Toys in the 10s

B  C  E  J  L  M  P  R  S  T   Raggedy Ann sweeps the imaginations of girls, while Erector sets and Tinker Toys get boys excited about contruction. Henry Ford's Model T car gets shrunk down to toy form, as die-cast cars from Tootsietoys and others become all the rage for those too young to drive the real thing. BB guns C Cap Guns Checkers Chutes and Ladders Crayola Crayons E Erector ...

Spinning tops

Spinning top toy

Spinning tops Most kids before computers would remember getting dizzy watching a spinning top. A top, or spinning top, is a toy that can be spun on an axis, balancing on a point. This motion is produced by holding the axis firmly while pulling a string. An internal weight then rotates, producing an overall circular motion. Typically ...

Toys in the 20s

B  C  E  J  L  M  P  R  S  T  Y   The twenties roar on, as kids play with everything from Lincoln Logs to Yo-Yo's. Antonio Pasin starts mass-producing the little red wagons that will soon be called "Radio Flyers," Pogo Sticks send kids bouncing happily down the street, and J. Pressman gives the European game Halma the more exotic-sounding name of Chinese Checkers. B BB guns C Cap Guns Checkers Chinese ...

Toys in the 40s

Toys in the 40sToys in the 40s

World War II halts the production of metal toys for the first half of the decade, but the post-war years more than make up for it. Chutes and Ladders, Cootie and Candy Land delight the pre-adolescent set, Slinky makes kids crazy over a metal spring, Ertl die-cast toys bring the farm to the city, and the Magic 8 Ball answers all questions with its liquidy, mystical powers.

Toys in the 30s

B  C  E  J  L  M  P  R  S  T  V  Y   The 1929 Stock Market Crash makes toys a luxury most 30's kids can't afford, but imagination makes do in the meantime. The Great Depression does make the man who invented Monopoly a millionare, and a mouse named Mickey brings smiles to every product his rounded ears grace. Parker Brothers releases Sorry! to a game-hungry public, ...

Bagatelle

Bagatelle

Back in the seventies, if you couldn't afford an Electric Pinball table then the next best thing was a stash of ball bearings and a Bagatelle table. This was always enhanced by the addition of any marbles you could find down the sofa. The object of the game is to obtain the most points possible by ...

Toy Story – Most Retro Top 5

Continued from yesterdays Toy Story - Most Retro Top 10 we now reveal the top 5 With Toy Story 3 out we've gone Toy Story crazy at Skooldays we now enter the top 5 Are there more deserved candidates for a retro toy? Here goes.... at number 5 Slinky the Dog Dog is based on Slinky, a pull toy by James Industries, which was ...

KerPlunk Game from Ideal

KerPlunk Game

Challenging game and great fun KerPlunk is a game first marketed by the Ideal Toy Company in 1967. It consists of a plastic tube, a number of plastic rods called straws and a number of marbles. The plastic tube stands upright on a base that contains four separate trays and the straws are passed through holes in ...