Your Favorite Pastime As a Child...

[Viola]

I remember once however, deciding that one of my barbies should have short instead of long hair... the results were not what I expected and took it to my mom in tears.

I also very distinctly remember thinking that all my stuffed animals actually had feelings

Heh. We must have been seperated at birth. The one who felt my hair-cutting creativity the worst was a My Little Pony. I only did that once... it never did grow back out! [huh]

All my stuffed animals lived on the bed. They would be sad if they had to go into the closet. And nobody wants a sad stuffed animal.

I had a lot of random plushies as well as bears; a hedgehog, a bunch of raccoons, a stuffed snake. I was especially fond of a stuffed goat named George, and still have him. The stuffed goat was probably some sort of emblem of being a strange little child.

 

[clevispin]

I always really enjoyed taking my beagle out to the forest. It was relaxing to see the dog work a scent and to daydream.

m

 

[JustJen]

lol...I did the Barbie "hair treatment" as well. I didn't have too many toys that were played with on a regular basis except for my bike. We lived near a creek and would hang out there hunting crawfish and playing make-believe. Or we would ride up to our elementary school to play with our schoolmates after class. We had pretty good imaginations. Doesn't really have any bearing on what I do now, other than I appreciate simpler things for my kids. My 6 year old has a wonderful imagination. 9 times out 10, they don't play with storebought toys. It's a relief not to have to keep up with the Joneses in that respect.

 

[John in Covina]

My 6 year old has a wonderful imagination. 9 times out 10, they don't play with storebought toys.

This is when parents sometimes get perplexed that the kids get as much fun playing with the big cardboard box a home appliance came in over other modern toys!:eusa_doh:

 

[Braxton36]

I'd never thought about the correlation between play and later-in-life. It makes sense, though. Although I did all the normal boy-stuff for my era, I was a rather avid coin collector in the privacy of my own home. I even used to get them as presents. Nerdy, huh? Fast-forward many years later and I'm still fooling around with money every day although far more of it belongs to other people than to me.

 

[G. Fink-Nottle]

Baseball. Playing it. Reading about it. Listening to it. Watching it. As Jim Bouton wrote, "You spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball
and in the end it turns out that it was the other way around all the time."

I wanted to be the next Jim Palmer or Steve Carlton. Alas, I had no control. I also couldn't hit anything.

I wound up in the financial world. It's been pretty good to me but playing in Yankee Stadium - that would be the life!

 

[EL COLORADO]

Playing dice in the back a the school in the fifth grade, for other kids lunch money.
Heh, heh.




EC

 

[Zepp]

I loved vintage aircraft (and still do). My bedroom was filled with Revell, Monogram, and Airfix plastic models and Guillow balsa and tissue planes. When I wasn't building model planes I was down at the library checking out books on aviation history. I also had a couple of the Cox control line airplanes - what fun!

My interest in flying things didn't stop at planes. As a kid in the 60s, I was one of millions who lived and breathed the space program. Everything about Gemini and Apollo fascinated me, and I built and flew many Estes and Centuri model rockets.

In my early teens I discovered electronics and spent endless hours scrounging parts from junk tube TVs and radios to build other gadgets.

All of those hobbies had a definite influence on my grownup life. I joined the Navy right out of high school and became an aviation electronics technician. Today I'm an airline ground school instructor, teaching Airbus systems to our pilots. Being paid to spend my days talking about aviation is a dream job for me.

I did learn to fly in the late 90s, but found it to be too darn expensive to keep as a hobby. My only stick time these days is when I catch a ride with a buddy who owns a beautiful Kitfox. On the electronic side I still spend a lot of time building and operating ham radio gear. My callsign is K?òVJ, and yep, I'm a golden era ham at heart. My favorite mode is CW (Morse code), and I've built several tube transmitters and receivers from old stock parts and 1930s and 40s era ARRL handbooks. Although my ham shack is equipped with modern Ten-Tec gear, my favorite radio of those I own is a WWII surplus BC-348Q, the receiver that sat on the radio operator's table in every B-17 bomber.

Cool thread!

 

[Cousin Hepcat]

All of those hobbies had a definite influence on my grownup life. I joined the Navy right out of high school and became an aviation electronics technician. Today I'm an airline ground school instructor, teaching Airbus systems to our pilots. Being paid to spend my days talking about aviation is a dream job for me.

Zepp that is Beyond Cool! green with envy

yep, I'm a golden era ham at heart. My favorite mode is CW (Morse code), and I've built several tube transmitters and receivers from old stock parts and 1930s and 40s era ARRL handbooks. Although my ham shack is equipped with modern Ten-Tec gear, my favorite radio of those I own is a WWII surplus BC-348Q, the receiver that sat on the radio operator's table in every B-17 bomber.

Cool thread!

And how about that WWII era Boat Anchor stuff! The way it was built is Just Amazing. "Like a tank" doesn't tell the whole story. What a great hobby.


- Cousin Hepcat

 

[ArrowCollarMan]

History, drawing and playing dress-up. These are things I still do today. There isn't too much detail to it I guess, although for my whole life I go great spans of time being obsessed with one topic. That was trains, cowboys, pirates and explorer. Later it was the Soviet Union and the history of the cold war, the history fo war in general, things spanning from 1912-1925 oh, all kinds of things. But one thing is for certain...

I havn't changed a bit.

 

[Benny Holiday]

Great thread!

I was a Star Wars nut. (I can hear my wife's voice saying, "And that's changed how?!") I had figures and vehicles and spaceships and playsets all over the place. I still have my original figures, 1977 through to '83, that are
in mint condition and worth a small fortune.

My friends and I were forever riding our bikes. Most of the other kids had BMX bikes, but my Dad and I built my trusty dragster out of the remnants of other bikes and it was a fearsome sight to behold! We must have pedaled all over the surrounding neighbourhoods hundreds of times.

And swimming - summer is hot in Sydney and we all had backyard pools. We'd ride our bikes over to each others' houses and jump in the pool, usually only four or five foot above-ground pools, but they were the living end to a bunch of 10 year old boys and girls. What a fantastic childhood we had in the late 70's and early 80's. I hope my little one can know such fun and innocence.

 

[ITG]

Benny, I can relate. I have ships hanging from my toyroom's ceiling. I used to play with Star Wars too. They would be the little kids of my SheRa figures. Or if I got bored with that, I'd play with Barbies and have the She Ra figures as Barbie's kids. How I played with the Star Wars was probably a lot different than you did. Instead of having battles with the Empire, it'd be Luke and Han battling over Leia.

Other hobbies: riding my pony Swift Wind, go karting, playing Volleyball with my best friend in the street.

 

[Benny Holiday]

ITG, you'd have gotten on very well with my sister

I remember her playing with my figures the same way!

It was every girl's dream to have a pony when I was at school. (BTW, Swift Wind is a great name!) In those days, where I live was on the outskirts of Sydney, and past my High School the land was all semi-rural. Quite a few girls did have ponies, and rode them every day after school.

The big developers came in the late 80's and 90's and ruined that, unfortunately. As they say, "that's progress."

 

[TommySalieri]

Wow. It's truly fascinating how we all can relate on our childhoods.

I am a 90's child. I had the pleasure of growing up with Nintendo's, Play stations, and whatnot. However, I never spent a great deal of time with these things. Growing up in the big city, I never had the pleasure of playing at a nearby lake or in the wilderness, but I did make the best of what was available.

I usually played in brush that surrounded the apartment complex or in undeveloped city land that was populated by small "Hoovervilles" of homeless. In retrospect, that was pretty stupid of me, considering the dangers involved with being in a homeless village as an 11 year old.

Anyway, I recall creating unofficial "clubs" at school and in my neighborhood. I usually lead up to 60 kids at a time. That is, until my club at school was abolished by the faculty. My club at home, however, survived. "The Commando Club" was it's name. Pretty cheesy, but it served it's purpose. Time and time again, we went on high risk missions of great importance as we waged war with neighboring "knock-offs" of my kiddie militia with our Mexican Chili Cups of Mass Destruction, mud balls, and water guns. We hid in bushes and ambushed our enemies mercilessly....and promptly got in trouble with our parents for doing so.

Occasionally, things got physical in my neighborhood. I got into fist fights with other kids that, soon after, became my friends. Street fights and soldier role-playing aside, I also spent a lot of time making military models with my Dad and blowing things up with "bombs" smuggled in from across the border. I remember making a "police car" out of a cardboard box that once contained a Hoover vacuum cleaner. I colored an emergency lightbar on the sides with crayons and labeled it as my very own squad car. Using my own momentum, I would propel myself across the carpet going, "Weee-oooo, weee-oooo, weee-oooo" until it was thrown out once and for all by my Mother.

I mostly grew up with oldies. music from the 90's (Will Smith, Mase, Counting Crows, Sound garden, etc.), and a healthy amount of 80's music courtesy of my Mom.

As for carrying childhood dreams into adulthood - I was a Police Cadet for some time and I am pursuing a career in Law Enforcement. I am waiting for my Commission in the USMC.

Oh, man. Nothing like walking down memory lane. But I'll stop now.

 

[Cousin Hepcat]

Anyway, I recall creating unofficial "clubs" at school and in my neighborhood. I usually lead up to 60 kids at a time. That is, until my club at school was abolished by the faculty. My club at home, however, survived. "The Commando Club" was it's name. Pretty cheesy, but it served it's purpose.

lol Tommy, that's GREAT! lol Man, my side hurts... really enjoyed your post.

I mostly grew up with oldies. music from the 90's (Will Smith, Mase, Counting Crows, Sound garden, etc.), and a healthy amount of 80's music courtesy of my Mom.
...
Oh, man. Nothing like walking down memory lane. But I'll stop now.

Why? part of the purpose of the thread. Did you know, wayyy back in the 80s, Will Smith was known only as "The Fresh Prince" lol Heres his first album, got it hot off the press when it first came out...

As for carrying childhood dreams into adulthood - I was a Police Cadet for some time and I am pursuing a career in Law Enforcement. I am waiting for my Commission in the USMC.

You Go :fing28:

The big developers came in the late 80's and 90's and ruined that, unfortunately. As they say, "that's progress."

Hmmmm... Benny, you said a mouthful. My neighborhood was a "low income housing minority neighborhood" but everyone was Good People. Kids played outside with no worries and there was always at least one parent out there watching everyone's kids.

Around late 80s, developers burned down the woods separating us from some Really Rough (drug-ridden) neighborhoods & put up a Sheraton hotel & a through-street; thugs came flowing through and ruined the neighborhood within a couple years. A poor choice for the developers too: they called their new structure the "university Sheraton", to cater to visitors to the prestigious local Duke University; I remember hearing car windows being smashed and car alarms going off almost every night till they beefed up security... good thing I was about to graduate from high school anyway, & left for college

Benny, I can relate. I have ships hanging from my toyroom's ceiling. I used to play with Star Wars too.

Wow, you Still Have that stuff?! lol If you watched The Simpsons, did you see the one where Principal Skinner went ga-ga over action figures "in their original containers... why it's Luke, Darth, and Chewbacca... they're all here!" All that's left of my childhood is some records... *Hhhhhhh* (remembering the days when Luther Vandross and David Bowie were universally recognized as Just The Stuff, and rap was actually good clean "feel-good party music"... don't listen to the records anymore but probably could never sell em)

History, drawing and playing dress-up. These are things I still do today. ..
I havn't changed a bit.

Cool pic ArrowCollarMan! Would love to see more pics of folks when they were kids doing what they enjoy now.

Swing High,
- Cousin Hepcat

 

[ITG]

It was every girl's dream to have a pony when I was at school. (BTW, Swift Wind is a great name!)

Yeah, I was a big She Ra fan and couldn't resist naming him after her horse. His name fit him well, as one night my dad slapped him on the buttocks and at the same time some thunder sounded (rain was rolling in) and Swift Wind took off faster than he's ever gone before and I fell off when he rounded a corner.

Cousin, Yes, I still have the my Star Wars. I need to take updated pics.

 

[mysterygal]

with me, it all depended on how the weather was. Rainy days I would read or play pretend...sunny days, I'd be out with the neighborhood boys playing ,plastic machine gun in hand, crawling army style through the field by my house, catching gardner snakes and lots of bike riding

 

[Viola]

There was always attempting to get the family dog to play with me. He was good with kids in the sense he was rock-solid, but he had no sense of humor.

He was an Akita. He loved me, and protected me, but he did NOT play. He would just roll his eyes and sigh. He basically conveyed, "Where did you hear dogs catch balls? We don't. I saw you throw that ball, you can just go pick it up your damned self."

For whatever reason, my parents thought sending a 70 lb 10-year-old girl out the door with a 120 lb dog who assumed all traffic would get out of HIS way was a FABULOUS idea. lol

 

[TommySalieri]

I'm glad you enjoyed my post. I never really realized how unorthodox my childhood was until I looked back on it.

I actually used to listen to Will Smith while he was known as The Fresh Prince. Although I can't say that I watched his show often. My interest in Will Smith peaked around 1997 when "Men In Black" and "Gettin' Jiggy With It" were cool and popular to dance to. Will Smith proved that you didin't need to curse or mention anything negative in order to make a good rap song. Unfortunately, in the 9 years since those days, rap has mutated into this mindless garbage. So, I second your opinion on that. Man, kids now and days are so vain...

Did you listen to Bobby Brown, Color Me Badd, and Depeche Mode? MTV was actually all about the music back then. Gosh, I remember when MTV used to show Phil Collins music videos.

Other noteworthy artists I should mention are Real McCoy, Semisonic, Presidents of the USA, Smashing Pumpkins, Babyface, Blackstreet, No Fear, and Amber. Man, those were the days...

 

[Cousin Hepcat]

I'm glad you enjoyed my post. I never really realized how unorthodox my childhood was until I looked back on it.

I actually used to listen to Will Smith while he was known as The Fresh Prince. Although I can't say that I watched his show often. My interest in Will Smith peaked around 1997 when "Men In Black" and "Gettin' Jiggy With It" were cool and popular to dance to. Will Smith proved that you didin't need to curse or mention anything negative in order to make a good rap song.

You got that right - Smith was one of the last "good guys" of rap coming out of the 80s / early 90s without selling out to the gangsta #$%@! When Eazy E & all the wannabe thugs came on, I pretty much quit listening to anything new, just oldies, mainly 30s-40s swing bands & some jazz & r&b from different eras. Bobby Brown was definitely Mega Big where I grew up!

Swing High,
- Cousin Hepcat