Presents of Christmas Past

I don't usually post about toys or games on my blog but as it's Christmas I'll make an exception for once. Sorting through various stuff today I found a box of some of my Christmas presents of long ago - from the 1960s when life was full of optimism and promise. Happy days. Anyway - I thought I'd take a few photos to show you.

Above is the Dan Dare Radio Station. This originally came out in the 1950s I think. I had mine for Christmas 1969 or 1970. The box design was looking dated even by then but it was an enjoyable toy. Kids today would be unimpressed with its 'walkie talkies' connected by 25 feet of wire and a 'radio station' that just buzzed or did morse code with a tap key and low watt bulb but kids of my time must have loved it as it was around for so long.

Next - Mouse Trap Game! Christmas 1969 I think. The original design. No I'm not setting it up for a photo. 

Cluedo. Again late sixties. Box design has changed considerably since. Loved this game.

Stingray jigsaw. Released around 1964/65. I'll probably sell this soon but I'll have to find time to put it together first to make sure all the pieces are there. (And I've never been too keen on jigsaws.)

Doctor Who Give-A-Show Projector. Christmas 1965. I still vividly remember protecting the comic-strip slide shows onto a big white sheet my mum and dad had hung up. (We had floral wallpaper back then. 1960s eh?)

Wild West City. Like most kids in the sixties I had a lot of those small plastic figures that Timpo made (soldiers / knights / cowboys). So when they released this Western town that clipped together it was a must-have. The Timpo figures in their own 'city'! I must have played with this for countless hours back then. Again this is from the late sixties.

Haunted House. This is from around 1970/71. A three dimensional board game. You build the 'house' (four rooms) with clip together walls and have to avoid the traps that are triggered by a ball bearing being dropped down the chimney. The ball could fall into any one of the four rooms and trigger a trap that hits the player's piece. Great fun.

Wartime edition of Monopoly. Someone gave me this second hand when I was a child. It's the Monopoly game that was released under wartime restrictions in World War 2 so the components are basically made of cheap card with wooden hotels and houses. Unfortunately by the time I received it it was even more of a cut-down version as the board and one of the pieces was missing but it still fascinated me all the same. (I had a contemporary version of the game in 1970 so I played that instead.)

As you can see - most of the items are still in very good condition. One of the benefits of being an only child perhaps in that there wasn't anyone to fight with over the toys and games and pull them apart. Also I was always taught to look after things as money was tight. Wise advice as it means these games will fetch more when I eventually sell them. At present though they bring back a lot of good memories of very happy Christmases of times past.