Whistletown

Iv'e collected the little toys that fall out of crackers since I was a kid and they are one of my delights at Xmas. Modern cracker toys are invariably tape measures or paperclips or the classic Fortune Telling Fish, but back in the day, toys and charms were much more interesting.

As my current cracker haul in December was severely disappointing this year (even though all crackers are now obliged to clearly display their contents - spoiling the fun even more) I decided to take a quick look to see what yesteryear might provide and looked on ebay. Sure enough, there were a number of cracker novelities, but a set of three on a cheap buy it now, were perfect.

Three small sixties toys, all whistles. One is a missile shape, just under 2" long, with tiny fins and nozzle. The white one is the classic dart shaped spaceship, a design used in a similar, larger version whistle and the final is a neat black aeroplane, not dissimilar to the Vampire or Venom aircraft. All made in Hong Kong, as we have come to expect.

Due to problems with children swallowing stuff over the years, whistles like this have fallen out of favour, these three are especially small and vulnerable. Cereal premium kings R & L made a fine set of Whistles in the Hooty Toot series, but again, the two piece cereal inclusions were very small.

Not a whistle, but in a similar vein, Woodsy gave me this fine little japanese Glico rocket. Tiny premiums are much more popular in Japan, which possibly speaks volumes about the country. Its just under 2" again, with a tiny spring inside the rocket body, allowing it to launch. Fabulous!