Friday, June 11, 2010

Toyland 1960 (Part One)

If everyday is Halloween over at The Horrors of it All, then there shouldn't be any problem with it being Xmas in June over here at the new blog (NOTE: you only have 7 months until December anyway!) And okay, every kid knows that the only thing more fun than xmas itself is the xmas toy catalog. Ahhh, the fuzzy wuzzy pipedream of getting every single thing on every page that you happened to put a scratch mark next to (mom, if you're reading this I want the Dr. Seuss Zoo Set on page 3, and the Yogi Bear Score-A-Matic Ball Toss on page 11!) So let's follow the delicious little gingerbread man across the first half of this terrifically designed catalog of grand 60's kid treasures, I'll have the last half of the catalog in our next post.
















NEXT: Cowpoke Gear! Totally Off-Model Hanna-Barbera Stuffed Characters! Baby Toys! Dolls Dolls and More Dolls-- and other fun stuff to prepare young girls for a future life in the kitchen (plus sewing and ironing!)

8 comments:

Steve Pick said...

Just a couple of years before my time - I turned 2 around the time this book came out, I'm guessing - but oh, yeah, those were the most important publications of the year in my early childhood. Heck, I could probably still have fun with half these items.

Mykal Banta said...

I am loving this blog! Nothing gets me to the quick like good graphic design - of which these pages are a fine example.

I had the Electric Football. The guys, for the most post, went in circles - but it was still cool!

Mr. Karswell said...

>Heck, I could probably still have fun with half these items.

Me too. I was still 8 years away from being born when this catalog came out, but all of that stuff looks great to me (still.)

>Nothing gets me to the quick like good graphic design

Same here, and lots more great design in the other half of the catalog coming up next. I have a Stix, Baer, & Fuller toy catalog from the same year as well, it's over 40 pages long... I'm thinking about maybe posting it around xmas (which obviously makes more sense than posting it in the summer.) Thanks for the comments!

Prof. Grewbeard said...

cool, i was 1 & 1/2 when this came out but i can still remember how things were before spacemen, superheroes and monsters invaded the toy shelves...

Runs.with.Ferals said...

What made the stair-step Tricycle so great, is that it could be used like a Scooter to increase maneuverability in tight crowd situations. I used to use one whenever I ran away from home (between 3 and 6 years old), and they were awesome on sidewalks under Strip-mall awnings~! I would love to see Shaun White tear it up on one in the Summer Olympics~!

Mr. Karswell said...

>i can still remember how things were before spacemen, superheroes and monsters invaded the toy shelves

You mean The Dark Ages, Prof? *breaks into A World Without Heroes*

>I used to use one whenever I ran away from home

Haha... screw Shaun White, I wanna hear more about this!

Slayla said...

I want the Yogi ball game! Also that artist quill inking set looks kinda neat. I would have wanted that as a kid.

Mr. Karswell said...

I actually see the Yogi game around occasionally but I’ve yet to buy one, —mostly because there’s always something wrong with it. I’ll keep my eyes peeled!