Betty Boom's 10 Top Boomer Toys (part 1)

It seems we’re now in the season of keeping time by counting shopping days and, despite my protestations to the contrary, I spent a lot of my childhood nose pressed up against the glass, like Ralphie in “A Christmas Story,” plotting how to get my hands on the “it” toy of the year. Most boomers can recall their favorite toys…the ones they looked for under the tree or hoped for as a special birthday neared.

I spoke to several boomers and each had a different top ten list but there were a number of toys that made it onto almost everyone’s list. These are the toys collectors covet and smart businesses have reissued with hopes of cashing in.

There’s a reason these toys were coveted, cherished, remembered and collected. They stimulated our creativity, indulged our fantasy and often taught us things about the grown-up world. Here’s the first half of my (decidedly unscientific) list of top ten toys culled from the lists of boomer-aged family and friends (part two to come later this month)

1. Barbie

Barbie was introduced by Mattel in 1959. The first “fashion” doll, she was named for the daughter of the company’s owners, Ruth and Elliott Handler. Ruth had noticed her daughter “dressing” her paper dolls and came up with the idea. Fashion was what Barbie was all about. What other doll can claim a wardrobe created by some of the world’s top designers?

Although the doll’s inhuman proportions have taken an untold toll on the self-esteem of young girls, she was fun to play with. She had fancy runway-appropriate gowns but she could also be an astronaut, stewardess, ballerina, business woman, world traveler. I had the first Barbie, and one of the first outfits I had was Solo in the Spotlight…which indeed gave me aspirations to become a lounge singer.

Barbie is still going strong today. She’s been liberated (just a little). She got rid of her do-nothing boyfriend, Ken, a few years back, drives a fancy car, has a penthouse. You’ve come a long way, baby! (Well, somewhat.)

Check out the Barbie Collector's site for more.

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2. Etch-a-Sketch

Considered an “educational toy,” Etch-a-Sketch” is still one of the most coveted toys. I never really mastered the skills needed to create much more than a jiggly lined clown face, but I know kids who designed major architecture with that little red box. Ohio Art introduced the plastic red screen in 1960.

The classic red body with white directional knobs has not much changed over the years. In the 1970s the company tried making pink and blue screens but everyone wanted classic red.

How does it work? According to the company’s website, “the screen's reverse side is coated with a mixture of aluminum powder and plastic beads. The left and right knobs control the horizontal and vertical rods, moving the stylus where the two meet. When the stylus moves, it scrapes the screen leaving the line you see.”

I don’t know, seems like magic to me! For more on Etch-a-Sketch, see the Etch-a-Sketch site.

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3. GI Joe

GI Joe just passed his 40th birthday in 2004. Named for the classic WWII grunt, he was marketed by Hasbro, as an “action hero” (Heaven forbid, not a “doll” for boys!) and every little boy in our neighborhood had one. The original doll was 12 inches tall, although some marketing genius (?) shrunk him to a little over 3 inches for a time in the 1980s (clearly, a mistake). He’s come back, though, mostly as a collector doll.

With GI Joe, it was all about the gear. My brother’s Joe had a diving suit and a huge jeep. Other boys had helicopters, tanks and all sorts of weaponry and, well, gear…like ropes for climbing, binoculars, etc. GI Joe collecting is big business with a huge annual convention every year. One article quoted the then president of the GI Joe Collector’s Club as summing it all up with “GI Joe’s saved the world millions of times—one backyard at a time.”

For GI Joe news, see the Master Collector site.

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4. Slinky

Okay, everybody sing! “It’s slinky, it’s slinky, the favorite of girls and boys! This little bouncy bit of wire was a huge hit in our neighborhood. The first one we got was a simple metal wire and it could really move. Unfortunately, it didn’t take us long to figure out how to tie it into knots, but it was cheap so my parents bought us a few. Later slinkies were made of friendlier plastic and then there were slinky bugs and dogs and other such stuff…but it was the original that made us sing with joy.

According to the Slinky.org site, the toy was invented in 1943 quite by accident. Richard James was developing a spring that would work with ship-board instruments when one he was working on fell off the table. He liked how it “walked” and the rest was history. Today you can get all sorts of slinkys through the Poof-Slinky Company located in Michigan or most toy retailers.

The company that makes Slinky, Poof-Slinky is a good site but everything slinky can be found on this Slinky fan site.

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5. Tonka trucks

My brother had several of these large, indeed “mighty,” yellow trucks. The coolest, though was the Mighty Tonka Dump Truck introduced in 1964. It had real moving parts and did a great job in the sand box. He also had a back how of some sort and a bulldozer. These toys really did withstand a lot of abuse without breaking down or breaking at all.

The first Tonka trucks were made in 1947 by a company called Mound Metalcraft Company located in Mound Minnesota near Lake Minnetonka (hence, the name). The trucks were very popular throughout the 1950s and 1960s. I’m not sure when, but Hasbro bought out the company and continues to manufacture these tough guys today.

For more on Tonka trucks and other toys, see the Hasbro site.

I know I haven’t even scratched the surface here. Let us know some of your favorites. What was your Red Rider 200-Shot Range-Model Air Rifle?

Betty

(Toys 6-10 listed in Part Two)

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Check out Part Two of Betty's Top Toys article!

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