Childhood

I ran across this very cool Lego ad, and it got me thinking back to how much fun it was to be a kid in the 1970's. Here is a list of games/toys that pervaded my childhood in a big way:

Lincoln Logs - my gramma had a big can of these, and my brother and cousins and I would build log cabins for Barbie, Luke, Leia and Han to play in. Or destroy. Either way, they smelled all woody, the chimney was the best part, we would randomly slap each other with the green roof slats, and I wish I had a set right now because I have a very strong urge to build something up and knock it down.


Constructo Straws - these were fun, pliable multi-colored plactic straws that you could hook together with little wheelie bits to make outrageous shapes and designs. You could also use the straws as weapons and slap the crap out of your little brother (or vice versa).


Superstition board game - this wasn't a very mainstream board game, but my mom was a big believer in board games and either my brother or I probably begged for this one. It was really cool, as there was an element of horror to it. It took place in a graveyard, there were neat contraptions that you set up, and if your gamepiece landed on one of them, you had to beat the ghost or mummy or whatever by surviving the contraption (breaking mirror, falling ladder, etc.). It was a bitch to set up, as many of the contraptions relied on springs/rubber bands to set off the "motion", but the effort was worth it.



4 Square - we played this in the schoolyard from 1st grade through 6th grade. We had all these really sharp strategies, like "spiking" the ball really high in the air to throw off our opponents, or baby-dribble, or "spinning" the ball so it would bounce in another square, but come right back to you which would oust the opposing player. I don't think kids play this anymore - well, maybe in ND, but I've not seen any 4 Square diagrams on any schoolyards here in St. Louis. I remember my schoolmate Steve DeLap was the king of the 4 Square...he also liked to play vampire and run around biting girls necks. Naturally, we didn't mind. ;-)


Kick The Can - a classic neighborhood game, you set up a can (pop, coffee) and one team attempted to tag players from the opposing team. If you were tagged, you had to go to "jail", and if one of your teammates kicked the can without getting tagged, it set you free. We used to play this well after dark, with our moms yelling from our backyards to get our behinds home for bathtime. This made for many a decent summer night.

Red Rover - I remember playing this when I was very little. The kids would form opposing lines on either end of the yard, and one team would ask "Red Rover, Red Rover, send (kid) on over". So, this kid would them bum rush the opposing line and attempt to break through. If they did, they could choose someone from that broken line to go back to their line with them. It was kind of violent, all arms and headbutts.


Seven Up - sometimes called "Heads Down, Thumbs Up", this was a game we used to play in class. There would be 7 kids standing at the front of the room, and the rest of us would put our heads down on the desk, close our eyes (yeah, right), and place our clenched fists with thumbs up on the desk. The five students would then walk around the room stealthily, and each push down on the thumb of their choosing. Then they'd head back to the front of the room, you'd lift your head, and attempt towould then match them up. Easy peasy.

Tag - There was Freeze Tag, Disney Tag, Dinosaur Tag, Cartoon Tag. Jeez, I know I'm missing some. I think we made up a gazillian different variations, using whatever was popular at the time. Maybe He-Man Tag, or Star Wars Tag? Good times.

Kiss or Kill - boys against girls, and vice versa. We'd chase after a boy, tackle him, and then ask him "kiss or kill"? The boys always said "kill", at which point we'd have to punch them. When caught, we girls would always say "kiss", at which point the boy would get all disgusted and punch us in the arm. Never any kissing. But that didn't stop us from trying.

Crissy Doll - I'll end with this rare gem. Oh, she was a magical doll. And not just because we shared the same name. She was pretty big, maybe a foot and a half tall, with a knob on her back, a button on her tummy, and a head full of long, red hair that you could pull straight out of her head. She had really cool 1970's clothes as well, all Lawrence Welk showstoppers. My ADD would kick in, and instead of using the tummy button to let the hair out, I'd just give it a good yank. Eventually, I believe we couldn't get her hair back into her head.