What Have You Saved From Your Childhood?

[Spitfire]

Zero - Nothing!

A photoalbum my parents made. Me 0 to eight years. Thats about it. Some of my things were thrown out by my parents, when I started living on my own. The few things I took with me, were lost on the way. Moving etc.

BUT when my son was five, he had so many teddybears, that I decided to buy one for myself! As a substitute to the one I lost back then.
He's still with me. Name: Winston.

 

[ITG]

ITG, I'm amazed you were able to save so much -- you must have *extremely* well behaved siblings!

There in lies the trick...I didn't get my first sibling til I was 15. Then as I got older my dad boxed up many of my toys and saved them for me in his attic. I finally got them 2.5 years ago when I bought my house and then turned one of my rooms into my Star Wars/80s toy room/Pooh Orphanage.

To see the room now, you can't hardly walk in there for all the wedding gifts stacked up. It's a complete mess.

My fiance is wanting to send my Pooh bear off to the dry cleaners to get cleaned. I said no b/c she wouldn't last through the chemical process.

 

[The Captain]

1930s Marx

One of my favorite childhood toys was this Marx wind-up police motorcycle that has a siren and runs around in a large circle. I have had it for at least sixty-five years. My research has lead me - nowhere. If anyone can help me learn more, I would appreciate it.

 

[BJonas]

Unfortunately, I have kept way too much from my childhood. I have a room full of toys, books, magazines, comics, and miscellaneous flotsam and jetsam from my youth. Maybe someday there will be a gigantic ebay sale, but not yet.

Not yet...

 

[DancingSweetie]

With me being the oldest sibling none of my toys survived, Barbies got tossed out when the hair got chopped or loss of limbs or decapitation occured. I do still have:
my baptism dress
one of my first shoes
a piece of paper with scribbles that my mom said was my first letter to my dad when he was in Vietnam
lots of pictures
all my old report cards and class pictures
my corsages from proms
my Catholic high school uniform
a pair of my ballet pointe shoes
programs from some of the ballets I performed in

 

[Polka Dot]

Many of my favorite things from childhood were from my grandma's house. Even back then, I knew I loved old things.

My own complete set of Nancy Drew books, modern editions
A nearly complete set of the Bobbsey Twins books, c. 1950
Report cards, awards, artwork
My mother's paper dolls, c. 1955
My own Shirley Temple paper dolls
An board game called Careers, c. 1955

 

[happyfilmluvguy]

1985 - my first toy, a teddy bear puppet that you could move it's arms and head with. It's still in the garage in a bag, I've been meaning to get it. I have a NEW childhood toy, even if I'm technically not a child that I plan to cherish for a very long time.

from a friend.

 

[The Captain]

One of my favorite childhood toys was this Marx wind-up police motorcycle that has a siren and runs around in a large circle. I have had it for at least sixty-five years. My research has lead me - nowhere. If anyone can help me learn more, I would appreciate it.

Here is an answer I received from a MARX expert:

Your MARX windup was made in 1938 in Erie, Pa. at the first plant Marx had. It came in a box and was called---POLICE MECHANICAL MOTORCYCLE--- & -- POLICE SIREN MOTORCYCLE. It sold for 57 CENTS. Marx made a series of motorcylces and all were different in size and style

 

[imoldfashioned]

I don't have much from my childhood. Most of it was stored at my grandmother's house and when she died I wasn't settled enough to take much. Not a big loss though--my mother kept buying me Barbie dolls that she wanted and I didn't.

I had an old quilt from my greatgrandmother (purchased not homemade but still pretty) that I kept until it literally disintegrated. I still miss it and hope I'll see one on ebay or something but no such luck so far.

My main childhood possession is my yellow stuffed rabbit I got for Easter when I was two years old. The wire that made her ears posable is worn out and the "fur" on her chest is completely worn away since I slept with her until I was 18 (don't tell anyone though) but she's still one of the first things I'd grab if there was a fire.

 

[The Captain]

A "valuable" lesson

The latest info I received on my MARX windup motorcycle proves one thing: Don't EVER discard anything; it's value will only increase.

"The toy came in a box. In the box and in great working condition, an antique store will have a $175.00 to $225.00 price tag with some room to bargain. Without the box, it still has a value of $150.00 and up."

 

[Katt in Hat]

A Body Surfing Board

Named Rosebud.

 

[fortworthgal]

I've got a stuffed Snoopy that my grandparents gave me on one of my first Christmases. My grandmother, who was very good with crafts, made a doghouse out of corrugated cardboard and even painted it to look like Snoopy's house in the cartoon, and put Snoopy inside it. Somewhere I've got a photo of that Christmas morning. It was magical. Anyway, I carried that stuffed dog everywhere with me until I was about 6 years old. My mother would have to wait until I was asleep to wash it or I would cry. I also went through a phase of tearing his ears off, so they've been re-sewn several times. He has definitely seen better days, but he is my most prized childhood possession, as both of my grandparents are now gone.

I also have an afghan my grandmother made for me, it is stored in a closet now. I had a massive Barbie collection (including the Malibu dreamhouse with working elevator), but those are long gone.

My husband has a collection of toy soldiers. Sometimes he will get 3 or 4 of them out and set them up in odd places to see if I'll notice. It sounds dumb, but it is pretty funny to unexpectedly find a four-man squad preparing to storm the alarm clock on the nightstand. lol

 

[olive bleu]

i have a rubberish doll that once belonged to my uncle(from the days when it was ok for boys to play with dolls).she has eyes that are permantly sideways and the worst receding hairline. Her name is "Twinkle Toes". who knows why her name is twinkle toes. her most remarkable feature would not be her toes at all, but her dirty blond, matted hair(what is left of it). When i was giving birth to my first son a few years ago, which was 3 months earlier than his expected date of arrival, I was pretty drugged & out of it . As they were pushing me down the hall towards the emergency room, we passed a mirror and i caught a glimpse of my disheveled self and said to my husband," oh, look...my hair looks like Twinkle Toes!" Although she had been packed away in a box for years, she obviously held a prominent place in my psyche.Twinkle Toes, is now no longer banished to a box but proudly sits on a shelf in my bedroom.

 

[Phaedra]

I still have

My Raggedy Ann doll since I was five and also a doll that my grandmother had made for me. They are both very sentimental and I know I'll always keep them.

 

[GeniusInTheLamp]

Not that much, but ...

My baseball card collection
A few newspaper clippings of famous deaths & sports news
A framed poster of "Bicentennial Illinoisans" that hangs on my office wall
Some cologne dispensers that a family friend found in his garbage truck (one is shaped like a lion on a pedestal; the other is a bust of Abraham Lincoln)
A Batman alarm clock (it doesn't work, but still looks good on the outside)
An old computer baseball game (which also doesn't work)
An old Confederate flag (which I found in an uncle's house)

Item from my past that I would love to find but probably won't :

A catalog (I don't remember which company) that featured several members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

 

[Barbigirl]

This last weekend I cleaned out some storage totes. I found a doll given to my on my first Chrismas, so named Christmas Baby. A brown teddy bear, a little stuffed blue elephant and a yellow duck rattle.

Christmas Baby is the only only I recall playing with regularly as I got a little older.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Olive Bleu, you made me laugh out loud! I love reading about everyone's sweet memories and cool stuff..