Ah, the good old days. You are probably right, most girls wouldn't be
in alleys scrounging for junk to make things with. But, I remember many
of us kids were very resourceful...and found junk (metal ad signs, scrap
plywood, etc.) and made forts etc. with it. My dad used to lift me into
dumpsters behind cabinet shops and such, to get the spare lumber, etc.
(mostly for his HS crafts class, since school budgets were never much).
Our family (both parents having gone thru the Depression, and not
wealthy) always 'made do'...and made things from scratch, etc. I felt
sorry for kids who had no paper to draw on. My dad brot home the
discarded paper from school...so we always had plenty...to express our
artistic side. I was lucky that my parents didn't designate what we
could play with, based on our gender. My dad let me help him do the
things he was doing, when painting or fixing things around the house.
He'd give us nails and wood to hammer them in, or a paint brush of our
own, etc. That's how kids learned useful skills....instead of pushing a
button or joystick all day, mesmerized in front of a TV screen.
But nowadays, I doubt many kids are scrounging...or would even consider
it. Eeww...dirty. Besides, how many are allowed to roam around freely,
as we did as kids; being away from home for hrs. Now, parents don't let
them leave their sight...and they all have cell phones! Kids are too
busy playing Playstation games, etc....sadly. Not using their
imaginations. It's just a different time.
And besides toys being exchanged with kids from different regions...what
about games. Or even sayings, as part of games. What did the 'caller'
(??) say to call/bring in all the kids still out hiding in Hide n Seek?
I find it fascinating how the words...which seem meaningless...are SO
different to different folks..from different areas, etc. Yet the
original words, did have meaning. I wont write what we (in S CA)
said...until someone else chimes in (if they do).
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Ron May [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>Sent: Monday, October 31, 2005 8:02 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Archaeological Toys
>
>
>Bob,
>
>As a "beach kid" in Long Beach and Ocean Beach, California in
>the 1950s, I
>recall playing with other boys in sand lots, school yards, and
>on backwater
>bay areas. The boys bought and shot for marbles. We all
>started with a nickel
>bag and then applied our skills to acquire marbles from the
>less skilled or
>unlucky. I recall there was a hierarchy for marble values and
>if you wanted a
>prized marble back, it was ransomed for up to ten other
>marbles. Although most
>old slag, stone, and clay marbles had lower value, aggies
>(agates) held the
>highest esteem. I have two "bloodies" (red agate marbles) from
>that time
>period. I never saw the old hand-made swirls, but they would
>have had low values
>in the 1950s because the hot marble of those days were cat's
>eyes. The fact
>that parents and teachers tried to prevent us from playing
>marbles (because
>they equated them with gambling) only made us want to play
>more and we applied a
> higher status to good players.
>
>Since money was nearly non-existant in that period, we either
>sold soda pop
>bottles for small change or made do with what we could find. I recall
>scavenging bottle caps, spark plugs, old inner tubes, and
>lead wheel balance weights
>for toys and amusements. The spark plugs and wheel weights
>made good fishing
>sinkers. We used to scrounge fishing gear from the back alley
>behind sporting
> goods stores. Kids just make-do with what they can find.
>
>I am really fascinated with the use of bottle caps as toys by
>people in
>different parts of the nation. I mean, no one talked to us
>unless some new kid
>brought ideas from other cities. None of us were reading
>newspapers or
>magazines, so how did kids across the nation learn about those toys?
>
>As to jacks, I only recall a neighbor girl playing with those
>toys. I would
>suppose parents had a lot to do with deciding what gender gets
>what toys. I
>also have no recollection of girls helping scrounge toys from
>the trash behind
>the gas stations.
>
>Ron May
>Legacy 106, Inc.
>
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