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TOYLAND
Recently I read an article about having too many toys being
bad for children. It cited a study conducted at the University of Toledo
(Ohio) that supported this theory. This was not a problem in my
childhood. An excess of toys was hardly possible in the stark years of
World War II. So, one could say I did not suffer from excess.
As I recall, I had three toys – a panda bear, a “soldier”
doll and a baby doll. I treasured all of them and the panda has now
served three generations and lives in my son’s attic. There were books,
of course. Nothing like the plethora available today. My family had the
odd habit of reading at the table. It was my father’s choice and the
rest of us followed along. My sister remembers that as a baby in a
highchair, I insisted on having a comic book to “read” as well.
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When I was six, I acquired another doll. Mrs. Brown, the
janitor’s wife made a flour sack doll for every little girl in first
grade (I think there were about 8 of us). I treasured mine and nearly
loved her to death (photo). The painting shows my naked doll and the one
my friend Jane acquired the next year. Jane’s was pristine. Mom bought
it when Jane had a sale of belongings before she and her family moved
to Kansas City. The reason Jane’s was so well preserved was that she
had many toys as she was an only child and grandchild in her family. Her
sensible parents had a solution for that. Half of the toys went “on
vacation” in the attic until July when a second Christmas was observed.
Jane was very generous to share her toys with me and freeing the toys
from exile was a great day.
When I was a little older, I wanted a bicycle. I dreamed
of having one like the new blue Schwinn like Jane’s. That was not to be.
My parents could afford only a used boy’s bike that had been carelessly
repainted. I’m sure I showed my disappointment but came to love that
bike. I must have ridden it a million miles.
I also got a volleyball one year. Hours were spent
serving it to the garage roof and “playing” the ball that rolled back to
me. It is easy to see that I got plenty of outdoor exercise as a child.
Not having a number of toys left a lot of time for other
activities. We waded in icy cold Testerman Branch, collecting
interesting rocks and attempting to build dams so it would be deep
enough for swimming. We also clambered up the tall hill in front of our
house and climbed the tallest tree (an old Oak) and surveyed our
kingdom. We imagined images from the clouds that drifted by and dreamed
of things we hoped to do.
At school, recess was a time of playing “Red Rover” to
blow off steam, but a favorite activity was to create “houses” with
small pebbles at the foot of a nearby tree. The earth was bare from our
constant presence, so we arranged the rocks to outline rooms and used
acorn cap “dishes” for tea parties.
Without a number of material toys, I had a wonderful
childhood. After thinking about it a while, I realize I was blessed to
have the opportunities and freedom a child of the mid-Twentieth Century
had. We were fearless and carefree in a way that is not possible in the
scary world we live in today.
Merry Christmas.
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