Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

Before all the electronics and video games that the kids today enjoy, toys were pretty simple.

Today a child’s Christmas list looks very different than back in the day. My sister loved her Chatty Cathy doll and her Easy Bake Oven. One year I got a Mr. Potato Head that you actually used real potatoes or other vegetables with.

Us boys enjoyed getting a table hockey set or some plastic soldiers, cannons and tanks. One of my brother’s and my best gift one Christmas was the Aurora race car set we received. We were so excited to set it up we broke part of it in our haste.

We got our first color TV one Christmas from Lechmere Sales. One year I got a cool toy called Mr. Machine. It was a wind up robot with visible gears that walked.

Our Christmas stockings were always filled with small toys like an egg of Silly Putty, a yo-yo, or maybe a Slinky. The Slinky would last about a week before it got tangled up and didn’t work anymore.

Getting a new sled or one of those flying saucers was pretty sweet. I wasn’t keen on board games. Mainly because once you lost pieces they were basically useless. One year I got a gizmo called Vac-U-Form. It was a small machine that you plugged in and it got heated up. Then you would place a thin sheet of plastic over a mold to make a small toy. I can still smell that hot melting plastic odor. Yuck.

In the 50’s and 60’s Hopalong Cassidy put his brand on everything imaginable. There were toy gun sets, lunch boxes, pajamas, badges, jackknifes, toys, watches and cowboy hats and other clothes. It was pretty much the same deal with Roy Rogers.

One of my favorite toys was the Kenner Give-A-Show projector. It was a small plastic camera with a light bulb. You’d put a strip of slides in and project the images on a sheet or a wall. The most popular for me were Superman, Bozo and Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters. We had grand illusions of charging our friends to watch the movies. I actually purchased another one on eBay a few years ago.

Another gift that was a stocking stuffer were Pick-up sticks. What a dumb toy. After I stuck my brother with one my mother thankfully took them away from us. The worse things to get in your stocking were socks or underwear.

Any clothes at all were bad presents except for the year I got my black turtle neck sweater. I loved that thing and wore it until it didn’t fit. I also loved my black turtleneck “dickie” too. Maybe they were purchased at Anderson Little.

I believe it was 1967 that I received two great Beatles albums. They were Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Magical Mystery Tour. The music of my life.

Being within walking distance to Davis Square, my parents got most of our gifts from the stores that were there. My first guitar came from Butler’s Music. Other good stores to get Christmas gifts were places like Woolworths, Grants, Mickey Finn and of course, the infamous Bargain Center. You knew when something came from “Bargies” if it was singed, scorched or smelled like smoke. Where else could you buy a toy fire truck with an authentic aroma of smoke? I wonder if that’s why that smoky smell always reminds me of Christmas?

We will never forget the thrill of waking up early on Christmas morning and seeing all the stuff Santa brought. Today, it’s all about the kids and grandkids. These days, I’m happy to get some handkerchiefs, socks, or photos of the grandkids.

I couldn’t resist ordering myself a throwback set of army soldiers and tanks from Amazon. I can’t wait to clear the kitchen table off and set them up! Happy shopping! Be careful out there.