Talking to modern High School kids reveals that the Christmas presents of choice this year will be laptops, Xboxes and computer games. There isn't much play value in these, not in the way me and my mates would have played with toys like Major Matt Mason and Crossfire. But I suppose High School kids aged 11-16 are too old for toys.
Being in my 50's now I am struggling to rememberanything when I stopped playing with toys. I'm assuming it was around the age of 10. When did you stop playing?
Being in my 50's now I am struggling to remember
Me in our old Preston garden circa 1967.
Playing with the washing line pole. Note the nobbley Knees and basin haircut!
Great reminder Woodsy of how times they are a'changing. There's a vast difference, worth of universes, between playing within a pre-given grid and unrestricted playfulness.
ReplyDeleteStill got the knobbly knees and most of the haircut woodstock! I still play, i moved from carpet to bedroom shelf, to 16 bit computers and on now to xbox etc. But i still play with toys, not for endless hours though! My son is 10 now and had brief spates of toy interest, now its been displaced with football exclusively!
ReplyDeleteGreat pic Woodster...looks like you are preempting Star Wars there with your washing line pole Light Saber!
ReplyDeleteCheers Ed. Hope your'e good. I do miss all the games we used to play in that old garden when I was a kid - they always involved lots of weapons and war for some reason. There was a horror theme too - I once made a Haunted House using old doors leant against the fence. About five of them. I dangled rubber spiders and wobbley snakes through the gaps and scared anyone brave enough to crawl through with ghostly shrieks! I think I charged a penny for the privelege! ha ha! More of a Haunted Lean-To! Those were the days. Just watching Dog Soldiers on telly. GRRRRR!
ReplyDeleteThe Christmas of 1981 was a turning point for me.I was 11 years old at the time ,and instead of my brother and I asking for toys ,we(as a family)all agreed that the Atari 2600 video game system would be our single gift.In future years, I asked for trendy clothes so I could look sharp and hopefully catch the eye of a girl at school.Those old toys,however ,didn't go to the garbage dump.They're mostly all still here with me ,and I still take them out of the attic to share with my kids.By the way,I still have custody of that old Atari and have 200+ game cartridges for it.I always find them at flea markets for less than a dollar apiece.A very merry yuletide to you,Woodsy,and Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteI s'pose having been into HO scale model railroading for decades I was still technically playing with trains. Soooo, I guess I never really stopped playing. But these past couple of decades I've managed to come to terms with my inner child and started playing with real toys! Too old to play tag, 'red light green light', or 'hide-&-seek' though! :-)
ReplyDeleteI guess it was around 10 that my interest in playing with toys became an interest in miniature effects filming and stop motion animation.
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