TOYS

I couldn't get our home wireless to work today and it was frustrating. I've come to depend on this junk for daily living and I can't even begin to think what my life would be reduced to if I didn't have access to it 24/7. For one thing, I wouldn't be blogging right now.

It got me thinking about the toys I used to enjoy when I was a kid and how happy I was playing with things that didn't plug in or have antennas to make them work. Do YOU remember?

MY TOP SEVEN LIST:

1. Matchbox Cars. The originals were created in 1952 by Jack Odell when he cast a small brass prototype and put it in a matchbox-sized container so his daughter could take it with her to school. No way these little guys could be anywhere but in first place for me. I had countless Matchbox Cars as a kid and I still have a case of about 40 originals that I treasure. They're in a closet at my house, never to be touched or played with - until my little grandson wants to, that is. Then they're fair game once again. I used to sit on one of those big oval braided rugs when I was 8 and push them around the 'track' one-by-one for hours. I have the one pictured in my collection, minus the original box.

2. Tinkertoys. Invented after a stone mason saw kids entertaining themselves by building things with pencils and spools of thread. I can still picture the things I made with them and can still remember hearing my mother telling me to be careful with those things because 'you could put an eye out.'

3. Play-doh. First sold as wallpaper cleaner. How's that for weirdness? You rolled it on the walls to remove coal dust. I just smelled it more than I played with it. It was one of those things you didn't think you were supposed to be smelling for hours, but you could get away with it without getting in trouble. And for some reason, it smelled nasty-awesome.

4. Trolls. Remember? Created in 1949 by a Danish fisherman (go figure) who needed a cheap Christmas gift for his daughter because he couldn't afford to buy anything. I don't actually remember playing with them, but they were freaky-looking enough to be cool and today I mostly see them swinging from car rear-view mirrors.

5. Slinky. Invented by Naval engineer Richard James. He accidentally knocked a spring off a shelf when he was working and it did what the slinky naturally does - it stair-stepped itself down to a stack of books, then to the table, then to the floor, where it righted itself into a cylinder. And -- voila! -- the SLINKY was born. In my circles it was kind of known as the 'nerdy' toy (of course, I WAS a nerd, so .....) but if you had one beside you right now, I guarantee you'd be messing with it. Don't kid yourself.

6. Legos. The 'chic' of cool. Invented by Ole Christiansen, a carpenter who lived in Denmark. The word comes from the Danish, LEg and GOdt, which mean together: "PLAY WELL." In Latin, "LEGO" means, "I put together." I could play with these guys for hours even today and never get bored. They've made a whole theme park out of it out there in California: LEGOLAND.

7. Lincoln Logs. Invented by John Lloyd Wright, Frank's son - a 'chip off the ol' block.' I never had a set - maybe they were too expensive, I don't know - but I LOVED playing with them whenever I went over to a friend's house who was richer than us. They always seemed to have them.

I probably missed YOUR favorite toy: Hula hoops, Raggedy Ann & Andy, Smurfs ... but this was MY list. What's yours?

AH, FOR THE SIMPLER LIFE! Hey, my wireless is working again now! Back to the grind.

And be blessed.