by Jilliana

Created on: March 12, 2009

Growing up as a child of the 1960's I was exposed and enjoyed many wonderful vinyl toys. Being an only girl in a family of four children and the baby to top it off, I was what most might say "spoiled". One of my most favorite toy was my "Little Kiddle" collection. I hope Im spelling that correctly. I had 4 or 5 little vinyl dolls measuring aprox: 2 inches tall, with long hair and different special outfits. Each doll had a "plug" in their back where you could plug in a roller stand that when "plugged in" you could move the doll around on a hard surfice and the dolls legs would move as if walking or running. I would play with these dolls for hours on end making up my own story lines and endings. I was so blessed to have been given the wonderful "Little Kiddle Playland" to move my dolls about in. This awesome doll house was a suitcase that when unlatched, it layed out into a land made just for my little friends. It had plastic doors that lead to nowhere on one end of the case and a road winding all around the center of town, which consisted of a playground and molded plastic hills and grass.

I saved this doll house for years and years and gave it to my two year old daughter to play with thinking she would love it and take as good care of it as I had done. This was "warped" thinking on my part. After 20 some years of storing this wonderful toy, it was destroyed within 10 minutes of my lovely daughter playing with it. I have since learned that yesteryear toys do not withstand the weight of a two year old the way today's toys do. I was terribly upset over loosing this memorbilla, however, the sad look on my sweet unknowing two year old was more heartwrenching. I cleaned up the mess, tossed my memories in the trash...not the dolls they made it through and I proceeded to hug my little girl, reassuring her. All was forgotten, all was forgiven.

Some of my other wonderful toys that I did NOT share with my two year old included a vinyl/plastic Poodle Dog that moved about by squeezing this air bulb. Of course the Poodle was Pink, what other color would it be. I had a small Alien type toy called a "Larry Light-up" basically a very ugly flashlight, only it was just his eyes and nose that lit up when you squeezed his tummy. I think my favorite toys of all though were my vinyl 45's that I played on my small box record player. I would play "Im Henry The VIII" over and over until my mother could stand no more. Growing up in the 60's was a great time, toys were simple, life was easy and I was young. I still have my "Larry Lite-up" and a couple of my Little Kiddles, the poodle is long gone and my ex-husband has all of my 45's as well as my LP's. However, I still have my memories and those no one can ever take away.

If you're looking for something to collect, and youre thinking about toys, consider the 1960's, it was a great time with so many different ideas giving birth to todays ideals. I believe that todays toy makers are realizing that yesteryear was a fabulous time for so many reasons, and they're looking to catch the eye of not only the child but the adult child as well. Enjoy and remember to always... play nice!

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