You Are What You Were. Celebrate Retro Pop Culture At Retroland.
Amusing small fries for over fifty years, Mr. Potato Head has been made from a variety of materials. But whether his stout stature was comprised of Styrofoam, plastic, or even the common solanum tuberosum (that's MISTER Solanum Tuberosum to you), this master of disguise has become more than just a toy: he's a movie star, a spokespud, and an American icon.
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Oh, not a dud! Please don’t let it be a dud! When that little white door opened, you wanted to see the man of your dreams, a studly skier, a dashing dancer in a tux, a beachgoing babe – anything but the dreaded dud. And should Prince Charming be ready to greet you behind door number one, you best be prepared. And yet, with all of these stressful possibilities, there was nary a slumber party around in the 60s that didn’t include a rousing game of Mystery Date on the itinerary.
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Toy or device for speaking to the dead? Fun way to spend a slumber party or the deciding factor for what you should do with your life? The Ouija board is many things to many people, but one thing we do know is that for those that like a little mystery in their lives, the Parker Brothers Ouija board has remained on store shelves, and sold quite well, ever since the game manufacturer acquired the rights in the sixties. Let's go back a little further though.
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Each of us seems to have a number of scents stored within our brain, just waiting to unleash memories of the past the moment we catch a whiff. Whether it be a freshly cut lawn before a baseball game, an oven full of piping hot-cookies, or simply a can of colored wallpaper paste, these fragrances instantly return us to a better time, a simpler time. Wallpaper paste?
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It sounds like a story right out of Ripley’s Believe it or Not, and it probably contains more fiction than fact - but it’s still too good not to repeat for old time’s sake. In Burma, there lived a poor little shoeless girl named Pogo. Her bare feet made it too difficult to make her daily trek, along the muddy roads filled with jagged rocks, so she could pray at the local temple. Her father finally came upon a solution to her dilemma and fashioned a jumping stick so that she could propel herself over these various obstacles and strengthen her soul without sacrificing her soles. A worldly traveler named George Hansburg happened to witness this miraculous jumping stick in action during one of his trips and decided that the rest of the world could also benefit from Pogo’s jumping stick.
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If you were a regular reader of comic books in the 60s and 70s, you probably couldn’t help but notice the recurring ad that offered you your very own kid-sized Polaris nuclear submarine – all for the low price of about seven bucks. Perhaps the pictures above will bring you back in time.
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Kids have their own transportation needs. Sure, they can use a bicycle or Big Wheel to get around the neighborhood, but what if there are items that need to be carried along? Ever try to haul a bunch of toys, a pile of dirt, or your beloved pet on a bike? Chances are, they might not arrive intact at your destination. That is, until the advent of a small red wagon known the world over as a Radio Flyer. Versatile, practically indestructible, these metal workhorses have hauled tons of kid-friendly cargo for almost a century, and show no signs of slowing.
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Ladies and gentlemen, may we present to you — in this corner, the ancient and noble sport of pugilism. In the opposite corner, tiny robots with fists. The winner and still champion - kids everywhere, who got to enjoy vicarious violence in bright, primary colors, thanks to Rock’em Sock’em Robots.
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Ah, Scrabble. Play it often enough and you start seeing those lettered tiles in your dreams, forming words that would be worth 100 points if they actually existed. The much-loved game has endured for over 50 years, providing both family enjoyment and competitive play. Out of all the board games, Scrabble is truly a Cinderella story.
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For the child seized by the creative spirit, when construction toys like Legos were simply not enough, Sea Monkeys satisfied a tyke’s urge to meddle in the realm of biology. Aided by an intensive ad campaign appearing in every comic book in the 1960s and 70s, Sea Monkeys sparked the imagination and intrigued the junior (mad) scientists of America.
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