Besides sweets did you have any other regular supplies as a kid? Did your toys and models need stuff to keep them going?
Batteries spring to mind and I can see Pifco and especially Everready batteries everywhere at our old parents' home. I'm not sure who bought these but i think my Dad might have stocked them in his cash 'n' carry.
Cap gun caps were another provision needed every now and then. Rolls of them for those toy guns we all had, particularly cowboy repeaters. Did they sell caps in Newsagents?
Model paint like Humbrol is another thing Kids will have needed to keep modelling. I was never a big modeller so I'm not sure where you got it. Toy shops? Model shops?
What kept you going as a Kid readers?
Yes, some newsagents did supply caps, those pale blue paper rolls with brown-grey patches (of gunpowder?) that kept our guns noisy. Think Humbrol were sold by model shops, hardware shops and cycle shops.
ReplyDeleteNoisy guns, that was us for sure Andy! All those toy guns and we turned out OK didn't we?
DeleteI remember getting Airfix's own brand paint in small glass bottles and Airfix tube cement from the local newsagents. Used scissors to separate the kit parts back then until I discovered the model shops where you could get a much larger selection of kits, paints, glues and knives.
ReplyDeleteThose bottles sound neat Yorkie. I sort of remember them. Like touch-up bottle now.
DeleteFunny you mention cutting model parts from the sprue with scissors early on. I did too, and when I discovered Xacto knives circa 1965, it was a revelation to me. Not only could I cut parts off the sprue without mangling them, I could also whittle away a lot of the other stuff like flash and mold lines. My models started to look a little better then, and I still use those techniques today. But there was that golden "moment" when a new tool changed your craft forever...
DeleteWhat a brilliantly clear memory you have Zigg. I can't recall yesterday!
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