Lacey I think we called it plastic bubbles. Definitely remember that .

I think what struck me reading this thread, is that like Elmer, I had a pretty good childhood but don't really remember "having" so many toys. I do remember one particular doll that I really liked but it wasnt any name thing. I do recall a Tiny Tears.

Other than that what struck me is that I did not own most but growing up in my neighborhood, if someone had one of them ( like Chatty Cathy) we all kind of got to play with it.

Annie I loved your story about the poodle.

Does anyone remember a hard plastic turtle that was filled with bubbles? You would squeeze it and bubbles would come out of its mouth.

I remember pleading with my parents to buy Maypo cereal. They finally gave in and we all thought it was vile. So much for the commercials!

Thumbelina and a battery-operated washing machine.

My chimp had a plastic banana. I walked around chewing on the banana....when I was about 3-4 years old. Then I got a pedal car. When I was 6 years old I got a bicycle, a Cinderella watch and a film camera. Then Fun FLowers....cooking the goo in the mold. I set my forearm down on a hot mold...and had a burned in flower tattoo for years! Then in 5th grade a beading loom and pot holder loom for the bag of loops you'd buy for it.

FWIW, I think the solvent in that plastic bubble stuff was acetone - and I always liked the smell - along with the smell of permanent markers back then - definitely not a good thing!

Also FWIW, I have an old package of those plastic bubbles from the 90s that may still be good.

Another thing that sticks in my memory is this goop that came as a powder in a plastic container, and you added water, shook it up and had what would be known today as slime. It came in one color - a reddish hue, and had a memorable, likely much less toxic smell I can still recall.

The bubble stuff I remember came in a sealed tube, and you put a glob on the end of straw and then blew through the straw. It made a multi-colored "balloon" of sorts, that smelled like pure chemicals to me. The balloon was sticky and the entertainment from this process was very short-lived. LOL.

I can't imagine wanting to chew on that, so I'm not sure if it's what Lacey is remembering too, or if it's something different. I still distinctly remember the smell and it was vile...at least to me.

Some kids will chew on anything, IMPE - I deal with it daily 😄

And not just young kids, I remember a guy in my adult education commercial art classes who liked to chew on masking tape 😳

" "Most memorable" does not mean ATTACHED or anywhere near materialistic"

I didn't take it to be this at all. For me and apparently some others too, the question brought to mind happy and "memorable" recollections of people, places and a few events. Not toys or other physical items.

My Irish Mail was red metal, like a little car, but the function was the same as bpath's. I'd never seen another until this thread. Railroad linemen used to have a similar hand-pumped cart for two men.

I'm pre-Barbie, but a friend and I had Toni Dolls. You could give them perms. Mine had roller skates. (I had clamp-on skates and the skinned knees that resulted.)

My next door neighbors gave me their daughter's bike when she'd outgrown it. She also thrilled me with the gift of ALL of her trading cards! Did anyone else trade cards?

The weirdest gift I ever got was a full size xylophone. Why did my father think and 8 y.o. would want this? It was a typical overboard gesture on his part. (Paying alimony and child support would have been more appreciated.)

I hadn't thought of those plastic balls on straws until this thread. I bet you could get high inhaling those chemicals!

Today's children are shortchanged when they can't go outside, whistle up a couple of neighbor kids, and play whatever games the group decides to play -- by whatever rules the group decides are the rules, no complaining, no interfering grown-ups.

well, the plastic bubbles I recall were absolutely as described- someone ( more skilled than I was) would blow into the very narrow straw and make a bubble. I do remember people chewing it.

We all survived. I'm sure it was not a good thing, but we did all survive.

chisue - 'whistle up a couple of neighbor kids' sounds perfect! In my neighborhood growing up in the 60s and 70s, kids would go to their friends' front door and call the name of who they wanted to play with, not even knocking but just loudly calling the name. I wonder if this annoyed the mom - probably not.

Raising my kids, it was all arranged play dates and way too much driving.

I remember my "Betsy-Wetsy" doll, but my mother would never let me feed her the bottle , so she never "wetsy-ed". Also, I remember getting a Pebble Flintstones doll. We lived in a small NYC apartment, so there was no room to accumulate anything.

I just wanted to clear up some confusion about the OP. I know it says 'memorable', but often times when something is memorable it's because we have such fond memories of it, right? When we're talking about toys, I guess your most memorable toy wasn't necessarily your favorite for everyone, but I hope it was for some of you at least.

lat62 Growing up in the 50's/60's we roamed freely from house to house either calling out to our friends like that or going into the yards to tap on their bedroom windows if it was morning. We wandered freely into each others home and yards. Mothers would feed whatever kids happened to be around at lunch time and often offered us random snacks or sandwiches. The mindset was active kids get hungry and needed to eat. Food was food whether it was a jelly donut a bologna sandwich or a bowl of soup. No had to to talk about it "takes a village" we had one.

Does anyone remember a hard plastic turtle that was filled with bubbles? You would squeeze it and bubbles would come out of its mouth.

Oh yes. I choose that turtle when I was allowed to pick out a toy as a souvenir on a family vacation once. Maybe he was called Mr. Bubbles? I think he was featured on Romper Room.

We moved from Minneapolis to KC when I was 8 and my brother was 10. Our parents felt bad that we had to leave all of our friends so they bought us a mini-bike. We rode that as much as our allowance would fill the gas tank.

My dad also got us into model railroading about the same time and we gradually built a 8' x 16' layout in HO scale that kept us busy for years. My brother still has most of the cars and locomotives and I graduated into full scale railroading in my career.

function -- You would probably agree with me that it was a mistake for schools to ban dodgeball.

BTW, when I said "whistle up", I was just too lazy to go into the description of what we actually did. You'd walk over to someone's house and yell, "Yo-ho MARY!" If Mary was available, she'd come out to play. If not, her mom would tell you. No doorbells. No knocking. No telephoning.

Great lessons were learned while we kids made the rules; negotiated what was fair or not; created alliances; judged skills and character -- all Life Lessons learned young.

" I just wanted to clear up some confusion about the OP. I know it says 'memorable', but often times when something is memorable it's because we have such fond memories of it, right? "

I don't think there was any confusion. I thought your question was quite clear.

Dodgeball isn't banned here - in fact there are kids' leagues now. Also, there are now foam balls that won't give anybody a concussion, tho they can smack you pretty good...

And I was thinking too about how we'd run freely around our island with our playmates, running through and playing in neighbors' yards without asking anyone, playing in empty lots too, back before every inch was built up.

I remember the special times when a school friend from outside the neighborhood got to come over, or we went to their house. As was mentioned above, friends often had toys that we didn't, so that was a treat too.

I have 2 sisters, so there was always someone to play with, unless we were fighting 😏

Barbies were a favourite, but more about making houses for them out of cardboard boxes, like Carol. I remember mostly reading or playing cards and board games when I wasn't roaming outside. Oh and I also remember clackers - mine were made of glass!

As someone up thread said, I (and my brother and the neighborhood kids) played with the toys and games of the day - Lincoln Logs, Candyland, Chutes & Ladders, card games, checkers and chinese checkers, balls & bats, and yes, toy guns and bows & arrows (inspired by TV shows about Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, and WW2). A huge sandbox that my grandfather built around a maple tree - the whole neighborhood played in it, constructing cities and raceways and lakes out of sand. I remember when the talking dolls and battery operated games started appearing, but none of us had those. We did all have bikes, and roller skates, and used them a lot!

My best friend and I had stick horses that we "rode" all over the place when 5-6 years old.

My "attachment" doll was a "Shirley Temple" doll - at least that is what my mother called it. But a year or two later my favorite dolls were a group of "Dolls of Many Lands" or something like that - that mom got from sending in margarine coupons, as well as from a gas station (remember gas station premiums?). I had about 8 - 10 of them and played with them for years.

Books, of course, but I don't consider them toys.

wild?

"romper stomper bomper boo! Tell me tell me tell me who! I see wild, and I see rob..."

Right?

ok YES @wildchild2x2 and @rob333 (zone 7b) to Romper room. Don't get me started. I remember Cocoa Marsh (a chocolate syrup) that was a sponsor, and I also remember you had to send away for a Cocoa Marsh ring (which I got). Also, do be a doobie and push your chair in when you get up from the table or desk.

I have 2 sisters, so there was always someone to play with, unless we were fighting 😏

LOL Carol! Oh my goodness yes! I had three sisters and we had so much fun together!

My father was the best dad ever and had so much patience. When we got really unruly he would break out in his best Maurice Chavalier voice and sing ” Thank Heaven For Little Girls”

while my mother just muttered ”Hell’s bells, you girls”

I was just looking through my old pictures on my IPAD. These photos always make me laugh! This was Christmas and obviously I didn’t want to share my Spring Horse (another favourite toy which I hadn’t given much thought about until this thread) with my older sister but dear old Dad was trying to raise little ladies and teach the value of sharing. I was having none of it. My bratty sister milked it for all it was worth.🙂

This is my sister after thoroughly harassing me and looking for more trouble.

Oh, and look at the exhibitionist doll in the first picture!

One thing I have fond memories of were Madame Alexander dolls. One Christmas my sisters and I all got one that represented a different country. I see them for sale now and then and always want to buy one (but don’t) for their nostalgic value.

Black doll Amosandra changed complexion of toy industry (beaconjournal.com)

My only want for Christmas in 1949. It will always be my favorite toy. Read all about Amosandra above.

OMG, lawn darts! I have a huge scar in my arm from one. We were throwing them straight up in the air. 😳 Kids are so dumb. I am beyond lucky it didn't land on the top of my head. I threw it up and lost sight of it. Never saw it come down and never felt it either, until I felt the blood pouring down my arm....

Spring horses! Ow! I still remember getting skin caught in the springs!

Y we had jarts too. Unbelievable! Between wooden swings and jungle gyms set into concrete it's amazing we survived childhood at all!

^^ 4th grade, I was on the swing at school, on blacktop of course, when the chain broke. I landed face down and was knocked out for a few minutes. Fortunately I had no aftereffects (at least up to now) except for the scar that is still on my chin. I was knocked out a second time 3 years later when at the roller rink; a wheel came off of the rental skates and I went down hard - out for just for a few moments though. Again, no aftereffects that I've noticed.

Our elementary school playground was broken shell and lots of sandspurs. The only shade was a few clusters of sabal palms and one covered concrete pad. Still have a scar on my knee where I tripped and landed on a chunk of clamshell playing kickball, because girls weren't allowed to wear pants until around 1971, I think. We also had a tall metal slide which got broiling hot in the FL sun.

And I'll never forget the feeling of getting the wind knocked out of me for the first time - the terror!

As for toys at school - I recall there was a fad to make Chinese jumpropes out of rubber bands.

My Chrissy doll, whose hair grew when you pushed her belly button in and got short when you turned the dial in her back. Until my little sister cut her hair off..........

My Pendulart. I LOVED it, along with my Spriograph.

My first "Barbie" was actually a Julia doll from the show Julia.

I always had a rope swing from a big tree in our back yard so between swinging and riding my bicycle I kept busy. I didn't play with dolls much, but I had shoe skates to use when we went to the skating rink. Also, we had horses but for me they were more pets than for riding.

Witty, I so liked the show Julia!

carol, our playground was just as scar-producing: cinder-something, I think the remains from coal furnaces. and concrete surfaces. Now it’s rubber ”wood” chips and cushy rubbery surfaces. and at home? grass.

I have one strong memory of a toy. My next-door neighbor was a little older than I was, and she actually had a horse, kept at her grandmother’s farm. She had a German-made riding school set that I loved playing with her at her house, and after a few years of dreaming for it, I got it for Christmas. The exact same set. It was lovely. But not as much fun to play with as it was at Patty’s house. Why is that?

Another favorite plaything was all the new houses going up around the neighborhood! My brother and I roamed through the framing, figuring out the layout, collecting ”slugs” (the punch-outs from electrical outlets) and planning to use them in place of quarters in candy machines (we never did). We never caused any damage, we were good kids, just trespassing floor plan addicts, getting ideas for our Lego houses!

We used to explore houses being constructed in our neighborhood too. I was running in one and rammed a nail through my sneaker into my foot 😧

Annie the trolls were called Wishniks!

raee, when I was in 5th grade I fell while playing 2 square and broke my front tooth in half. I still have the original cap on my tooth 60 years later.

I had the Barbie size Julia. She wore a nurse uniform with a cap that was pinned on her head. .

We grew up on a farm, and my folks didn't have much money for toys. We used to take lids fom 3-lb coffee cans and throw them in the air (til the parents caught us). Edges like knife blades. If only we had thought to make them from plastic and call them Frisbee's! LOL. (this was in the 50's).

We each had a dead branch from a tree that we used for stick horses. We used twine from hay bales for reins, and each "horse" had a name.

I think the five of us girls each had one doll. My brother was the youngest and my youngest sister would promise him that if he played dolls, she would play trucks. I don't think she ever followed through on her end.

Mostly, we played outside, Kick the can, Hide and seek.

When Mom and Dad had extra money, we would get to pick out a present on our birthday, from the Ben Franklin store. We each got a whole dollar for our birthday (usually) and felt rich.

I hope I can keep these memories the rest of my life, I am getting forgetful, so may not. But then I guess I won't know what I forgot.

I had the entire collection of Dawn Dolls. Fashion Show, Dance Party and Pink Convertible.

Also the original Click Clacks before they were considered dangerous for shattering.

Does anyone remember this? It was a doll about 2 or 3 inches tall. It came in a plastic heart shaped case and each doll smelled like flowers?

Our 'starter home' where we raised our DS was on a street with three cul de sacs. There was almost no traffic, and DS and the other six neighborhood kids his age roamed all over on their Big Wheels. They may have been the last generation to play freely outdoors, with four stay-at-home moms keeping track and handing out popsicles through the summer. One family had a sandbox. We had a slip-n-slide. There were neighborhood parties with games in the middle cul de sac (ours) for the Fourth of July. (It takes a lot of water to wash remnants of flour bombs off a street.)

@ samkaren - I had a Dawn doll too, and my sisters had the others of that series. I can recall shopping for their clothes at Ben Franklin and department stores with my saved up allowance.

And I think you might be referring to Mattel Liddle Kiddles. We had the flower ones that came in perfume bottles, mine was honeysuckle and one of my sisters had rose, since that's her middle name.

There were also even tinier locket Kiddles - I recall some in plastic cases that looked like a jewel. It's funny, at the time I thought they were the sweetest, cutest things, but now they just seem weird looking.

This is another toy I recall fondly - bought with my own money at Webb's City. There was a little clear wax stick to adhere their groovy threads. I made my own clothes for them too.

Carol that's it! I can still see them on the shelves at store and remember the fragrance.

Also forgot that I have my Super Spirograph in my closet.

So I am on line at ToyRUs waiting to pay for diapers, when I see a clearance table with these stuffed dogs, called Pound Puppies. I buy one, and DD names him Cookie. Well, fast forward more than a few years, and we also acquired Cupcake, Crumbbun, Crueller, Cannoli, Churro and Croissant. Do you see a pattern? But Cookie rules. Over the years, he has developed into a mythic figure. Part hero, part idiot. He has traveled, and he especially loves the conveyor belt at the airport--he thinks he's on a Disney ride. He went to college, but never was able to graduate because he failed Freshman Orientation. He runs a theater group, drives a pedi-cab, worked for the Yankees ala George Costanza, you name it. He lives in my house, because I feel that DD would never come visit if he wasn't here to greet her. Am I a loony or what? Don't answer!

I loved my baby dolls and my Barbie dolls. I still have most of them. I loved playing with my plastic farm animals, Colorforms were the best. I had 4 brothers so we all played with Matchbox/Dinky cars, loved slot cars. I was the best hula hooper, played Skip-it. Loved books, one of my favourites when I was really young was a big ABC picture book. My favourite game was Tip-it. We also had Hands Down, Sorry, Booby Trap which I still have. We all liked the game Mouse Trap, I don't think we ever played it properly, we just set it up to catch the mouse. Spirograph was another favourite until the coloured ink ran out.

I liked playing with tea sets always plastic until my Aunt sent my cousins and I each a porcelain tea set. I sure wish I still had that. My Mom would put tea in the tea pot and give us some sugar cubes for our cups of tea. My Dad traveled in the USA for work and bring us home the popular toys or books that weren't out in Canada yet. He would bring home Mexican jumping beans and we would put them in front of the heat register to watch the beans jump around.

Spirograph with map pins to hold the gears in place, Thingmakers, Creepy Crawlers, Easy Bake Ovens, playgrounds with cinder surfaces and hard steel eqiupment. no bike helmets, and Capt’n Crunch cereal. How in the world did we survive?

Some more memorables:

Scrabble was really popular in our family, along with Monopoly. The big 'deluxe' Scrabble set is still at my mom's house.

When I was a bit older, I recall being obsessed with playing Boggle, and card games like Blackjack and 'I Doubt It' (a.k.a. Bulls--t), and I can clearly recall some of the big jigsaw puzzles we had.

My dad traveled for his work too - all around the Eastern seaboard - and always brought home presents for his 3 daughters - that's how we got the first Beatles album and go-go boots, among other things...

I just read that Candyland was invented to occupy children coping with polio.

DS and his kindergarten pals had a brief fling with Squirmals -- short fuzzy strings with pasted on eyes. (As dumb as pet rocks!)

There was also a board game that I was really into--my Dad played it with me for hours on end--it was called Cap the Hat.

^^ My dad played poker with my brother and me LOL!