What were your favorite toys as a child?
by Jim Stamp on January 04, 2021.
My childhood preceded the high tech that is prevalent today. We had to use
REAL books and we had a telephone mounted on the wall. You had to crank the phone
to reach a telephone operator who would then patch you through. And that was after
you listened to see if someone else on your road was using the line! When I was three
I “pretended” I was reading the books that had been read to me by my Mom. I knew the
words on the page by the picture. AT the time, I probably didn’t realize that I wasn’t
really reading. After I started school, I went to the Mobile Library in Winona every
week to get 2 or 3 books to read
After moving to the farm, after my 4th birthday, my favorite thing was modeling clay. As
my brothers got older we would build clay forts, make clay horses and cowboys. Our
influence was the Saturday morning cowboy shows on TV. Roy Rogers. Gene Autry. Cisco
Kid. Hoot Gibson. Hopalong Cassiday. Lone Ranger. Red Ryder. Kit Carson. We would
spend so much time quietly creating our clay models that Mom would have to check to see
if we were still there.
Besides modeling clay, we had cap guns. So, we played cowboys and Indians with our Hopalong
Cassidy or Roy Rogers guns. Our ‘toy’ guns were very realistic and looked just like the guns
used by the ‘good guys’ on TV. I even had a cowboy cap rifle. By the time I was in the first
grade, my friends from Winona (3/4 miles from our driveway) would come out to the farm and
we would play all day in the barn or in the woods. (until time to do chores) We didn’t want to
be shooting our friends so we created make believe targets which we stealthily tracked and
captured. We ALL had cap guns and none of us ever killed anyone or actually shot anyone as
teens or adults as a result of playing with real looking guns as kids.
We had bicycles and Dad got us a beautiful pony which we named “Beauty” because that had
been the name of Dad’s pony when he was a kid. Loved that pony! Eventually Dad added
Hackney ponies and at one time I think we had 20 ponies in the barn. Fun times!!
Jim, Lee, Beauty, Bill Andre, Jay
When we got together with extended family, Grandma Andre at her house, or at Grandpa and
Grandma Stamp’s house with Uncle Bob, Aunt Jane, Dad and whoever, we played Canasta. We
were very serious about Canasta! and played for hours. We played on Thanksgiving, Christmas
Eve, Christmas Day, birthdays….
So…modeling clay, guns, cards and ponies! Those were the favorites! However, I can’t
forget knives. We started carrying pocket knives when we were six. WE needed them
to cut the bailer twine when we broke a bale of straw or hay! We also carried them to
school and most recesses during Junior High we played Mumbley-Peg. Everyone was
used to working with knives so I never heard of anyone getting hurt playing Mumbley-Peg.
Our teachers would come and watch us play. Also, I never heard of anyone at school using
a knife to threaten someone! Mumbley-Peg was a game of skill. We would stand with our
feet together. The other person would throw the knife 2 or 3 inches from your foot and
you moved your foot out to the knife. Then you threw your knife 2 or 3 inches from
the other guys foot. This continued until one of the contestants could not stretch any
further. But, no one ever got hurt!!!
By the time we milked the cows, fed the ponies, fed the pigs, fed the chickens and gathered
the eggs, cleaned stalls and spread straw in the shed, we didn’t have a lot of time to play with
toys. Ponies begged to be ridden and go for a run. (Almost like a dog begging to go for a ride
in the car) Weeds were needing to be pulled from the garden (Mom got us little Morton Salt
shakers) and we ate a lot of tomatoes right in the garden as a respite from the terrible chore
of weeding. After a field was plowed we picked up stones and put them in the trailer. Stones
could wreck the planters. Another horrifying chore was trying to rid the fields of mustard
weed. Mustard Weed was a very aggressive weed that threatened to choke out a field of grain.
So, we had to pull as much mustard weed as we could. It seemed that you could never get
ahead of those odious wees!
Once a week there was time for Piano lessons…. more about that later. I started with Helen
Bennett and then Lillian Dusenberry. By the time I took lessons from Mrs. Dusenberry I
rode my bike. What I recall was how extremely difficult that ride was if I hadn’t practiced
my lesson for the week. She knew!
Then there were Church related activities (Sunday School and Church), LTL (Loyal Temperance
Legion), later YTC (Youth Temperance Council), 4-H Club, 4-H band, 4-H Tractor Club, MYF
(Methodist Youth Fellowship), choir practice at church, FFA, French club, School band, Junior
Fair Board…toys were really NOT an important part of daily life. And I survived!
Our church, Winona Methodist, had a primary fund raiser to pay for expanding the basement
under the church sanctuary – chicken dinners. The chicken dinners were served family style
with mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, applesauce, cottage cheese and a variety of homemade
pies. The Junior MYF and the Senior MYF carried the food to the tables, got the refills,
poured the water and coffee. Then we had the privilege of eating as much as we wanted before
we cleared the tables when it was over. People came from Cleveland and Pittsburgh and all
points between.. It was a very popular event. The women of the Winona Methodist Church
knew how to cook!
Three brave cowboys with our trusty dog Champ and a ferocious tiger attack cat!
Beautiful Comet…Born on the Fourth of JulyJim Stamp, January 04, 2021