Who Remembers These Toys from the 1960s?
It’s nostalgia time again, kids! In the past, I’ve told you about some games I liked as a kid growing up in the 1960s. Here are a few more beloved toys that came to mind today.
Mr. Machine
This was fun because you could construct and deconstruct this guy as many times as you wanted.
Mousetrap
This Milton-Bradley game was all about putting together a complicated, Rube Goldberg-esque contraption that ultimately would end in trapping a mouse.
Thingmaker
You squeezed ‘goop’ into a mold and then cooked it up to make your own plastic toys.
Incredible Edibles
This was a lot like Thingmaker except that the things you made were edible. There were creepy shapes, like worms. I thought they tasted crappy but it was fun to make them.
Kenner Easy-Show Projector
You could project movies with your very own mini-movie projector. It was so cool. But I remember accidentally breaking it soon after I got it.
You can still get some of these toys used on E-bay or from some other sources. Read about other old toys at Retro Toys.
Do YOU remember playing with any of these toys?
(photo of Mr. Machine from OliverGoodStuff.com)
January 1st, 2007 at 12:15 pm
Happy New Year Rhea! No, I don’t remember playing with these toys….but…I bet my kids do!!!!! I played with dollies that had melting rubber bodies, paper dolls cut out from McCalls magazine, danced to a 78 record of the Hungarian Rhapsody #2 with a scarf on my head acting as long hair, rode a tricycle with the biggest front wheel you have ever seen…had a Royce Union second hand 1 gear….my feet…bike….got a 3 speed at the age of 11…a marvel of the times…you get the picture.
Hope 2007 brings you all that you want…not need. The old lady blogger….rosemary
January 1st, 2007 at 12:35 pm
Were not Pet Rocks part of the 60’s too? The toy that required a different set of rules?
January 1st, 2007 at 1:22 pm
Rosemary: Ohhhh, I see. An earlier time. Happy 2007 to you, too!
MotherPie: Actually, pet rocks were a 1970s thing.
January 1st, 2007 at 3:45 pm
The main thing that I remember from the Thingmaker was the smell of the ‘goop’ cooking – if I close my eyes I can still catch a whiff of it all these years later! And I most definitely remember the Kenner Easy-Show Projector – we used to show movies on the walls of our bedroom with it!
One thing that you don’t mention that I was thinking about the other day when I was trying to recall favorite Christmas toys was an Easy-Bake Oven. I know that they still have them now but I remember getting an original one when we were living in Arizona and I was in 2nd-grade. I loved that thing – thought I was a real Betty Crocker for awhile there! Thanks for the walk down memory lane, I’ll be back to stroll again sometime soon!
January 1st, 2007 at 3:51 pm
Happy New Year Rhea!
I’ve still got a Mr. Machine and Mousetrap in storage!
They’ll be fun to pull out for the grands!
January 1st, 2007 at 4:56 pm
I totally loved Mousetrap! What a great flashback.
Thanks for dropping by my blog. Always nice to meet new folks!
Happy 2007!
January 1st, 2007 at 5:44 pm
What a great post……..the only one I remember from your list was the Mousetrap game…..but, along with the link you provided, OMG what a trip down memory lane!!! Ones I remember were Battleship, Battling Tops, Toss Across, Kerplunk, Twister, Clue……..**sigh**…..thanks for the stroll Rhea…..:)
January 1st, 2007 at 6:27 pm
The kids across the street had mousetrap. We never played the game but liked setting up the Rube Goldberg-like device.
Happy new year Rhea.
January 1st, 2007 at 6:41 pm
I didn’t play with any of these, but I went and looked at the site, and found an old favorite doll, Chrissy. Hadn’t thought of so many of those toys in so many years! Thanks for the link to memories!
January 1st, 2007 at 7:05 pm
Linda: The goop’s smell is memorable for a lot of folks. I used to use my projector in a closet, the only dark-enough spot in my house.
Seamus: Oh, you still have some of these toys. Cool!
Barb: I played Twister and Clue, too.
Wesley: Good to hear from ya!
Sassy: Chrissy. How feminine. Glad to bring back some memories.
January 1st, 2007 at 9:03 pm
We have Mousetrap! The boys love it! I remember playing it as a kid as well. Some games stand the test of time.
January 1st, 2007 at 10:34 pm
I had mousetrap, but it was so complicated setting it up, it was only played with once.
January 2nd, 2007 at 12:38 am
I only remember mousetrap. I also remember live mousetraps. And I remember rat traps. I also remember SMACKING MY HAND ON A RAT TRAP … TWICE. OOOOWWWW.
January 2nd, 2007 at 7:51 am
Mousetrap I remember very well. Thingmaker and Incredible Edibles-nope mom wouldn’t let these anywhere near our place(s) of residence. Easy Show movie projector. Yep-that one was the one real hit among me and my brothers.
I love toys. I don’t *collect* them in that sense, but I love the nostalgia they evoke. Christmas 2005 I got my son-a fav from his childhood-Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and by daughter was ga ga of Scooby-Doo-she got a Mystery Van.
Me? I got a Rubik’s cube.
January 2nd, 2007 at 9:05 am
I kinda sorta remember Mousetrap but that is it.
January 2nd, 2007 at 11:41 am
SilverNeurotic: Uh, that was actually why kids played with it. It was hard to do.
Dory Dad: Be careful!
Deborah: Thanks for writing in!
LisaB: Perhaps you are a bit young to remember these toys. We love you anyway!!
January 2nd, 2007 at 1:07 pm
I had both Mr. Machine and Mousetrap. I’ll also admit here that I had an Easy Bake Oven. My friends all laughed and made jokes about me having one, but they all ate the brownies I cooked, too.
(For what it’s worth, MY WIFE will testify to the fact that I’m straight…)
January 2nd, 2007 at 1:22 pm
Suldog: I think it is very sweet that you had the oven. Mostly girls had that. That makes you gay. Sorry, guy.
January 2nd, 2007 at 1:37 pm
Awww man Rhea, you brought back a few memories…..but where’s the Lincoln Logs??!
January 2nd, 2007 at 1:51 pm
Slick: I think Lincoln Logs predated me. That means you must be reaaaallllyy old.
January 2nd, 2007 at 3:35 pm
Aw, geez, just ’cause I had the oven I’m gay? OK, I take it back. I had a… football. Yeah, a football!
Oh, alright, I had the oven. I used to shoot animals to cook in it, though. Hows that?
January 2nd, 2007 at 5:08 pm
I loved my thingmaker. There was even a butterfly mold- it’s the one that I used the most often. I remember the other toys, too, but thingmaker (Creepy Crawlies and Fun Flowers) was the only one I actually had.
January 2nd, 2007 at 5:26 pm
Oh! I want another Mousetrap! I was too young to really work our family version, though I loved to watch other players invent. By the time I was dextrous enough to play, it had been given away. (cue the violins)
January 2nd, 2007 at 6:50 pm
I loved the Thingmaker!!!!
It was totally dangerous, though, I got several nasty burns from that thing.
January 2nd, 2007 at 7:06 pm
thanks for swinging by my blog.
i LOVED mousetrap when i was younger — the only major problem was that if any of the pieces got slightly bent, the entire thing was toast. i think we owned two of them – one for the game and the other for “parts.”
*millie
http://nycentertainmentaddict.blogspot.com
January 2nd, 2007 at 9:43 pm
Ohhhh, I didn’t have Thingmaker, but I did have Creepy Crawlers! I LOVED that thing! And of course, I had Mousetrap
January 3rd, 2007 at 8:45 am
Verdict rendered: Mousetrap and Thingmaker were the most popular toys of the group of toys that I posted about.
January 3rd, 2007 at 9:55 am
Oh my God! These are toooo funny! “Mr. Machine”???? I am a child of the 70’s, so I don’t remember most of those, but I do remember “Mousetrap”.
January 3rd, 2007 at 10:36 am
I loved moustrap! I also had “Ants in the Pants,” Mr. Potato Head, and the Sunshine Family. (I still have these somehwere in our attic!) My mom and dad would never let us get the Easy Bake Oven though
January 3rd, 2007 at 1:26 pm
SUGAR: Mr. Machine rocked. Too bad you’re so young. Ha!
DebbiS: Did your parents not get the Easy Back Oven because of safety issues? ‘Cause if you read here, no one got burned on the big Easy Bake Oven light bulb, but a bunch of us got singed by our THINGMAKERs!!
January 7th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
Rhea, I’m a first-time reader but glad to see others enjoy what I write about. Here is my post from Christmas Eve.
http://patternsofink.blogspot.com/2006/12/toys-of-christmas-past.html
“Patterns of Ink” is full of nostalgic memories for Boomers.
Glad I found your site.
T.K.
January 8th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
You will all be glad to know that they still make Mousetrap. I saw it in the store when I was Christmas shopping. I was tempted to buy it for my 6-year old nephew, but didn’t. I think my sister and I probably would have spent more time playing with it than my nephew if I had gotten it.
We did not have Mousetrap, but our cousins did. We always wanted to play with it when we went to their house. (Other kids’ toys were always more fun than your own toys, weren’t they?)
January 8th, 2007 at 11:20 pm
I’m so old I had a clockwork Hornsby model train set – it went around and around and around and around and around and around and around and around and around and around and around and around and around and around and around and around and around – and I dink I’m still thizzy
July 23rd, 2007 at 1:35 pm
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February 6th, 2010 at 9:20 pm
Does anyone remember this toy? They were dense, oily rubber, pot bellied, funny faced dogs that hung on a string. WHEW! They were about 6 or 7 inches long. I’m not sure if this fits in with the forum here, but I would really appreciate it if anyone has info on whether or not they are still for sale. Thank-you!
July 30th, 2010 at 3:15 am
Shaker makers, you had molds diffrent hippie type people, took this special powder pored it into shaker cup added water. put the two halves of the mold together placed them into the lid put the lid on the cup shook the whole mess like a martini turned it upside down so goop sat in the mold you picked. left it for a few min carefully un molded the thing and put it on a base you could reuse placed a picket sign or flowers in its hand (that came with the set) and left it to shrink and dry over night and in the morning you painted them.