Random Insomnia Thoughts (vintage items that were unique)

[DawnM]

So, my mind isn't shutting off......if you follow my threads at all, you know I have a few things on my mind.....sigh.

Anyway, my mind wandered into thoughts of my childhood and things that maybe time has forgotten.    I remember in the 70s, riding in cabs in NYC and Chicago (we traveled a lot) that had these really cool moveable rotating seats in the middle.   I looked them up because I wanted to make sure I wasn't making that up.   I just thought they were so awesome when I was a kid and when we got a cab that had them, I insisted on sitting on one.

Does anyone else remember them?   

What do you remember that maybe isn't well remembered?   A toy? A food? A commercial?  Car?   Anything.

Here is the taxi with interior pictures.

https://www.ebay.com/motors/blog/spacious-and-durable-1964-checker-marathon/

[Shoeless]

I don't remember those, but I remember jump seats in the limo for my mom's 2nd wedding. I was really excited to ride in the jump seat. 

There were these dolls called Liddle Kiddles that came in a plastic locket. I had forgotten all about them until I picked one up at an estate sale. It wasn't seeing it that made me remember them, but physically holding one of them. It was such a weird sensation, sort of like activating a very old muscle memory from 45+ years prior. 

[MercyA]

I remember when women carried clear rain bonnets with them to protect their hairdo. Businesses gave them out in little pocket carrying cases.

 

[MercyA]

2 hours ago, Shoeless said:

There were these dolls called Liddle Kiddles that came in a plastic locket. I had forgotten all about them until I picked one up at an estate sale. It wasn't seeing it that made me remember them, but physically holding one of them. It was such a weird sensation, sort of like activating a very old muscle memory from 45+ years prior. 

I just this week received the Liddle Kiddles I played with at my grandma's house as a child. My mom and dad found them in her attic. Here's one of them. 🙂 

[Scarlett]

3 hours ago, DawnM said:

So, my mind isn't shutting off......if you follow my threads at all, you know I have a few things on my mind.....sigh.

Anyway, my mind wandered into thoughts of my childhood and things that maybe time has forgotten.    I remember in the 70s, riding in cabs in NYC and Chicago (we traveled a lot) that had these really cool moveable rotating seats in the middle.   I looked them up because I wanted to make sure I wasn't making that up.   I just thought they were so awesome when I was a kid and when we got a cab that had them, I insisted on sitting on one.

Does anyone else remember them?   

What do you remember that maybe isn't well remembered?   A toy? A food? A commercial?  Car?   Anything.

Here is the taxi with interior pictures.

https://www.ebay.com/motors/blog/spacious-and-durable-1964-checker-marathon/

That is super cool Dawn.  I had never heard of them.

[Scarlett]

I remember the rain hats @MercyA but not the little dolls.  

[skimomma]

1 hour ago, MercyA said:

I remember when women carried clear rain bonnets with them to protect their hairdo. Businesses gave them out in little pocket carrying cases.

 

People still wear those around here!  I don't think businesses give them out anymore but there is still a significant population of little old ladies that get their weekly wash-n-set that bring them out when the weather turns.

[DawnM]

My grandmother ALWAYS carried a rain bonnet!   It was in her bag at all time.   I don't remember an actual umbrella, but she did wear a London Fog coat all the time.   They lived in Portland, OR so it rained often.

[MercyA]

My brother and I played with Tomy Pocket Games a lot. No batteries required. They used springs, magnets, and gears to run.

Here are a few we had. My favorite was the Kissing Game. Loved that thing. The idea was to get the boy and the girl both kissing at the same time. 😉 

[MercyA]

Tomy also made water games and has brought them back!

[Kassia]

32 minutes ago, DawnM said:

My grandmother ALWAYS carried a rain bonnet!   It was in her bag at all time.   I don't remember an actual umbrella, but she did wear a London Fog coat all the time.   They lived in Portland, OR so it rained often.

My MIL and her mother always carried the rain bonnets.  I forgot about them.  

@MercyA I remember the water toys

One of my favorite toys/doll set when I was growing up was the Honey Hill Bunch.  I loved them so much.  I had all the dolls and the clubhouse.  

[MercyA]

19 minutes ago, Kassia said:

One of my favorite toys/doll set when I was growing up was the Honey Hill Bunch.  I loved them so much.  I had all the dolls and the clubhouse.  

Kassia, I have Spunky and her (his?) frog and would be happy to send them to you if you would like them. Just PM me. 🙂

[Harriet Vane]

58 minutes ago, DawnM said:

My grandmother ALWAYS carried a rain bonnet!   It was in her bag at all time.   I don't remember an actual umbrella, but she did wear a London Fog coat all the time.   They lived in Portland, OR so it rained often.

YES. Same. My grandma and my great-grandma always had those big plastic bonnets at the ready.

I remember the weekly wash-and-set too. On Day One it would be a nicely rounded, airy globe. Didn’t take long for the back to go all weirdly stiff and flat. They used to try to fluff it back up with super-wide-tooth spiky tools. They looked less like a comb and more like a barbecue tool. 😂

[Kassia]

34 minutes ago, MercyA said:

Kassia, I have Spunky and her (his?) frog and would be happy to send them to you if you would like them. Just PM me. 🙂

What a kind and generous offer!  I can't tell you how touched I am.  ❤️  We're trying to declutter and my kids are grown so I don't want any more stuff in the house, but I appreciate your offer so much and it's a little hard to turn down for the sentimental value (my beloved late aunt gave me the set and also made accessories for it).  

Thank you so much - both for the offer and the photo.  Made me smile.  🙂  

[Ali in OR]

I remember Liddle Kiddles--we didn't have any, but I remember when my parents took me to a neighbor's house and their much older daughter had some. Did they have a scent? Just thinking about them is triggering an olfactory memory.

2 hours ago, DawnM said:

My grandmother ALWAYS carried a rain bonnet!   It was in her bag at all time.   I don't remember an actual umbrella, but she did wear a London Fog coat all the time.   They lived in Portland, OR so it rained often.

This made me smile because Oregonians don't typically use umbrellas--nice to know it was true back then too! I do insist on a waterproof winter coat with a real hood--not one of those hoods that zip on or tuck into a collar. Hoods are used most every day you need the coat--not a removable accessory!

[Ginevra]

One of my favorite, though obscure, games was Waterworks. It was a card game. It was technically my sister’s game, so she would lord it over me whenever I wanted to play it haha. 
 

A cartoon I loved as a kid was Kimba, the White Lion. Or something to that effect; was definitely named Kimba and was a white lion cub. 
 

ETA: and now, while I was just searching for images of Kimba the White Lion, I learned that there is a “controversy” out there, in which Disney is charged with steal Kimba to make Simba. Hmmm. The stuff you learn while googling. 

Edited August 24, 2023 by Ginevra

[WildflowerMom]

Oh, I love nostalgia!!!

does anyone remember Captain Caveman?   I loved that cartoon, but I never see it brought up anymore.  

[Ginevra]

5 minutes ago, WildflowerMom said:

Oh, I love nostalgia!!!

does anyone remember Captain Caveman?   I loved that cartoon, but I never see it brought up anymore.  

“Captain Caaaaavemaaaan!” 
lol, I had forgotten that show. 

[Laura Corin]

I remember my dad's Citroën DS. It was designed so that the suspension could take it down rough French lanes with grass down the middle.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citroën_DS

It was the big sister of the 2CV, which was specified to be mendable by a blacksmith and capable of carrying a pig.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citroën_2CV

 

[MercyA]

1 hour ago, Ginevra said:

One of my favorite, though obscure, games was Waterworks. It was a card game. It was technically my sister’s game, so she would lord it over me whenever I wanted to play it haha. 

I loved that game, too! Do you remember the little plastic bathtub that held the cards? So cute.

It's being made again and the wrenches are still real metal! 

https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Moves-Games-Classic-Waterworks/dp/B00V82MGZG/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2U8IRWXO3YKEL&keywords=waterworks&qid=1692896567&sprefix=waterworks%2Caps%2C113&sr=8-3

[MercyA]

3 hours ago, Ali in OR said:

I remember Liddle Kiddles--we didn't have any, but I remember when my parents took me to a neighbor's house and their much older daughter had some. Did they have a scent? Just thinking about them is triggering an olfactory memory.

Most of the Liddle Kiddles were not scented, but the Liddle Kiddles Kologne dolls were!

(I love dolls and know way too much about them...) 🙂 

[Indigo Blue]

This may not be unique, but it’s one of my favorite childhood toys. I bought one exactly like this one from EBay a few years ago. 

[Kassia]

Spirograph was so much fun!  🙂  

[mommyoffive]

6 hours ago, MercyA said:

My brother and I played with Tomy Pocket Games a lot. No batteries required. They used springs, magnets, and gears to run.

Here are a few we had. My favorite was the Kissing Game. Loved that thing. The idea was to get the boy and the girl both kissing at the same time. 😉 

I had the first 2!!

[mommyoffive]

5 hours ago, MercyA said:

Tomy also made water games and has brought them back!

Oh I had things like this and loved them.

Love the walk down memory lane

[Kassia]

Oh, and these things.  Gosh, entertainment was so simple back then! 

 

[Indigo Blue]

We had one of these.

[history-fan]

2 hours ago, Kassia said:

Oh, and these things.  Gosh, entertainment was so simple back then! 

 

Ohh the gyro wheel!!!

[history-fan]

Flatsy dolls

meet the presidents board game

string art

skip hop 

food item: 1-2-3 jello

 

[Kassia]

9 hours ago, MercyA said:

Tomy also made water games and has brought them back!

Just saw these on The Holderness Family

 

[Shoeless]

I had the Honey Hill Bunch dolls, too! My DH bought several of them for me from eBay a few years ago. I was so happy to see them again. 

I had the Tony water games, too. Gosh, I had so many of them. 

[kbutton]

11 hours ago, Ginevra said:

“Captain Caaaaavemaaaan!” 
lol, I had forgotten that show. 

I would’ve blazed on by the first mention of you’d not typed it out this way, lol! I can almost hear it, but I had to Google to remember what it looked like, lol!

[Melissa in Australia]

8 hours ago, Indigo Blue said:

This may not be unique, but it’s one of my favorite childhood toys. I bought one exactly like this one from EBay a few years ago. 

I had that exact set

[bookbard]

19 hours ago, Kassia said:

One of my favorite toys/doll set when I was growing up was the Honey Hill Bunch.  I loved them so much.  I had all the dolls and the clubhouse.  

I wonder if those dolls were ever in Australia? I have a dim memory of a doll character with a folded felt accessory - I thought it was a book maybe? I've never been able to work out what doll set it was. 

We definitely had strawberry shortcake doll sets - I remember the scents!

Edited August 25, 2023 by bookbard

[Kareni]

@bookbard, I had a toy in Australia that I believe was called a Mighty-Tiny; it played miniature records.

I also vaguely remember a male (talking? walking?) doll. I called it Phillip, but I no longer know if it came with that name.

(I suspect I am older than you, so these may not have been around when you were a child.)

Regards,

Kareni

[Ginevra]

Other toys I loved: Milky the Marvelous Milking Cow. You could put a little dried milk “pill” in the udder and I think you pumped the tail, which made it drink water, which then mixed with the milk pill and came out the teat! 😄

 

I also loved my articulated play horses, especially “Nugget,” who came with doll “Dusty” and “Silver,” the Lone Ranger’s horse. 

Edited August 25, 2023 by Ginevra

[Calm37]

You got me thinking about my Creepy Crawlers set. I cooked up a ton of those things in the 60s! Looking up about it now, I knew it was banned because the oven was extremely hot, but now see that the plastic goo was also extremely toxic. Wow, fun. Yes, I burned myself many times. When I got the flower molds that worked with it, though, that was the best.

Edited to add: 400 degrees! 🙂

Edited August 25, 2023 by Calm37

[DawnM]

9 hours ago, Calm37 said:

You got me thinking about my Creepy Crawlers set. I cooked up a ton of those things in the 60s! Looking up about it now, I knew it was banned because the oven was extremely hot, but now see that the plastic goo was also extremely toxic. Wow, fun. Yes, I burned myself many times. When I got the flower molds that worked with it, though, that was the best.

Edited to add: 400 degrees! 🙂

Are those the plastic shrink things that you bake?   I did those too.   I vaguely remember trying to make Christmas ornaments.

[Indigo Blue]

14 hours ago, Ginevra said:

Other toys I loved: Milky the Marvelous Milking Cow. You could put a little dried milk “pill” in the udder and I think you pumped the tail, which made it drink water, which then mixed with the milk pill and came out the teat! 😄

 

I also loved my articulated play horses, especially “Nugget,” who came with doll “Dusty” and “Silver,” the Lone Ranger’s horse. 

This reminds me of the little brown plastic reindeer that pooped jelly beans. Remember these? They were around a few years back. I thought they were adorable.

[fairfarmhand]

This thread got me poking around on the internet and I found this YouTube Channel.

So many familiar commercials and toys!

https://www.youtube.com/@RetroToysandCartoons

[Calm37]

6 hours ago, DawnM said:

Are those the plastic shrink things that you bake?   I did those too.   I vaguely remember trying to make Christmas ornaments.

Well, you might be thinking about Shrinky Dinks that you bake in the oven? With Creepy Crawlers you poured plastic goo into a metal mold and then baked it on a little square 400 degree oven, a grill basically. When you saw the goo had gone from glossy to matte, you transferred it to a water cooling bath. It really was quite dangerous at many steps. And fun!

[DawnM]

35 minutes ago, Calm37 said:

Well, you might be thinking about Shrinky Dinks that you bake in the oven? With Creepy Crawlers you poured plastic goo into a metal mold and then baked it on a little square 400 degree oven, a grill basically. When you saw the goo had gone from glossy to matte, you transferred it to a water cooling bath. It really was quite dangerous at many steps. And fun!

Oh yes, that is what I am thinking of!   Shrinky Dinks.   

[Wheres Toto]

On 8/24/2023 at 9:32 AM, MercyA said:

Tomy also made water games and has brought them back!

I remember these and similar ones that were flatter. 

On 8/24/2023 at 12:17 PM, WildflowerMom said:

Oh, I love nostalgia!!!

does anyone remember Captain Caveman?   I loved that cartoon, but I never see it brought up anymore.  

I do remember Captain Caveman!  Great show, LOL.  

On 8/24/2023 at 3:06 PM, Indigo Blue said:

This may not be unique, but it’s one of my favorite childhood toys. I bought one exactly like this one from EBay a few years ago. 

Spirograph is still available.  I have a couple of them at my classroom.   

On 8/24/2023 at 3:39 PM, Kassia said:

Oh, and these things.  Gosh, entertainment was so simple back then! 

 

I remember those.   And kerbangers, that were outlawed because they could be turned into a weapon. 

9 hours ago, DawnM said:

Are those the plastic shrink things that you bake?   I did those too.   I vaguely remember trying to make Christmas ornaments.

Shrinky dinks are still available.   

[MercyA]

14 hours ago, Ginevra said:

Other toys I loved: Milky the Marvelous Milking Cow. You could put a little dried milk “pill” in the udder and I think you pumped the tail, which made it drink water, which then mixed with the milk pill and came out the teat! 😄

I also loved my articulated play horses, especially “Nugget,” who came with doll “Dusty” and “Silver,” the Lone Ranger’s horse. 

I always wanted Milky! 

I loved my Jane West doll and her horse Comanche. 

[math teacher]

13 hours ago, Calm37 said:

Well, you might be thinking about Shrinky Dinks that you bake in the oven? With Creepy Crawlers you poured plastic goo into a metal mold and then baked it on a little square 400 degree oven, a grill basically. When you saw the goo had gone from glossy to matte, you transferred it to a water cooling bath. It really was quite dangerous at many steps. And fun!

I remember that!! My neighbor had one and I remember how it smelled. I think I remember poking my finger in one and getting burned.

[Mothersweets]

On 8/24/2023 at 8:25 AM, Ginevra said:

 

A cartoon I loved as a kid was Kimba, the White Lion. Or something to that effect; was definitely named Kimba and was a white lion cub. 
 

ETA: and now, while I was just searching for images of Kimba the White Lion, I learned that there is a “controversy” out there, in which Disney is charged with steal Kimba to make Simba. Hmmm. The stuff you learn while googling. 

Yay! Finally, someone else remembers this show! I loved Kimba! I was 5 and just starting kindergarten. My mom let me choose if I wanted to go for the morning kindergarten class or the afternoon kindergarten class. I chose the afternoon so I wouldn't miss Kimba. 😂 

 

[Matryoshka]

On 8/24/2023 at 11:25 AM, Ginevra said:

A cartoon I loved as a kid was Kimba, the White Lion. Or something to that effect; was definitely named Kimba and was a white lion cub. 
 

ETA: and now, while I was just searching for images of Kimba the White Lion, I learned that there is a “controversy” out there, in which Disney is charged with steal Kimba to make Simba. Hmmm. The stuff you learn while googling. 

I remember Kimba!

And I also recently stumbled across the controversy with Disney. 🤔

[freesia]

4 hours ago, Mothersweets said:

Yay! Finally, someone else remembers this show! I loved Kimba! I was 5 and just starting kindergarten. My mom let me choose if I wanted to go for the morning kindergarten class or the afternoon kindergarten class. I chose the afternoon so I wouldn't miss Kimba. 😂 

 

I loved that show, too!

[DawnM]

On 8/24/2023 at 11:25 AM, Ginevra said:

One of my favorite, though obscure, games was Waterworks. It was a card game. It was technically my sister’s game, so she would lord it over me whenever I wanted to play it haha. 
 

A cartoon I loved as a kid was Kimba, the White Lion. Or something to that effect; was definitely named Kimba and was a white lion cub. 
 

ETA: and now, while I was just searching for images of Kimba the White Lion, I learned that there is a “controversy” out there, in which Disney is charged with steal Kimba to make Simba. Hmmm. The stuff you learn while googling. 

That's ridiculous.   The actual word for lion in Swahili is Simba.   You can't change a language that is one of the oldest in the world just because you changed it to Kimba and they want to use the actual word.

🤪

[Halftime Hope]

I don't have them anymore, but I remember lots of Dawn dolls, a bit like a smaller, 3/4 sized, younger Barbie. They were cuter and more age-appropriate for me when I had them. https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/dawn-dolls-tiny-doll-stars-4077087

I must have also had a Barbie or two when I was younger, as an elementary-aged girl, because I remember learning to sew on a machine, so that I could make clothes for a Barbie, and I remember learning to make darts in the clothing. 🙄 And teeny, tiny buttons and snaps.  

I had some flatsie dolls, with the cutest little brightly-colored plastic playsets. But when they broke, there was nothing you could do. I think I still have some of those in a box.

ETA: added the URL.

 

Edited August 27, 2023 by Halftime Hope