50s - 4/10 - Retroland

Erector Sets

When it comes to toys, the words "some assembly required" aren't often welcomed by parents. But every once in a while, a toy comes along where assembly is the sole purpose, a task left to the child that engages the imaginative mind while providing countless hours of fun. And for almost a hundred years, Erector Sets have done just that, becoming one of the most iconic building toys of all time.

Fashion Plates

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For all the little girls dreaming of being a dress designer when they grew up, Tomy Toys had just the thing to get those creative ideas flowing. Granted, they weren’t exactly an original concept; fashion plates have existed as far back as the 18th century. But these were specially made so that young hands could experience the exciting world of fashion design without ever leaving the kitchen table. Now, you could be the Christian Dior of your family!

Fisher-Price Little People

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For four decades, the little known toy company started by Herman Fisher, Irving Price, and Helen Schelle made whimsical wooden toys in relative obscurity. Shortly after their beginnings in 1930, Fisher-Price (as they called themselves) released the Woodsey Cart, a small animal-drawn wagon with a small wooden driver. The driver had a round head and cylindrical body and was fastened to his seat.

Fluffernutter

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It’s a snack so decadent that one might immediately assume that the King of Rock and Roll first concocted it. Two simple slices of bread, coated with equal and generous amounts of peanut butter and a delightful product called Marshmallow Fluff. To many kids of generations past, it was the perfect afterschool snack; to those with less-nutritionally-minded parents, it was occasionally a resident of the lunchbox. And, to anyone who ever had the privilege of crossing paths with a Fluffernutter, it was a sandwich that seemed as if it was created through divine intervention.

Foto-Electric Football

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For those who wanted a taste of the strategic side of football before they were old enough to actually manage a team of players on the field, came an ingenious way to learn the skills necessary to carry your very own clipboard someday as an offensive/defensive coordinator or head coach. Foto-Electric Football provided all the training you needed - *Bucket of Gatorade not included. Today, we take a look back at this memorable game from yesteryear.

Good Humor

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In the scorching heat of a summer’s day, few sounds beckon to a child like the playful jingle of an ice cream truck in the distance - gradually moving closer, block by block, until it finally turns the corner and heads slowly down their street. At the first notice of the approaching melody, kids scatter in all directions, making a mad dash towards the parents, begging for enough change to purchase a frozen delicacy. And for over eighty years, little white Good Humor trucks have done their part to ensure that ice cream is available to all, offering varieties of the very thing that made them famous almost a century ago - ice cream on a stick.

Gumby

Hall Passes

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While perhaps not a rite of passage, it certainly offered the right of passage. The hall pass was a permission ship, a declaration of sorts that you had the right to pass through the halls of school – unescorted and with the teacher’s blessing. In its simplest form, it was a roundtrip ticket to the bathroom and worth milking for all it was worth. It gave you a few precious moments of independence to ponder the imponderables, like “So-and-so is really cute” and “I wish the bell would ring,”

Hawaiian Punch

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Until the 1980s, commercial-watching consumers could catch the striped-shirt wearing mascot, Punchy, popping the unsuspecting tourist Opie/Oaf after offering him a nice Hawaiian Punch. Punchy’s fisticuff days are a thing of the past, but that ruby-red concoction many of us have grown to love over the years remains as popular as ever. For over 60s [...]

Hi-C

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We can trace back many of our beloved comfort foods to the 50s, an era which introduced such pop culture staples as Jello Instant Pudding and Rice-a-Roni. The arrival of this innovative decade also brought a new fruity beverage in a big tin can, Hi-C. A perfect thirst-quencher on a hot summer's day, and (slightly) more healthy than soda, kids loved it right out of the gate and have continued to gulp down glasses of the sweet concoction for over 60 years.