TOY GADGETS, GIZMOS AND GEIGERS

I loved gadgets as a kid. Cameras, telescopes, pen knives, missile-firing attache cases and torches. You name it, a toy company made it in the Sixties. Companies like Topper, Thomas Salter, RedBox all provided an armoury of gizmo's. There are some though, which I've never seen before apart from on the web. Here are a couple.

This is the amazing Robinson's Geiger Counter. Can you imagine a more unusual kids' toy? I never had one nor have I ever seen one in the flesh. I wonder what made this toy's needle move? Proximity to sweets and chocolate? ha ha. Anyone got one of these bad boys?

This is Distant Early Warning Radar Station is by Masudaya I think. Bleeping in straight from the cold war, this and the Geiger counter represent possibly a more dangerous time in the world and go to show that toys really are social history. Picture by Vectis.

I did have some toy gizmo's and one I recall with great fondness was the Action Man field radio by Palitoy. A portable army radio with headphones and aerial for our 12 inch military friend, it was a thing of beauty. Did you have one of these readers?

For more Atomic age toys you can check out Oobject, where there is a toy atomic reactor amongst many others. The site describes them as objects of irony. Surely they are simply products of their time with no irony ever intended at all? What do you think?