The Toys of the Past, Christmas and Otherwise: Lori and Family's Toys from the 40's, 50's, and 60's

  Remember back in December of 2018, when I showed you some very old Christmas photos belonging to my friend Lori? (You can find those posts by clicking Toys of Christmas Past in the sidebar. She got the best stuff! Well, I'm back, with a few more of Lori's old photos from Christmas, birthdays, and Easter. These pictures all have dolls and toys. Some of them need identifying, so if you recognize them, please leave a comment.

  The first picture is obviously Christmas, but Lori is cuddling a toy rabbit, and whatever that other toy is.

  

  Note the tiger slippers. I had several pairs of slippers as a kid in the 60's that had rubber animal heads on them. I had a few pairs with duck heads, and one with cat heads. Apart from the animals, I had a pair with clown heads. Everything wasn't licensed characters then.  

    As per most of the rest of Lori's gifts, the one she's sitting in front of here is pretty valuable these days. It's the Ding a Ling Bridge set by Topper Toys.

The Ding A Lings were a series of robot toys. You can watch a commercial for the Ding A Lings HERE. The huge structure they are running around on in the commercial makes me think of The Doozers from Fraggle Rock, and King Ding and his huge machine make me think of the Power Rangers Megazord.  The bridge set came with some Ding A Lings, but there were others that were available separately. Down in the bottom right corner, you'll see Lori's stuffed Lassie toy. My sister had one too, which I think she actually still has. Even more surprising, since Norma, Lori's mom, threw out or sold all of Lori's toys, Lori still has her Lassie toy too. Of course, Lori's Lassie is bigger than my sister's. because Lori had the best stuff.

  Here's another Christmas picture. In this one there's a Toss Across game on the right. Do they still make Toss Across? It was produced for decades, but I bet they don't make it any more. It was basically a bean bag version of Tic Tac Toe. These days it has pretty much been replaced by video games and 'corn hole'. There's a play pen with a doll. The doll looks like possibly an Ideal Snoozie Thumbelina or Snuggle Softee, or a Horsman doll. I can't find any doll online wearing that outfit though. It looks a lot like a Horsman Sofskin doll, but this doll looks like it has a soft, stuffed body. The Sofskin has a solid body. If anybody can recognize the doll or the boxes in the background and to the left of the play pen, let me know in a comment. **UPDATE** I don't know where my mind was, but Teresa F., a reader pointed out that the box in the background says 'knit'. I did some more looking, and it seems like it's probably a Kenner Knit-O-Matic automatic knitting machine.  

This picture from the same Christmas shows Lori with that doll, and her niece and nephew with something in a box, a helicopter, and an airplane. (Lori's sister is much older than she is, and her niece and nephew are closer to her age than her sister is.) The airplane looks like it might be remote controlled. The little rocking chair next to Lori's chair was really common back then too.

Speaking of Lori's older sister, here she is on her second Christmas in 1948. It looks like she was pretty spoiled too! Look at that haul! There's a doll with a stroller, a drum, an ironing board, a top, a wagon of blocks, a ball, another doll, a little red wagon, what looks like maybe Tinkertoys or Lincoln Logs, in the cannister right behind the smaller doll and the red wagon, a stuffed Panda bear, and a rocking horse. There are some other things I can't see well enough to recognize under the ironing board.   

Sister's second Christmas, 1948.

Here's her sister and a friend on Christmas 1955, There's a doll, a doll crib, and possibly some doll house furniture on the table in front of the doll. 

Christmas 1955.

This picture from January of 1956 shows her with what is probably that doll she got for Christmas.

January 1956.

There aren't any more Christmas pictures, but there are still plenty more pictures with toys. 

  This picture of Lori and her nephew features the same cowgirl outfit and toy German Shepherd I showed you in an earlier post.

That German Shephard looks pretty awesome.

  The doll in this birthday party picture looks like an Ideal doll, maybe a Belly Button Baby. (You can see my Belly Button Baby HERE and HERE.)

  Th next picture looks like Easter. The toy five year old Lori is holding looks like Mother Goose

  This picture is from another Easter. This time Lori has a cute pink poodle

Another Easter and a  bunny and...what is that cute thing? An elephant? (Those ears are pretty big.) 

  Here are Lori and her nephew on yet another Easter, with their bunnies.

Another Easter and another dog. (Or is that a lion? Hard to say really.) That's no surprise. These days Lori has EIGHT dogs! 

Her niece has some sort of plaid animal.

  Okay. The plaid animal is a bunny.

  It must be Lori's nephew's birthday. Charlie Brown is sitting behind them. Looks like the birthday presenst included a five piece truck set. Anybody recognize the toy right below the cake?

  That's it for today. Next time on The Toys of the Past we'll see some toys from my childhood pictures. There weren't many from Christmas, but there are pictures of my toys.

The Toys of Christmas Past: Lori's Photos Part Five:Christmas 1972, and Some Other Toys Besides

  This is the last post on my friend Lori's old Christmas photos. Since it's the last one,and there are very few things in the Christmas photos, I thought I'd throw in some of Lori's birthday photos and random pictures containing toys.
  To start with, here is a photo of Lori with one of her all time favourite toys. It's Marx's Tony the Pony.

  Tony was a ride on toy that ran on one gigantic battery.
 

You can check out a video of a little girl riding a very noisy Tony the Pony HERE. Lori remembers her mother had to order a lot of replacement batteries for her Tony!
  Lori tells me she loved horses as long as she can remember. In fact, she told me that her first word was 'dog' and her second word was 'horse'. No word on when she said 'doll',but chances are it was much later. In spite of that,and probably greatly influenced by her own love of dolls, Lori's mom, Norma bought her loads of dolls. In the photo above you can see Lori also had the first Barbie Dreamhouse. (On the right.) 
  I guess the cowgirl outfit went with the love of horses. I had one too. Mine was a hand me down from a cousin, I think. I was always very into costumes and being other people. I loved being characters,so the cowgirl outfit was just my thing. Of course, I also had a trench coat and a real felt fedora. (I have no idea where the hat came from.)

  Lori apparently had two cowgirl outfits. And in this photo you can see that she also had a toy German shepherd.

But, as I said, Norma bought Lori dolls too. Here is Lori, dressed very out of character in a sort of hippy outfit,with her Crissy doll.

Crissy was a grow hair doll made by Ideal. There was a whole line of Crissy and family dolls. She had a couple of cousins,Cinnamon, (You can see my post on Cinnamon HERE.),and her sister Velvet,and friends like Mia. (You can see my post on Mia HERE.) I once found a whole wall full of shelves full of Crissy and friends dolls at BOTH Goodwill and Salvation Army. You can see a couple of posts about that weirdity HERE, and  HERE.

Crissy is wearing a fashion called Fun Fur Cape, and underneath it what appears to be an outfit called The Peace Poncho,which had a pale green knitted poncho,short sleeved top of green, chartreuse, or floral print,a peace sign necklace,and tan coloured bell bottom pants. Both outfits were sold with black shoes. The weird thing for me in doing these posts has been seeing grown up Lori's face on this little kid. I've known her since middle school, and she really does look exactly the same as she looks in this picture,only with gray hair now.

Lori had a very familiar chimp doll. This guy is Zippy,or one of the many Zippy lookalikes. You still see similar chimp dolls sometimes. I saw one as a prize at a fair just a few years ago.

  This is one of Lori's birthdays. It's 1968,and the doll is Tippee Toes,made by Mattel.

Tippee Toes came with a tricycle and a horse.

There's Lori's Tippee's tricycle.

You may remember from one of the previous posts in this series that Lori had Dancerina too. Well guess what: she also had Tumbling Tomboy.

That's Lori in the red and yellow shirt, and her mom Norma helping with the toys. Tumbling Tomboy's box is on the left. If you look on the far right you'll see 'Tumbling' herself,face down on the floor. I wouldn't mind having a Tumbling Tomboy. Looks like somebody else got the Fisher Price Schoolhouse.

 Also in the second Tippee photo above you can see Lori's Krazy Kar,and a horse, of course. The Krazy Kar,made by Marx, was round and was operated by cranking the handles on the big wheels. The wheels could be moved independently and the Kar could be made to go in circles,backwards, and forward. I found one at a yard sale years ago and Ivy LOVED it. She nabbed it right away. I suppose she was the only one of the kids small enough for it at the time anyway, but she did really love it and claimed it for herself. It's in our basement now, waiting for those grandkids I'm never going to have.
  In the picture below,it's Lori's birthday in 1969. She got a Super Spirograph. Spirograph is another of Ivy's favourites. I only had a Spirotot, and a Spirofoil,but Ivy has a load of Spirograph toys,including a Spirotot,several different vintage Spirograph sets, a Spirofoil, a Twirlograph and a Magic Designer,the latter two being early Spirograph type toys. She's 19 now, and still likes to Spirograph sometimes. She even took some Spiro pieces and her gel pens to college with her.

The Barbie fashion in the striped box seems to be Firelights.

If anybody knows what any of the other things are, please leave a comment.   Now we come to the Christmas pictures. This seems to be the Christmas of 1972.               

I can't quite make out what the box under the tree is,and there seems to be a styling head at the front right. But look at that row of horses front left. She used to get Breyer horses. I may have even bought her some way back when. She still has a bunch of Breyer horses.

  

Looks like Lori got a sleeping bag this Christmas,and maybe a pair of ice skates to the left of the sleeping bag?

  The center of the picture shows something called a Vertibird. Made by Mattel,Vertibird was a tethered electronic helicopter. (A 'vertibird' is a vertical take off and landing aircraft.) You can see a commercial for it HERE. On the right you can see a game called Manhunt. Manhunt was an electronic board game made by Milton Bradley. It's described on the box as 'the electric computer detective game'. You can see a video about how to play the game HERE. 
  The best thing under the tree, to me, is the game at the front left. It's open and you can see part of the game setting on the left, and the inner lid on the left. It's Seance by Milton Bradley.
  Seance looks so cool! I think I would have loved it, and I think doll people can appreciate it. The game didn't have a board. It had more of a setting,or scene. There were cardboard pieces to build a drawing room, with walls, a 'wooden' floor with ornate rug,a parrot cage on a stand,and a set of chairs. For the center of the room there was a large plastic desk with 'carved' legs. The players of the game vied to inherit the most valuable objects from 'Uncle Everett'. There were tiny stock certificates and jewelry and a painting of Aunt Zelda. The gimmick was that the desk contained a little record player! A two sided record played random messages from Uncle Everett, telling the players what they had inherited,or maybe that they had inherited nothing,when a switch on the side of the desk was activated. When all the objects were inherited the record was turned over and Uncle Everett would tell the players the value of their objects or how much they owed in taxes. Whoever ended up the farthest ahead was the winner.
  The game is considered a 'sequel' or companion game to Milton Bradley's earlier game, 'Voice of the Mummy', which featured a record player in the mummy's sarcophagus.
  You can see a video showing all the game components HERE.You can see and hear the game working HERE. And if you're really interested,you can read a post about the game HERE. It sounds like fun,but it's very expensive to buy these days!
  Well, that's it for Lori's photos. I may not be back until after Christmas, but when I do come back,it will be with a review if the newest doll from Maru and Friends. And don't forget to check back New Year's day for the first Doll-A-Day of a whole new year of a different doll every day!  

The Toys of Christmas Past: Lori's Photos Part Four: 1965 and 1966

  There are only two photos in this post,but there are still some interesting toys. We'll start with Christmas, 1965.

  In this photo four year old Lori is holding her Baby First Step doll. You can see my post on Baby First Step for a better look at one of the dolls, HERE. The gimmick for this Mattel doll was that she operated on batteries and actually walked. You can watch a video of the doll walking HERE. There were later versions of Baby First Step, including a talking version. Lori's is the first version though. You can see a commercial for the original version HERE.
   That's the only photo from 1965.so let's move on to Christmas, 1966.

  On the left is the Budding Beauty Vanity and matching stool,by Marx. I remember seeing those in the Christmas catalog when I was a  kid.

You can see the commercial for the Budding Beauty vanity HERE.
  On Lori's right there's a Hasbro Talking Telephone. It's the red one, which was the Mickey Mouse Talking Telephone. You can see a commercial for the Mickey Mouse Talking Telephone HERE. There were several others,including Snow White, Jungle Book, and Mary Poppins. You can see the commercial for the line of Hasbro Talking Telephones HERE.  The phones ran on batteries and used records to make them talk. There were 8 two sided records included with each phone.
  The green cube also on Lori's right is a Suzy Homemaker washing machine. Suzy Homemaker was made by Topper. There was a whole line of Suzy Homemaker
 appliances, like stoves that really baked, washing machines that really washed clothes, and a blender that really blended. I had the Suzy Homemaker blender. You can watch a commercial for the Suzy Homemaker line HERE. You can watch a video of the washing machine at work HERE. Note that it was referred to as a washer and dryer, but the only thing it did to dry was spin the water out. That's what's known as the 'spin cycle' on a washing machine, and not a drier!
  The doll Lori is holding is also made by Topper.
 

She's Baby Magic.

Baby Magic had a gimmick. She had several actions, all of which were operated without actually touching the doll.

'She does all this without touching her.' But is she 'the greatest doll ever invented'? Come on. Isn't that a bit of a huge claim?

 To say she did it all without needing to be touched was a bit misleading. She didn't have to be touched, but the actions did require a magnetic thimble to be waved over her in certain ways.

For example, to make her cry you waved the magnet over her eyes in a horizontal direction. To make her eyes open and close the magnet was waved up and down in front of her eyes. You can see her wink HERE. You could also make her riase her arms, which made her smile. Then you could press her arms down, which would change her smile to a frown. Sears offered a bunch of exclusive accessories and a nightie. Not sure if they were actual Topper Baby Magic things, or if they were just generic things Sears offered as part of their bundle.

 
  There's one more post on Lori's Christmas photos. After that we'll see my review of the newest doll from Maru and Friends. And soon we'll be off on a new year of Doll-A-Day!

The Toys of Christmas Past: Lori's Photos Part Three: Christmas,1970

  Here we are again, looking at some  of my friend Lori's Christmas toys from the 60's and 70's. My family took very few pictures, and we have a scant few from Christmases. But I recently found that Lori's old photos were a treasure trove of toys past. I have updated the first of these posts with a couple more pictures if you want to go back and check that out.
  This time we're looking at 1970.
  Lori was born in 1961, so she was 9 the Christmas of 1970.

She doesn't look particularly thrilled to be having her picture taken.

  I'm not sure, but the doll next to her appears to be Baby Tender Love.

  Baby Tender Love was made by Mattel. You can see a commercial for her HERE.

Lori and her best friend at the time, also named Tammy.

  The cradle below isn't the one in the ad above, but the changing table seems to be the one in the photo lower down. Lori's mom loved dolls, and later in her life had a doll collection of her own. Lori wasn't interested though.

As you can see from the above photo,Lori got MORE Barbie and Ken clothes this Christmas. Those are the ones in the striped frames. I'm not sure who the other clothes are for. I can only say they don't appear to be Barbie or Maddie Mod. The Ken outfit with the red shirt and the plaid pants is Play it Cool. It also had a brown felt jacket, The Barbie fashion in the front is Scuba Dos,and included a hooded jacket, a bathing suit, flippers,a snorkle,and a face mask. The Trouble game at the left is one of the 'popamatic' games. There was a clear plastic bubble in the middle of the board that contained the dice. When the top of the bubble was pushed the dice jumped and 'rolled' themselves. It's kind of a good idea as well as being a fun gimmick. This way the dice can't get lost. My cousins detailed in  THIS POST had a ton of Popamatic games,and believe me, that was probably the only way those dice were still around to be played with, and not crammed up somebody's nose. Lori's Trouble is made by Kohner. Since then, Trouble has been made by Hasbro and Milton Bradley.
  The pink box under the tree is a cotton candy maker! Ooh! I want one of those! Emma bought herself one when she was a kid. I'm not sure what the thing to the right of it is, but the box in front of that appears to be a vanity set.
  On the right of the next picture there's a loom. Lori may have been more into that than the dolls. The big gift in that picture though, is the doll house. It's the Barbie Lively Livin' House,which seems to have later changed it's name to the Surprise House

There's that changing table.

It's one of the more rare Barbie houses.

The furniture looks different in the photo. And there's that Ken outfit bottom right.
  In the picture below you can see that cotton candy maker on the left,the whatever-that-is in the middle,and on the right you can see a Yarn Art kit. Went well with the loom. (It was 1970. Yarn was big.) But the item on the far right is ALL Lori.

It's the Barnabas Collins game! Barnabas was a character on the popular afternoon horror soap opera,(Yes.There really was such a thing.),"Dark Shadows".
  No. Not the movie with Johnny Depp. Dark Shadows, the TV show, ran from 1966 to 1971. It was VERY popular. Kids used to run home from school to watch it. I remember it came on just as my sister got off the school bus. Our dog got so used to her arrival coinciding with the theme music, that once my sister borrowed the Dark Shadows record from a friend and played it on a Saturday, and our dog went running to look for the bus! It may look pretty cheesy these days, but it scared child-me so much I had to hide behind the recliner when Chris Jennings,who was handcuffed to the radiator, turned into a werewolf.
 

The series was so popular that there were two Dark Shadows movies made too. I got to see those at the drive in. There was also a series of books,two different Dark Shadows games,and a TV series remake in the 1990's,as well as the more recent Tim Burton remake.  Since 2006 there has been a successful audio book series featuring members of the original cast.

The soundtrack is a classic, and the popular "Quentin's theme" was nominated for a Grammy. And believe it or not, Barnabas,played by Jonathan Frid, was quite a teen heart throb at the time.

 

 Dark Shadows is one of Lori's all time favourite TV shows. The game was pretty cool. It contained a  skeleton which was put together as part of the game. (And it glowed in the dark!) Also included was a set of Barnabas vampire fangs,and a coffin to contain the skeleton. You can watch a commercial for the game HERE.

  That's it for this time. We still have some of Lori's photos to look at. See you next time for those.