Around the holiday season each year I guess I’ve
mentioned to Stretch more than a few times about the old Sears “Wish Book”
catalogs that we last century kids used to pore over hoping that we’d get at
least a few of the toys/dolls/games that we circled and marked with stars and
arrows and anything else we could think of to attract our parents’ attention
when they flipped through the book.
Stretch came to me the other day and said that his
friend Debby had sent him a copy of one of these catalogs and he couldn’t see
what the big deal was. Did I really want one of these primitive computer-type
machines and this weird-looking camera when I was a kid? I patiently explained
that the book he got from Debby was actually a “century before last” catalog,
not the ones I had as a kid.
To clear up the matter, I searched the Web and found a
great site called WishbookWeb.com where
some nice folks have scanned copies of old Sears Wish Books in PDF format for
us baby boomers to browse and enjoy. With a big thanks to them, I was able to
show Stretch some of the fun items I enjoyed as a kid.
Stretch: So what kind of video/computer games did you
have?
Me: Well, we had something called “Board Games.” Like
this Barbie game I used to love to play with my cousins Melanie and Tess.
Remember? Mel and I played this again when we visited her a few years ago.
Stretch: Oh yeah. I've actually been trying to purge that memory of you guys in the prom gowns after the game . . . Well did you have any realistic three
dimensional games?
Me: Sure. There were these Disneykins/Tinykins. Gosh,
Tess and I used to create all kinds of scenes and activities with these
figures.
Stretch: So how about DVDs. Did you ever get DVDs for
Christmas?
Me: Well, we had something a little different called a
Viewmaster.
Stretch gave me one of those looks.
Me: But look, I did have something that was really
exciting. My Dad bought me this telescope when I was about 9 or 10. We used to
take it outside or set it up in the window when it was too cold to go outside.
You could see the moon really clearly, the rings of Saturn, and great views of
some of the constellations. My Dad loved anything having to do with space and
he passed that fascination on to me.
Stretch: So, did you ever spot the constellation “Stretch”
when you were looking through that telescope?
Me: No, my life
was a lot simpler and less “stretchful” in those days.
….to be continued
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