strangest, weirdist or just plain wrong toy from your youth

[Miss Brill]

Miss Brill -- Your post reminded me that, when I was a teenager, my family attended the Iowa State Fair, where you could buy little chameleons, which you could wear on your lapel or shirt -- a small ribbon wrapped around the litttle lizard, the ribbon attached to your shirt with a safety pin.

I had some of those too! I had a pair for 3-4 years until they finally died. They lived in a lidded fish tank & ate meal worms from the farmers co-op. I never wore them though, I didn't want to lose them.

 

[Miss Brill]

Anyone ever have one of these clapping monkeys? I still have mine.

Ewww! I hate those things! My cousin had one when we were kids & it scared me to death. Finally he left it sitting on the stairs of their apartment building & someone stole it. :eusa_clap

 

[Nick Charles]

how about Jarts throw em as high as you can and hope it doesn't stick in Grampas skull

 

[John in Covina]

how about Jarts throw em as high as you can and hope it doesn't stick in Grampas skull

*****
Jarts or Lawn Darts were great to play in a big back yard. I have personally imbeaded several into the oak trees in the back yard of my parents house in Copiague on the South shore of Lon Guyland.

One little compulsion for me was I always wanted to throw one (or more) of these off of the Empire State Building "just to see" what would happen if it hit anything or maybe (Heaven Forbid) anyone. You could just put it down as a childish Prank! Or Science project.

What was it they said about how hard a penny would hit if tossed off the ESB?

 

[Feraud]

It is amazing to see how many inappropriate toys were available for children.
Consider how some adults complain about the effects of tv or video games on the minds of our youths.

 

[Edward]

heh. Well, i guess it's easier to blame your child turning out a monster on inappropriate video games and movies than to accept it might have been poor upbringing - or the child was just an evil person!

I can't recall, but have we mentioned golliwogs? They were everywhere at one time, and then they just totally disappeared - obviously because a lot of folks felt they were racially offensive. I was really surprised to see them widely on sale in Blackpool when I was up there in June - I'd honestly thought they'd gone the way of the dodo everywhere. In a similar vein, how's this for inappropriate: as a child, my mother's favourite doll was a home-made ragdoll, with dark skin. The doll was called "Darky." Different times, I guess (it's quite possible many folks of my grandparents' generation lived most of their lives without ever encountering a non-white person, except maybe later on Asian doctors and nurses in the NHS). For all, though, that many folks feel people are over-sensitive / over-PC nowadays, I'm glad that we do live in an age where more care is taken about people's feelings in some respects.

 

[Fleur De Guerre]

I had some of those too! I had a pair for 3-4 years until they finally died. They lived in a lidded fish tank & ate meal worms from the farmers co-op. I never wore them though, I didn't want to lose them.

Check this out!

EEEK!

Roach jewellery

 

[Miss Brill]

Check this out!

EEEK!

Roach jewellery

Oh, that is awful! I was a total tomboy as a child & even I would have been grossed out by bugs. :eusa_doh: