A LARGE part of our childhood memories, especially Christmas childhood memories can be credited to the toys we played with. This writer is perhaps not old enough to remember some of the homemade toys, but compared to desired gadgets such as smart phones; computers and high tech games desired by preteens today, low-tech childhood was very enjoyable. Here is a look at some of the toys that lit up my childhood. Some of these I remember as specific to me and my family while some of them were owned by classmates as well. All bring a sigh of longing for the simple carefree hours spent with them.

Barbie dolls
Well to be honest these dolls were very expensive in the nineties, but there were plenty of knockoffs; there was “Babie”, “Barbara” and more. These were okay but did not have the lustrous hair, weight and flexible limbs of the real product. When I was eleven I got my first real Barbie as a Christmas present. To this day I remember her; she was the “Hollywood Barbie”. She wore a white and gold catsuit with cowboy boots and came with a stencil and a special hairspray to spray pink stars in her ankle length blonde hair.

Bill the Cat
Bill the Cat was a really ugly stuffed toy that came in a Christmas barrel from overseas. I grew to love him when I read a Bloom County comic book in which he was a character. If anyone laughed at him, I would tell them he was a star like Garfeild.

Cap gun
These were more applicable to my brother than me who was also fascinated with pellet guns. But I did borrow his guns to fire off a few rounds on occasion.

Ice cream truck
This was a toy that my mom found hilarious. It would move slowly and shakily like a real old vehicle and there was an old man calling out “ICE-CREAAAM”   in a loud and hoarse voice that  I still remember.

Jacks
A simple game with a ball and some metal stars that you pick up with each bounce of the ball. I was not as good as some of my friends but I kept trying.

Marbles
We didn’t play with these the way the boys did but me and other girls like them because they were pretty and so  we loved to collect them.

Paint with water
Paint with water books were fascinating. Back then it seemed like magic to dip a brush into water and see the colours appearing as you spread the water over a black and white page.

Racecars
Little boys loved these cars. They needed no batteries you just pulled them backward and released them. The wheels were designed so the traction would shoot them forward.

Bat and Ball
My father played a game with me and my sibling called “Bat and ball” . He would simply throw a tennis ball and we would try to hit it with the racquet.

Slinkies
There was something very fascinating about these simple and inexpensive toys. You didn’t know where the flowing movement began or where it ended.

Tops   
These spinning toys were fascinating and myself and siblings competed to see how long we could make them spin.

Kitchen set
Every little girl I knew had a variation of this maybe it was a teaset or a supermarket set.

Soldier
These were cheap and the boys bought them by handfuls to build their armies.

Tricycle
I never did learn to ride a bicycle I confess, but I rode miles around inside the house on my tricycle until I outgrew it.

View master
These clever little gadgets introduced us to the wonder world of 3-D and were interesting even without the slides as sometimes cobwebs or bugs got into them.

Vintage comics
An avid comic reader in my childhood especially of the Archies series, I knew all the characters like family. So loved were these comics that they could be used as a disciplinary tool. When we were good we got comics, when we were bad they may have been temporarily confiscated. Who can forget girl crazy Archie Andrews, the vain Reggie Mantle, snobbish Veronica Lodge, the nice Betty Cooper, glutinous Jughead Jones and others? These vintage books were far more funny and entertaining than the updated versions on the market now which try to get political and follow technological and social trends. After spotting ads with these comics featuring Barack Obama and Sarah Palin on the cover and another with the gang attending the wedding to two male soldiers to each other, I just shook my head. Some things should just stay the same.

Wooden cart
My father built a wooden cart as a DIY project to help gather the cut grass after he mowed our yard. We had hours of fun in the cart as we begged for rides.

Board Games
This list would not be complete without board games as many happy hours were spent playing Snake and Ladder, Ludo, Draughts, Monopoly and other games.