My parents bought me many wonderful toys when I was a kid. Some of them were Christmas presents, others were purchased for me throughout the year.
My favorites were Lincoln Logs, Tinker Toys and Blocks. I could spend hours upon hours building wonderful things with these special toys. I liked to carefully build a house or something, then tear it down. That was one thing I really liked about those toys, the fact that I could put it all away each night and start fresh in the morning.
Marbles were always great. My friends and I enjoyed shooting marbles in the driveway, although we didn’t bet any money on the games as did other kids. We just had a good time.
One Christmas, my parents got me a set of Legos. For those who don’t know, Legos is a set of blocks, very special blocks. Each block has tabs on it, designed to fit into other blocks. This allowed me to build very complex and strange structures, keeping me entertained for hours upon hours.
I also had several stuffed animals, including a stuffed teddy bear, of course. These animals were all my friends. The best was a long, thin stuffed orange snake. This was my favorite, and I slept with it wrapped around my wait.
Hot wheels were another favorite toy. I used to love to play in the mud with these little cars. They were even better because they were so cheap and available. The local 5&10 store had a large rack full of them, for one dollar each. I would often use part of my allowance to purchase another Hot Wheels car.
Mom and dad usually got me a new Tonka Truck at Christmas. A Tonka toy is a model truck, made of heavy gauge steel. It is very durable, built to last practically forever. I used to love playing with these trucks in the backyard.
I had dozens of other interesting toys when I was a child. Jumping Jacks, yo-yos, tops, toy airplanes and boats, a rubber duck or two, and many, many more besides. I believe that most of these toys are still buried somewhere in my parents basement. One day I’ll go through them, digging back into memory lane.
Unless otherwise noted, all photos and text is Copyright © Richard G Lowe, Jr.