Random toy memories

During a break today, I got up to take a walk around the block.I passed by a school with a sandbox in which there were a couple of toy dump trucks made out of metal. suddenly, I remembered an old toy I had once had, a metal Jeep — just like the old Jeeps you see soldiers driving in the old movies about the Second World War — a toy Jeep that was probably made by the Tonka Toys company. I remember that old toy Jeep could go anywhere, at least in my imagination. I had a GI Joe doll that I would sometimes try to put in the Jeep, but since GI Joe’s knees didn’t bend, that wasn’t very satisfying. GI Joe lived in a shoe box down in the basement, and in the show box he had a number of outfits. The only outfit I remember was his winter outfit: a set of skis, and all-white clothes. Somehow, that captured my imagination; in my memory, I can only remember playing with GI Joe in the summer time, when I would think how much fun it would be to take him outside in his ski outfit and set him loose on the snow. When I got older, I did get interested in winter camping, and somehow I feel that playing with that old GI Joe doll and his ski outfit was one of the things that got me interested in winter camping. Twenty years after I stopped playing with GI Joe and the Jeep, I was a Boy Scout leader, and one winter we took the boys on a winter backpacking trip in the White Mountains. It was one of the best outdoor trips I’ve ever taken — sharing with a bunch of boys the beauty of the mountains in the winter, the joy of hiking when the air is hovering just above zero but you’re working so hard you only have to wear an undershirt, the thrill of challenging yourself physically and mentally.

5 thoughts on “Random toy memories”

  1. Jean

    I remember your GI Joe, but not the Jeep. I had a “Tammy” doll, who was a less voluptuous version of Barbie. She arrived packaged in a phone booth. I remember mostly that she spent a lot of time in the phone booth. I think I really wanted her to be a super hero.

    Do you remember the blocks we made cities out of? That was profoundly cool.

  2. Dan

    Blocks were absolutely the best toy we had. I still have two boxes of blocks sitting in my office at church (and yes, I have been known to play with them when no one’s around to see me).

    Some day I want to write about the connection between building blocks and the progressive educational movement know as the kindergarten movement.

  3. Abs

    Oh, my lord, I totally remember that Jeep. I LOVED it!!! Can’t say that I loved Jean’s Tammy doll (she was just NOT as cool as my Barbie), but G.I. Joe was ok. His parachute was way cool.
    But there’s a genetic thing here: the blocks were the best. I’m still jealous that Dan got the blocks. Sigh.

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