Remind me...

[gerisullivan]

...to never, ever go to a toy auction in person. It's hard enough to resist pushing the "bid now" button on my computer screen while watching and waiting for the single item I'm there for to come up to bid.

I do love living in the future, though -- living in the future and having friends and loved ones who turn bad ideas into good ones.

I'll explain more in another 283 items. In the meanwhile, what were your favorite childhood toys? I never had a Barbie doll, not a single one, and I don't remember ever wanting one. But Pepper? Pepper was a great doll. I so envied her hair -- you could curl it up over your finger, or under around it -- every curl always held in place the way they never, ever did with my own hair. There are several genuine Pepper dolls out there. Ideal apparently kept changing her hair -- blonde, brunette, redhead, short, then shoulder-length. All in the pursuit of more sales, no doubt.

Pepper was Tammy's little sister, but I neither my older sister or I had a Tammy doll and I was never interested in Tammy. One doll was enough. You got one doll, then expanded out with clothes and accessories for her. That was the norm for the late 1950s and early '60s neighborhood that I grew up in.

Sue's doll was "Jill" doll, of Jan, Jill, and Jeff fame. I mostly remember the Jill and Jan wardrobe shown in the top image here. (Jan's name was on the other door.)

This palomino horse was quite likely the toy I played with the most. I had it for years and never tired of putting the bridle on, taking it off, attaching the stirrups, adjusting the cinch strap, and more. Whatever vinyl they used for all those little bits certainly had endurance. One of the connection points on the bridle eventually broke, but not until years after I'd stopped playing with it regularly.

Edited to add: My palomino couldn't have been Dallas, since he wasn't introduced until 15+ years after I played with mine. And further reflection recalls that my horse's main and tail were hard plastic, not hair. But the one-leg-raised pose is the same, and all the fiddly bits, too. I suspect a reworking of an earlier toy horse and accessories lead to the creation of Dallas. Darned if I can remember my horse's brand name, certain though I am that it had one.

What were your faves?

Comments

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

I credit and thank my sister for my addiction to reading. She was 4 years older than me; I was the pesky brat who always wanted to play. "Leave me alone. I'm reading a book." I heard it again and again and again. One day, I thought, "I'll show her. I'll read a book and I'll tell her to go away and leave me alone when she wants to play."

I don't remember if I ever had occasion to deliver those words, but I was soon hooked on the wonders of reading and I treasure remembering how it happened.