27 Nov 2011

TOYS FROM YESTERDAY

When I was a little girl in the 40th/50th, all my toys were made out of wood, except the dolls which had a porcellain or celluloid head, plastic toys didn't exist. Every child had toys in wood, sometimes even handmade. I still have a beautiful dollhouse all handmade and in wood of course. Now it certainly has become an antique.



My doll house looked a little like this, only it didn't have two floors, but two rooms side by side. One was the kitchen/diner and one the living/bedroom.



These are two of my dolls, unfortunately my mother as usual without asking me disposed of my belongings and had given one doll to our 2 year old son, with the result you can see.



the other one I just could save !



plastic toys

In the late 50th plastic articles slowly entered the market and when my son was a little boy, in the 70th, Fisher Price was the tip of the top and everything for toddlers to kids had to be in plastic. It was very fashionable and especially all educative toys were made out of plastic of course. Daycare and kindergardens were also equipped with plastic toys.

The only thing I can remember our son had in wood was a little dog, a basset hound, which every kid had to have I think it was called Snoopy and also was a Fisher Price toy



He could walk it like a real dog and the legs made click, click noises. It was a real cute toy. I wonder if we still have it in our attic.

Since I have become a grandma, I feel like going back into my own childhood rather then into my son's. For the little once today wood is in ! Wood suddenly is again the best and good toys have to be out of wood. So I am back not to the future but to the past. Honnestly, for me plastic or wooden toys or whatever, the only thing which counts is that the child has fun with them and that the toy is not dangerous for the health.



If I remember well my grandpa had made me a similar little wagon in which I used to walk my dolls.

8 comments:

  1. I love wooden toys especially trains.
    I used to have both wood and electric train and I always played with them.
    I even made a train with chairs and my dolls
    I don't see kids doing this today

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  2. Love those toys of yesteryears. It was more meaningful when you had to make your own toys like wooden gun, kites ; draw, colour your own cut-out paper dolls where you can attach different design paper dresses.

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  3. Tu es vraiment une écolo! :)
    Handmade wooden toys are cool!
    And I had to laugh trying to imagine you with a blue burka... :)
    God bless you!
    Cezar

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  4. Coucou chérie!
    Lovely post! the last picture is so beautiful, a "treasure"! :)
    big bisous and a nice week ahead,
    Léia

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  5. I absolutely adore wooden toys. My son had both wood and plastic but I love the wood ones best. He liked all of them :)

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  6. I love the old toys too, and to still have anything from your childhood is a treat! Have a great holiday season Gattina:)

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  7. You re right wooden toys are back in but also very expensive here. This is a great post. Toby is so cute with his wagon. Bill made a timber wagon and we filled it with wooden blocks. But Fox only had it for a few months before they left for LA and it was too heavy for them to take, so it is in storage. We are a bit upset after all the work Bill put into it. But I guess thats life.

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  8. That doll really look great, I mean the one you managed to save before getting "worn out"...ehem....

    Wonderful hair on her and beautiful face. I remember my two dolls very well too. Nothing compare to this one.

    One without hair - which went colored to green all over her body because she had a green bathing suit that didn't really were fit for bathing...

    The other one went through a fictive appendicitis surgery while I was in the hospital with Scarlet fever... hi hi... My siblings were having a fight and accidently her belly went in halves... ha ha... so they had to sew her up.

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