Christmas Past

My blogging friend Muley got me thinking about Christmas toys from my childhood. Christmas at my house was always a glorious affair. My mom would stay up late into the night on Christmas Eve, playing Santa, putting together toys and arranging them under the tree. Christmas morning was always a joyous time for me and my brother.

I spent some time yesterday trying to remember my favorite toys from my childhood in the 60s. I wish I still had some of them, they'd probably be worth a fortune.

I had what are now called "vintage toys". It was a fun romp down memory lane to try to remember the dolls I had. For example, I knew I had a Barbie doll and some of her friends. I also had a Barbie house and I think I had a car. But I couldn't tell you the particular model of the Barbie I had. Well now, thanks to the miracle of Google, I know that I had a Fashion Queen Barbie. She had plastic hair and came with three interchangeable wigs. I couldn't find a YouTube commercial for the Fashion Queen Barbie but here are some vintage 60's Barbie commercials.



I remember the Barbie house I had was green and had cool sixties furniture. Thanks to YouTube I can see exactly what it looked like. It was a "Barbie Dream House". I loved that house! Check out this great Barbie Dream House Commercial from 1963.


I also know that I had a number of baby dolls, a ballerina doll, and a Chatty Cathy doll. Except that thanks to Google, I now know that it wasn't an ordinary Chatty Cathy, but a Charmin Chatty Cathy. I remember, it came with a desk and it had little records that you slipped into a slot in the doll, and she could say all kinds of phrases when you pulled her string. Now I know that she could say 120 different phrases. I remember that the doll I had was blonde, like me. Here is an original 1963 commercial for Charmin Chatty Cathy:


As an added bonus for all you baby boomers out there, can you identify the little girl in the commercial? I can, she's Angela Cartwright, of Sound of Music and Lost in Space fame. "That does not compute!"

One of my all-time favorite board games was the Mystery Date game. I liked it so much as a kid that I bought Aimee an updated one for Christmas last year. Here's an original commercial. I remember I liked the prom boy the best, but I also secretly thought the "dud" was cute too. Here's another walk down memory lane with the original 1960's Mystery Date game commercial:


And, in case you think I was all girly back then, one of my favorite toys was a Johnny West, Best of the West Action figure with his pal Geronimo. I had the covered wagon too. Here's the commercial: .

What were your favorite toys?