More Toy Memories

          Continuing from yesterday’s writing, there were several other toys we played with as we grew up.  A favorite from early on was toy guns.  We had many.  Some were cap guns; some were water guns; some probably even fired small toy projectiles though I can’t remember specific guns that did other than rubber dart pistols.  We had western guns, pistols, rifles, and even bows and arrows with rubber suction cups; space guns that made sparks and noise; guns for war including submachine guns and life-like automatic .45 Colt pistols.  I had a western six-gun with a very long barrel.  It was Wyatt Earp’s Buntline Special.  I even had a special holster to carry it in when we played Cowboys and Indians.

                    I do remember another kit we had as we grew up.  It was a wood burning kit.  We could make signs and decorative pictures on wood boards with a handheld burning tool.  It got hot!  Today, children wouldn’t be allowed to use it without adult supervision.  I remember using it while still in grade school and we didn’t have any parent around.

          As we got older we began to play sports.  We didn’t play organized team sports in school, but we did play in the backyard.  Our favorite sport was baseball.  I remember playing football and basketball – Pop even made us a basketball net on a backstop and mounted on a locust tree in the backyard – but it was baseball that we enjoyed most.  At least I did.  We could play simple catch; one of us could pitch over a plate and the other would be the catcher; sometimes one would be the batter instead of catcher, but this would necessarily slow the game down because if the batter missed the ball, he had to go get it.  The brick chimney on the back of the house was a good backstop, but we still had to run after the ball.  Because there weren’t many boys our age – or even just boys and girls – playing a real game wasn’t possible.  I do remember playing with friends when their parents came to visit Mom and Pop.

          Another thing I vaguely remember playing with was something I wish we hadn’t and saved instead.  Somehow Pop still had his oxygen mask from his days when he flew in WW2.  I remember it was gray, rubber, and very flexible.  We also had his pilot’s Class A cap.  And even Ration Stamps from the period that Mom must have used during the war.  I can’t believe they let us play with those things and now they are gone.

          I am sure there were other toys.  When I remember more, I’ll write again.  On the other hand, some these deserve stories of their own.  We’ll see. 

(Gadugi 11)