I was thinking about what to write this morning, as I have not kept my promise to myself of keeping a daily writing habit. As I was browsing through Facebook, Frank posted on my wall a picture of a childhood toy with the caption, "Remember what we did for fun before the internet?"
Ah, yes, I remember the Waterfuls. There were several different games, and I distinctly remember breaking them. The water always smelled foul, and the damned things were useless with no water in them! But more than those Waterfuls, I remember a similar item that was filled with colored oil and water, the perfect distraction when there was nothing to do at grandma's house.
Pre-internet toys, also known as pre-ADD toys, were designed to keep us busy. For me, personally, I was the kid who "always had his nose in a book." CS Lewis' Chronicles Of Narnia; Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy; Garfield, MAD, DC and Marvel Comics (and, um, those Archie comics, too); Ann McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern books; and I can't forget the Piers Anthony Xanth books - oh, I'm sure there were many many more books than I could name here! I don't know how many kids these days read actual books, what with e-readers and tablets and the internet and video games and all the other distractions that come with the modern ADD-era. But my childhood was filled with dragons and magicians and superheroes and villains!
One of my favorite toys (that wasn't a book) was the Radio Shack 150-In-One Electronic Project Kit.
Ooops, almost out of time... But I have to mention the biggest, bestest toy I ever got: The Big Wheel! It was a birthday gift, and it was a Big Surprise - I don't know how my parents managed to hide it from me, or get it in the house, even - but I remember them hiding it in the kitchen back by the scary water heater, and that was an awesome present! I rode that thing all the time!
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