Being a kid in the 1970's was different to these days, at least that's how I found it. Growing up on a large property but in a very small rural town in Australia helped make it so. There were no video games and few people around and any fun my older brother and I wanted tended to be of our own creation.
Toys were invented of course, it's just that we didn't have a lot as my parents simply couldn't afford to buy them. We had some though, and what we had was cherished as we knew they would could not be replaced if we broke them.
Very few of our toys were new; We got new bikes one year, and what cherished and valuable things they were! I remember getting walkie talkies for Christmas also, again much cherished and much used by my brother and I. We had a scattering of other new toys given us, but in the main our toys were second hand.
It's not a bad thing though, that's just how it was, and I don't think it ever affected me negatively; To the contrary, it was probably one of my young life's best lessons as it taught me respect, the importance of prioritisation, finances and care for my possessions, to name but a few.
Like I said, we valued our toys and me, being the guy I am, have carried that forward throughout life. I have saved quite a few toys from back then, some that my younger brothers had as kids too; I've stored them for many many years.
At Christmas last year I got to give one such toy, a Tonka Truck, to the brother who was gifted that very same (second hand) toy at the age of five. He's 45 now and has a two year old son who simply loves that truck and the satisfaction I got from that moment, and every time I see my nephew play with that truck, is deeply satisfying - Especially since I don't have children of my own.
I had a few go-to toys as a kid, ones that meant much to me for whatever reason and one of those is pictured here.
This is a Corgi model of the John Player Special Lotus Ford F1 car. This was one of my most prized possessions as a young kid - It sat on my bedside table along side a small green ceramic corgi dog given to me also and which I also still have, and I played with it all the time. It was also one of the few toys I was to receive that was boxed and brand new.
The model came with removeable wheels and a wrench to take them off which I have lost, to my great shame and annoyance. But this car, given to me forty five years ago, sits beside me on my home office desk and remains one of my most prized items to this day.
I remember getting it in March 1975 on my fifth birthday. It was simply the best thing I'd ever seen and whilst now I know it may have been better leaving it unopened and in the box that was never going to happen, this car was born to race, and race it did.
You can see it's had some use and I don't mind that...Each of those marks indicate a moment in my life, an enjoyable time where I played with this car. It was always present in my life as a kid, sitting comfortingly on my bedside table and, these days, beside me as I work in my home office; It brings the same comfort, just differently now.
I can recall playing with it with my dad; We'd make up stories, racing stories, and would use Lego men as the pit crew or the crowd at a racing event. Of course, this car won every time, it was fast. My dad is gone now, four months ago, but when I look at this car I can still see him sitting on the floor with me back then setting up race tracks, making cheering crowd noises and generally being dad.
As a kid much of my playtime didn't involve things we'd been given; We used imagination and the things we had around us to make a toy gun or sword. We'd climb trees and make up games to keep us occupied. I can recall many hours spent trying to perfect paper plane folding for instance...A pursuit that continues to this day. But I'm also pleased to have had a few items also, things that I look back on now as simple things...But weren't all that simple at all...They were things my parents struggled to provide, went without to give us and got enjoyment out of doing so.
I used to wonder what it would be like to have the toys others around me had; Did I feel jealousy? I'm sure I did. Did I feel sad sometimes, once I'd gotten a little older and knew most of my things were purchased second hand? Of course, I was a kid...But did my lack of many toys purchased brand new mean I had a bad childhood? Nope, I don't think so, not for a second.
My parents did what they could and I grew up knowing that and being respectful of their sacrifices made for the things I had around me. This racing car is a reminder of that and every time I see it, daily, I'm reminded of my parents sacrifices, of who they were as people, the good and bad times, their triumphs, faults, fears, success and failures as people and parents. I'm also reminded of a little shy fellow who grew up to have the same fears, failures and faults as his parents. Me, I mean. There's been some success too of course, and some brand new toys courtesy of my hard work and efforts.
I don't know y'all, I think I came out ok, despite not having everything as a kid, new stuff, and a great part of that was the example set by my parents.
Anyway, sorry for my first toy community post being a little plaintive...I guess I just started writing and let it go where it wanted. But tell me, have you got a favourite toy from your past, one that you still have years later...Or am I just a weirdo?
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised.
Be well
Discord: galenkp#9209
Y'all might want to drop a post into the Toys on Hive community created by 
