Then later Sorry & Scrabble.

It was small. A small rectangle & had 4 or 5 horses with bases tucked into their slots.

I've always loved horses.

Then there was my deck of Gypsey Fortune Telling Cards & my Magic 8 Ball. Lol

But, I had Mary Heartline doll. She had a really cool drum majorette outfit!

Gawd, I must be old.

I don't recall being all that "into" dolls, though I had a couple. I wanted a DOG! (that wish delayed for a very long time, sadly)

Square. on it.

to the etch-a-sketch, believe it or not.

We also sometimes drew and colored our own designs for extra clothing for the paper dolls.

… to be the first to cut the Betsy McCall paper dolls out of the McCall’s magazine each month. They were good for about half an hour’s entertainment.

out and other dolls had clothing you had to cut out yourself.

I had a number of different sets - endlessly fascinating.

... and tinker toys; and another similar sort of construction set (that I can't remember the name of) that had flexible, flower-shaped connectors.

I also liked those spool knitting looms, and craft supplies of all kinds.

my favorite.

Spirograph—though the pens were horrible and the plastic always broke around the nibs—and I also had those ugly trolls—with the cave house—which would probably be worth something if my mum hadn’t tossed it when we moved.

My sister got the “good” Barbie and store-bought clothes. I got the dumb little sister, Skipper. We used to use mum’s high heels as sports cars, and poor Skipper couldn’t sit all the way in the seat because her dumb legs were straight and didn’t bend.

We also put in hours and hours making clothes for them, though. Seems funny to think I have Barbies to thank for being able to use a sewing machine with some expertise.

I think my favourite things as a child were books, though. I’d take a bedside lamp into my closet and read all day long. Still a reader to this day.

good Barbie from my aunt. I too made clothing for her on my mother's sewing machine. Every special occasion I would get a Mattel made Barbie outfit.

Horse crazy, loved to read, and do art.

1. GI Joe action figures. I had various uniforms for the doll and I even had the Mercury spacecraft.

2. Matchbox cars. I probably had 50 or 60 of the little vehicles.

3. James Bond attaché case. Based on From Russia With Love, the case held a toy rifle, a plastic knife in a hidden compartment and a booby trap when opening the case. Bond was probably not a good role model for a 7-year old!

uniform. LOL. That James Bond case sounds interesting. Thank you for sharing.

We also played a lot of card games during inclement weather.

I loved that thing.

I wish I had used to experience to understand what a transformer was and how it worked and why it was necessary, but I just played with the trains.

My father was like that; he'd do anything to keep his boys happy; work his ass off as a laborer, work two jobs or more, just to buy us stuff for Christmas.. He was that kind of guy, perhaps because his own father was such a terrible person.

There are parents who had horrible parents who repeat the behavior; and there are parents who had horrible parents who do everything to be different than the horrible parent. My father, and albeit not quite as dramatic, my wife, happily exemplify the latter.

Kick the can was this great neighborhood game, where all the kids for half a mile around came. Coalitions formed, broke and reformed over the course of a summer afternoon. High drama and daring-do! Friendships and rivalries waxing and waning all summer long.
Marbles was all about personal skill and I adored besting arrogant little boys who thought no girl could ever shoot marbles. Plus I just loved the look and feel of marbles. Still do. Winning a coveted marble in a match was the best feeling and it was revived every time I looked at the prized victory marbles in my collection.

did,

Turning cartwheels 🤸‍♀️ was a favorite, too.

Sent grandaughter a connect the dot book for V Day. Important life skill.

Their was another short lived series of books called the Kim Aldrich Mysteries, that I enjoyed too.

Thx for sharing about them!

that my Aunt Kay and Uncle Don bought me, after I came home from the hospital. The doctors thought they saw something on one of my kidneys, but it turned out to be nothing serious. I was four. I carried that bear with me everywhere for a long time.

Won it selling news papers at age 12

and hit it with a hammer for a bigger bang.

Thx for the stroll down memory lane.

Because I was convinced I was a cowgirl...in Chgo burbs. Deep love of horses warped my reality.

… but yeah, taking a roll of caps out to the sidewalk and walloping them with a hammer was fun!

Edited to add that we also used to build volcanoes in the sandbox, then put those snakes inside all the passages and light them on fire. Vesuvius!!

They came in great cardboard drums instead of boxes and were superior to Legos because their limited colors (red and white) and shapes demanded more of your imagination. They even had little white inserts of sculpted doors and windows so if you are trying to make a model of a suburban brick home in the 1950s you had everything you needed. The standard piece was rectangular with eight nibs and sockets and I discovered you could created sturdy, futuristic circular towers by overlapping them on the corners.

Thinking about this made me realize it inspired my novel. It was only two years ago that I realized the main character's name was inspired by an Italian comic book character. Hmm.

described. I was born in 1955, so it was a little before my time.

20" Wizard motor bike
Twin McCullough chainsaw engine powered racing go-kart

Ty!

First, though, was my gray and black tabby cat, Smokey. We played together a lot.

Board games -- Chutes and ladders, Candyland, and Cooties.

Dolls -- Barbie was not around until I was past the doll age. But I had a big collection of all kinds of dolls, clothes for them, and a wooden doll bed (which Smokey commandeered for himself). To me, my dolls were real people and I told them stories that I had learned.

Collections -- shells and sea glass from the beach on Lake Erie, colored pop beads from gum ball machines.

Outdoors -- jump rope (especially double dutch), bicycle rides and races

Books -- I was hooked on reading early.

Lincoln logs.
Books on home projects for kids.