that got banned in the early '70s because the balls would shatter and cause eye injuries. That was one VIOLENT toy! My sister used to get the balls going real good and then she would "unleash" them on me...usually bipping me in the head. One could use them in a similar fashion to the way that gauchos used bolas as well...it was great for children that were running, not so great for kids on bicycles! LOL! Then, there's lawn darts.... I got hit with one of those in the thigh when I was playing "Chicken" with some friends. I didn't chicken out...but I had to get a tetanus shot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sailormilan2 Posted August 24, 2005 Report Share Posted August 24, 2005 We made our own skateboards using a 2x4 and an old pair of skates. Didn't have to wear no silly helmet, or sissy elbow and knee pads neither. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted August 24, 2005 Report Share Posted August 24, 2005 BB guns,treehouses,hideouts,cap pistols with a real tooled leather holster,but never no caps,a swimming and fishing hole down at the creek,bicycles built out of other junk bicycles,and downhill carts that were built from scrap and you steered with ropes like reines on a horse.This post made me realize how few toys we had but how much fun we did have and how lucky I am to have the childhood I had.Being a poor 1950's kid 20 miles from town on a gravel road is still the way to raise kids.Jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odies dad Posted August 24, 2005 Report Share Posted August 24, 2005 I remember getting the Christmas catalogs and going straight to the back half where the good stuff was. We would put our initials on the stuff we wanted for Christmas and Mom would pick out something from that. Them was the good old days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsefly Posted August 25, 2005 Report Share Posted August 25, 2005 Why am I a guest all at once? Jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roscoedoh Posted August 25, 2005 Report Share Posted August 25, 2005 Why am I a guest all at once? Jerry 2805[/snapback] Dig you log out (accidentally?) before coming back for a visit amigo? Looks as though you've solved the problem though! Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FC Posted August 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2005 I hadn't though of those clackers for a long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fritz Posted August 26, 2005 Report Share Posted August 26, 2005 "cap pistols with a real tooled leather holster,but never no caps,a swimming and fishing hole down at the creek,bicycles built out of other junk bicycles" Damned, I remember one particular cap pistol that looked just like a Colt Peacemaker. It was even about the same size (as opposed to most cap pistols). It had ivory looking grips, and I had me one. Wish I still had it. But you know what, in some states that toy would be outlawed today because it looked too real! I also remember when there was a time that my parents were too pore that they could not afford to get me that "real tooled leather" holster. Guess what? My mother made me a holster and gunbelt out of cotton sacking! It was the heavy denim, unbleached, and man did it smell good. Better than cosmoline, which I did not know about at the time. And I wonder if my old friend remembers the fishing and swimming hole, 6 miles by bicycle. Better stop this post now, before I start crying and water down my brandy. fritz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karlunity Posted August 26, 2005 Report Share Posted August 26, 2005 I, for one, am a hell of a lot happier now. Karl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roscoedoh Posted August 26, 2005 Report Share Posted August 26, 2005 Of all the toys any of us were blessed enough to have growing up, I think we got the best use and had the best time on our bicycles! Looking back, I'm amazed at all the crap I lashed to it: critter boxes, tackle box, fishing poles, lunch, water, sodas, me, and a friend. And that six miles to the fishin' hole never seemed like it was that long by bike. Those were the days! No responsibility! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emul8 Posted August 26, 2005 Report Share Posted August 26, 2005 Yeah, a bicycle was just the best! I made my share of them out of spare parts and never had a single problem with them. I would jump them over hills, crash them into creeks, ride halfway across Oklahoma City (and that's a ride, OKC is the 4th largest city in area in the U. S.!) and like roscoedoh said, we'd lash all sorts of supplies for our daily outings to our main transportation...it was as close to total independence as we could get as kids.... Plus, I was able to ride to the local TG&Y to get clackers, cap guns and Whee-los! LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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