BEFORE PLAY STATION: THE TOYS I GREW UP WITH

When the first arcade type game machine appeared in the lobby of our local movie theater I forbade my children to waste their money playing it. Later, when my left-handed son used one in Motor Lab to improve eye-hand coordination, I relented and eventually purchased an Atari.

At the time I could only marvel at the vast difference between the toys I grew up with and that Atari. Many years later I continue to be amazed at what is today classified as toys'.

My earliest memory concerning toys' is of paper dolls cut from an outdated Sears Roebuck or Montgomery Ward catalogue. I could have an entire family of dolls, selecting the handsomest Daddy, most beautiful Mother and several adorable children. My mother, who was a genius at finding cost free ways to entertain a child, showed me how to cut and fold pages to make furniture for my paper doll family.

On those rare occasions when my cousin, Christine, was visiting, she would also select and cut out a paper doll family. Using our imagination we guided our paper people as they interacted within the roles we assigned them. Daddies went to work, Mothers stayed home taking care of the children and the house, and the children went to school and played.

The time came when I had a book of honest to goodness, store-bought paper dolls. WOW! They were more fun because they came with several changes of clothes. I would spend an entire rainy day dressing them appropriately for the school days, picnics, parties, etc. that my imagination planned for them.

When I was five, the year my sister was born, I got my first real doll for Christmas. She was dressed in a black trimmed pink snowsuit. She was as big as my baby sister was and she could stand up alone. I was afraid to play with her, afraid I would break her or mess up her snowsuit.

Through the years there were other dolls as well as jacks, paddleballs, jump ropes and roller skates but none of them ever gave me as much pleasure as my paper dolls.

Learn more about this author, Jonnie Chastain.
Click here to send author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about Before PlayStation: The toys I grew up with?
We want to hear your view. Write now!