ParentDish Size Six - Six favorite toys from childhood

by Sarah James (Subscribe to Sarah James's posts) Oct 28th 2007 3:01PM

I was recently pilfering through childhood photos when I found this one of me playing with my brand new kitchen on Christmas morning. Wasn't it high style? Man, I loved that kitchen.

It got me thinking about all of my favorite toys from the early-to-mid eighties.

1. The kitchen in the photo, obviously. I have no idea who the manufacturer was.

2. Easy Bake Oven - Does anyone remember the yellow one from the early 1980's? Those little cakes were tasty, and I certainly don't remember the oven cutting people's fingers off.

3. Strawberry Shortcake dolls - Oh, they smelled so good! I had Strawberry Shortcake, Blueberry Muffin, Sour Grapes and Purple Pie Man (he gave me nightmares).

4. Monchhichis - Well, these were just plain weird.

5. Dolly Pops - I can distinctly remember the clicking sound when you snapped the clothing on.

6. Cabbage Patch Kids - How could I leave these dolls off the list? I'm pretty sure I was the proud owner of five or six Cabbage Patch Kids. This was probably due to the fact that my mother had some sort of black market Cabbage Patch operation going on in our attic one holiday season. I kid, I kid.

Maybe.

What about you? Take me down memory lane!

Comments (28)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

southerncharm 10-28-2007 @ 3:32PM

I had every single one of these toys except Dolly Pops, I don't think I had those. I loved both my boy and girl Munchhichis! I still remember the song from the commercial! That's sad. :-)

aprilw 10-28-2007 @ 3:44PM

My sister and I had that exact same kitchen!

Ethel 10-28-2007 @ 3:53PM

For us it was Holly Hobby, the old Sit-n-Spin, a set of unpainted oak blocks, paper and pencils, lots of books, and a ratty old red one speed bike that I could do everything with.

deb 10-28-2007 @ 4:23PM

When we were shopping for a 1st birthday gift for a friend's kid a few weeks ago (thanks for the advice, btw!) we found those Corn Popper push toys and gushed. I totally remember those! They're exactly the same way they've been for generations. Plus, what toy is actually $10 these days. So cute...

Cathy 10-28-2007 @ 4:35PM

Gnip-gnop!

Anna 10-28-2007 @ 4:44PM

Snoopy snow-cone machine...my favorite!

JC 10-28-2007 @ 5:01PM

I still have Dolly Pops :)

andrea 10-28-2007 @ 7:55PM

Oh memory lane. I had totally forgotten about the Dolly Pops, I loved those things. Don't even get me started with Strawberry Shortcake, such a favorite that I chose her as my very first lunch box for kindergarten. I had such a crush on Huckleberry Pie, oh and he smelled so good.

I have to add the Barbie Star Traveler motor home as one of my childhood favorites. My parents didn't allow us to have many of the more "commercial" toys, but I was able to beg my way into a few things and this was probably my favorite.

comfortablycrazy 10-28-2007 @ 6:18PM

I had all but the first two. I also had an E.T. punching bag, Grumpy bear care bear, baby alive, and rainbow brite doll with twinks.

Sharri 10-28-2007 @ 8:24PM

Easy Bake Ovens were the best! That damn light bulb could cook a good cake. No one said Smurfs! Remember Papa Smurf and Lady Smurf and their little mushroom houses? I also had the Barbie hair salon and (dare I say it?) Donny and Marie Osmond dolls! Remember Lite Brite? (They couldn't spell in the 80's either.) Did anyone have Ginny dolls? They were all the rage at my elementary school. Kind of like early American Girl Dolls only a lot smaller.

metalia 10-28-2007 @ 9:37PM

Ack! The Purple Pie Man! He creeped me out to no end. As a kid, I was smitten with all things Annie, and even had the Daddy Warbucks mansion, with which I was obsessed.

Yes, such a thing existed.

Joy 10-28-2007 @ 10:11PM

I remember Flatsie dolls that came in frame like things. I loved those. I remember these dolls too but can't think of them, been thinking all evening but it alludes me...little dolls that came in some kind of "perfume like" bottles and they smelled so darn good. Also a Baby Boo doll that cried when you took the pacifier out of her mouth. Her batteries corroded inside mine and I was "sure" she was alive and went in her pants!! LOL!!! Good post to think back like this. As soon as I send this I know I'll think of something else. Oh yes....Trolls...I had so many of those....

katie 10-28-2007 @ 10:28PM

Did anyone have a Chrissy doll - "beautiful chrissy iwht beautiful hair that grows . . . " - you could pull her hair out of the top of her head to make it long . . . i LOVED her . . .

and "Hi Heidi" dolls . . . or am i dating myself??

I LOVED Lite Brite too . . .

Tamyu 10-28-2007 @ 11:37PM

Sit-N-Spin!! Seriously, Sit-N-Spin all the way. I would KILL to get one of those for my son. I loved that thing.
Other than that, I was a My Little Pony and Sylvanian Family (I think that`s what they were. Really, any of those little animal family ones. There were multiple brands.)

I had all the Strawberry Shortcakes, and even had their HUGE house... But they rank pretty far down in my memories for some reason.

Kept them all for years, packed away for the future. Somewhere along the line my mom (they were stored at my grandparents, away from her) got ahold of the ponies and sold the oldest, originals... Then gave the rest to my little sister who promptly gave them all away because she didn`t like them.
I still have the little animal families though. Brought them all the way to Japan with me (minus their houses, etc) in the hope that someday my children will play with them.

queenoqueens 10-29-2007 @ 5:32AM

The Barbie Dream House (I think that's what it was called, with the 3 floors and the elevator?). Definitely loved this thing.

I don't know if these were my favorites, but they are the ones I remember:
Twister, Barbie hairstyle bust, Klip Klops (I think that's what they were called, the balls on strings that you'd twirl around so they'd knock each other), ball and jacks, Colorforms (the vinyl clings that hung onto cardboard background scenes), my first bike, purple with the flower banana seat, spirograph, Clue, Life....

As for Lite Brite, I always wanted one. I never really wanted for anything...my parents took good care of me, but I never got one of those. Now that I have children and got them a Lite Brite, I know why! All those darn pegs everywhere!!!!

Alice 10-29-2007 @ 9:18AM

I totally agree about Sit n Spin - never had one, but I played with my cousins' a lot. Lite Brite - ooh, how I loved mine, and how Mom hated picking up those little pieces I'd get everywhere. I loved my Merlin and my Lemon Twist and my Chinese jumprope too.

Mama2kids 10-29-2007 @ 9:57AM

Wow! I had forgotten about Dolly Pops. I had those and I had completely forgot! I loved all the things on your list, plus Barbie & her pink Corvette, My Friend Dolls, Getting Fancy Kimberly and the Sunshine Family. I also loved the game Mousetrap, but my mom would never let us play with it because it had too many little pieces that could get lost.

LS 10-29-2007 @ 10:39AM

Cootie. Seriously, there is a game called "Cootie", where you gather parts of a bug. My cousin and I used to have Cootie Tournaments - we'd play all day long.

Also, Breyer Horses, before they became "collectibles". My Barbies (And Donny & Marie Dolls) rode horses instead of driving cars.

Sadie 10-29-2007 @ 10:46AM

I grew up very poor, but one Christmas my mother MADE me a kitchen just like yours out of cardboard appliance boxes that she carefully painted, and adorned with real knobs and handles. It was the greatest Christmas ever and now that I think about it, it makes me want to cry about how awesome my mom is.

I also had a Strawberry Shortcake doll, not sure of her name but it was the one who smelled like peaches...anyway, this doll "breathed" peach scent out her mouth when you squeezed her. I remember putting my mouth over hers and squeezing to see if I could *taste* the peach. I was a weird kid.

Jenna 10-29-2007 @ 10:43AM

I had a similar kitchen!

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