Which Childhood Toy Would you Bring Back?

[Treetotal]

When I was about 3 or 4 years old, I had a clockwork penguin which, when wound up with a key, would waddle, then it would squat and lay an egg. It kept me amused for hours according to my Mum. I watch antiques Roadshow in the hope that one day, one like it would come up.
Which favourite toy would you bring back?
Answers on a postcard please!! 
Carol

[Viktoria]

Well I still have mine,a real China tea set, and a tiny glass fruit set.
Second hand ,bought during the war ,so must now be well over a hundred years old as I am almost eighty six.
I would be  four or five.
We had very few toys but played with what we found ,playing outside for  the most part.
Flowers adorned mud pies and transformed them into spectacular wedding cakes etc.
A few bits of broken crockery from the waste heap were a full dinner service to us.
We served hawthorn berries.empty snail shells, hazelnuts, rose hips ,pussy willows and the brown seeds from dock plants.Blackberries, and wild raspberries.
However we did have fantastic play material, the remains of the most productive lead mine in the country.
All the machinery was still in situ ,some still had moveable parts although almost a hundred years had passed since last used.
We diverted little streams,played on the two little side tank engines left rusting outside the engine shed.
Picked through the waste for sparkling lumps of “ spar”,the waste which had the veins of lead running through .
It was a wonderful playground but I still go cold to think of what danger we were in.
We had no supervision ,but somehow monitored ourselves.
No quarrels ,you have to get on with everyone in a small village - well a hamlet really.
When I see the number of toys today’s children have —- bedrooms bulging .
We learnt physics and maths from our play, incidentally but nevertheless things fell into place when doing those subjects at secondary school.
Not specifically toys but a deck of playing cards and a box of dominoes gave hours of amusement ,we learnt number bonds and I still count in the configuration of playing cards .

Imagination is the best toy ever and that comes  from adaptability and substitution .
But times change and it is possible such skills will not be needed in the future.
All I can say is we had tremendous fun,were  never bored , never felt there was nothing to do.
Viktoria.

[Top-of-the-hill]

  Thank you, Viktoria, for the word "spar" - I think it may be the answer to a quiz question!
  When I was about 10, we spent much of one summer messing about in an old chalk pit in the village. I still have my best doll, and a pattern-making game of coloured wooden diamonds and triangles,as well as a few jigsaws, including a 1953 coronation one.

[Treetotal]

I agree with you both and thanks for sharing, we did find most of our fun outdoors, as there was four of us, we often shared toys and games. I preferred to draw and paint or read when we were indoors.
I Was really reflecting on what toys people played with that they treasured.
Just a fun, light hearted post. Times have changed Victoria and our parents said the same when our two children were growing up, it's a generational thing.
Carol

[Erato]

When I was clearing out some of my mother's stuff, I came across a 'baby book' that she compiled to record my progress.   It noted that, as an infant, my favorite toy was a paper bag with rice grains in it.  By age two, it was my Mother Goose book.  After that, she didn't bother with further records.  For my own part, I think I'd like to have my set of 'Golden Nature Books.'  I think I had them all - trees, birds, pond life, minerals, etc.

[Treetotal]

We had books like that, but they were the Observer Books on various subjects, they were only small. Love the "Rice in a paper bag"
Thanks for sharing.
Carol

[Lisajb]

Picked through the waste for sparkling lumps of “ spar”,the waste which had the veins of lead running through .

The place where I live was a major source of spar, or Celestine, it was mined here back in the day. Roads are named after the mineral.

[Viktoria]

That is true Carol ,and the skills learnt from our practical play might not be necessary in today’s world ,but they were / are foundation skills .
We certainly needed them at certain times.

But some needs change ,and home repairs are almost things of the past.
Who darns socks ? Ido ,love it.

Viktoria.

[Girl Guide]

I've still got a few of my childhood toys.  A pink puppy, a rubber doll with eyes that closed and a teddy bear that has a musical box in it.  The tune it plays is Rock-a-bye baby.

The puppy pre-dates the bear and I recall having the bear when I was three. I am in my late sixties now.  A youngster no doubt in comparison to our older Rootschatters.

We had those old card games of snap, old maid and donkey that we played.  Snakes and ladders, ludo and tiddlywinks.  Life was in many ways simpler then as the internet was some way off in the future.

The house I lived in as a child had a porch and the inside front door had stained glass in it.  My sister and I used to play churches in that.