The Stuff in My Kid Pockets

It takes a lot to make a childhood.

Obviously there are essentials like love and affection from parents or guardians and tender loving care all round. A nice safe warm home with lots of good grub available also helps and a decent clean bed to kip in.

There is also the small matter of school so a washed uniform and PE kit and sturdy shoes go a long way too as well as folks who take an interest in your learning.

A few books and comics scattered about the home don't go amiss either and maybe a working TV. 

Once all these are in place with a sizable dash of good luck and good health, the real reason for childhood can take centre stage: playing.

The tools of play have never changed much: a decent imagination and a few toys and nik naks. If one is lacking then use more of the other.

Like many of you my own baby boomer childhood, 1960-1978, was garnished with the playthings of the day and it was often the smaller pocket toys which defined my existence.

At any one time I might have a whole cache of nik naks on my person, my pockets stuffed with more sweets and gizmos than a magician for hire.

These oddments included:

Pea shooter: a sturdy straw with a mouthpiece through which to shoot .... peas. The peas were the dried variety raided from the pantry, the king that came in boxes along with a huge white tablet. The sound they made as you blew was something like ploof but maybe you can describe it better!

Clackers: these were small plastic balls on a string with a plastic grip in the middle of it. the idea was to clack the balls as fast as you could both below and above your hand. A bit like hard nylon conkers they were eventually banned on account of possible shattering. They made a great sound though and a good clackering was as satisfying as seeing Lance Henrikson do his android knife trick in ALIENS years later.

Whoopee Cushion: more of a joke than a toy, these rubber fart bags were everywhere in the Sixties. You couldn't move for hidden whoopees and almost every time you sat down one went off. I hope Mister Whoopee the inventor made a mint as millions have been sold.

Catapult: these were basically lethal weapons for juniors and I'm amazed we were allowed to wander round in public with them. You got what you paid for with a catapult but the basic playground issue had a metal grip, a thick elastic pull and a hide ammo seat. I can't describe the sound it made but its not something I'd like to hear these days. My chosen ammo remains a locked memory but for the tougher kids it was a pocket full of pebbles. Any derelict house windows never stood a chance!

Flicker ring: these were so cool it made your eyes water. i think the correct term is lenticular and it was a craze. My fave flickers were TV related like the one you got with the Corgi UNCLE Thrushbuster and superb little Batman and Robin rings which were sold everywhere.

Clicker: I'm not sure of the exact name of these but essentially they were a tinplate shape with a sturdier piece of tin attached to the back. This was clicked with your thumb and the noise produced was like an armour plated cicada. It was loud and for anyone nearby very annoying!

Kazoo: equally annoying was the kazoo, a sort of plastic duck whistle that sounded like a strangled pheasant. Entire pop sings were kazood much to the disgust of anyone nearby. For the koazooless kid, a similar rasp could be made by blowing though tracing paper held over a plastic comb.

Half eaten packet of Fruit Gums: theses were always in the pockets of Sixties kids, poking out like the slithery heads of anenomes. For some reason the packet was always half eaten and a flap of paper and silver foil wrapper stuck out like a flag. the sweets could vary and might also have been polo fruits, opal fruits, fruit gums or Munchies [messy!].

What did you have stuffed in your kid pockets readers?