Hi-Ho! Cherry-O

Hi-Ho! Cherry-O

Synopsis of Toy

In most kids’ minds, the words “educational game” rank right up there with “church” and “cough medicine” for sheer please-don’t-make-me-ness. When will these foolish adults ever learn that “learning” and “fun” are mortal enemies, locked in deadly combat for control of our souls and attention spans (by the way, “fun” usually wins)? But then there are games like Hi-Ho! Cherry-O… What’s that? You didn’t know it was educational? Sucker. That’s what you get for not knowing how to read the package yet.

As early as 1960, Hi-Ho! Cherry-O was teaching young minds how to count without their even realizing it. Who could pay attention to education when there were cherries to be picked and dogs and birds and spilled baskets to be avoided? Two to four cherry-pickers could join in a game, each starting with a tree full of ten plastic cherries and an empty bucket. A flick of the spinner could net you 1, 2, 3 or 4 cherries to add to your basket, but careful! One bad spin, and that pesky dog or that thieving bird would steal two cherries back (How they got back on the tree was anyone’s guess, but what do you care? You don’t even know how to read yet). And then there was the dreaded spilled bucket… When the spinner landed on that nasty section, even your cherry-picking competitors let out a sympathetic groan, watching every single one of your hard-won cherries be lost back onto the board.

When one lucky picker filled the bucket with all ten cherries, a shout of “Hi-Ho! Cherry-O” let everyone know who was the new king or queen of the cherry tree. And then, as kids are wont to do, the wee ones usually loaded the cherries back onto the cut-out tree holes (which was half the fun to begin with) and started all over again. Kids still play Hi-Ho! Cherry-O today, and since they aren’t old enough to read this either, they’ll probably still be doing it for years to come, little realizing all that so-called “playtime” is sneakily building their young minds.

Release History of Toy

1960 - Hi-Ho! Cherry-O

Sub Categories of Toys

games
board games

Toy and Game Manufacturer

Whitman, Parker Brothers

Other Toy Links