Imagine rows and rows of long glass showcases –full of sparkly bling, beautiful antique glassware, rarities and collectibles.
Catherine and I were having a great time looking for sewing notions and thimbles, children’s hand crank sewing machines….
But we rounded a corner, found ourselves face to face with an entire showcase full of boxes of things we didn’t even KNOW existed – all POTATO HEAD related!
When I look at what kids are playing with now….and I look back at what we were playing with then…what a difference! I love how the things we played with then encouraged us to use our "imaginations" and we made our own fun.
Yes, this goes down to the “Weirdest thing in the antique mall” category ---
Did you know there were OTHER veggies, not just Potatoes?!
Where were these when I was a kid? I had Mrs Potato Head, but I never had the Potato Bird, Oscar the Orange, or Katie the Carrot! I feel short sheeted! Or is that Short Veggied?
Did you know that they had a Mr Potato Head Railroad?
Or a FRANKIE FRANK!?
((Who wants to stick a face on a hot dog anyway?!?))
Frenchy Fry??
Frenchy Fry??
There is also a Cookie Cucumber ---
Tooty Frooty Friends?!
Somehow I don’t know how much newer, different or exciting they could be….
Mr Green Pepper??
Really?
Mr Potato Head on the Moon with a cucumber and an onion??
And then Wild West Mr Potato Head…..
Pick a Veggie, add eyes, ears, noses ---
But then, this was “back the day” when I was entertained also by slinkies, wheel-o, silly putty and 10 cent super bouncing balls. Would kids of today think this was fun?
As if regular Mr Potato Head isn’t creepy enough ---
You can have JUMPING Mr & Mrs Potato Head!
Wind Her Up and Watch Her Go!
((We are laughing hysterically at this point!))
((What is that green thing she has…a vacuum? A duster in her hand??))
Oh goodness, it’s great to go browsing with a friend!
Frankie has lost his trousers!
Oh goodness, I think we had better stick to the sewing/quilt related stuff before they kick us out of the antique mall for making a disturbance in the toy aisle!
Each wandering trip through antique malls I try to find the WEIRDEST thing just for giggles….this trip was full of them, all toy related.
Things I do love to see in the juvenile section:
Oh, MEMORIES!
My brothers read Hardy Boys and I read Nancy Drew Mysteries growing up. I admit to also sneaking their copies of the Hardy Boys to read as well…..but I’m sure they would not be caught dead reading my Nancy Drews.
Oh, these stories take me back!
During the summers from the time I was 12 and “grown up” enough to do so – I’d fly from San Jose to Minneapolis and spend the summers with my Grannie and Grandpa John. I was a consummate book worm and spent many hours devouring Nancy Drews during those summer months. We’d purchase one ((At Clancy’s Toy Store ---Minneapolis)) and I’d be done with it in a couple of days and we’d have to pick up another one on our next run to town. Great memories. And a heavy suitcase on my way back home to San Jose before school started in the fall.
We still had plenty of time to browse, and I took several pics of antique quilts and machines and all that GOOD STUFF, be watching for photos of our finds in posts to come!
How Perfect!
This was a gift for Quilt Villa from Catherine at dinner last night. She attached another favorite thing from my childhood…..a TROLL!
No matter how old I get – that little girl inside of me keeps pulling me back, speaking to my heart, making me remember when, and keeping the fun in the forefront.
This morning I am meeting up with the Colonial Piecemakers of Williamsburg, VA – Talkin’ Turkey workshop will soon commence and we’ll be busy string piecing our way into a happy mess.
I hope everyone attending will also be bringing their own inner child along for the ride – it promises to be a fun time.
Have a great Friday, Everyone!
30 comments:
gee a whole world of mr potato head that was completely unknown to me...i knew i had been deprived as a child....wish i had all my nancy drew books today. pretty sure i read them all....thanks for such enlightenment so early in the day!...LOL
I remember Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. I also remember the Bobsie twins and the super hero comic books for 8 cents each! I was also a bookworm and read everything i could get my dad to buy me when we went shopping.
I loved both the nancy drew and hardy boys books! I grew up with Mr.and Mrs Potatoe heads too... never heard of the veggie ones!
I have a purple haired troll. Not sure exactly when/why I got it, but my hubby took one look and called him Don King. My son was just learning to talk at the time and he called him Don King toO! So cute!
Good thing there hasn't been additions to make the turkey talk - right from the oven. that surely would make a mess LOL!
Remember that trolls used to smell like fruit candy?
Thank you for making me laugh!
Love from Witmarsum,
Irene
I love trolls. Still have some of my childhood ones. I didn't know about all the rest of the potato head veggie family either.What a trip.
I, too, read all the Nancy drew and hardy boy mysteries. Thanks for the memory trip!
Thanks for a hilarious trip down memory lane! Brainstorming a Mr. potato head quilt now ;)
oh that mr potato head collection was amazing. I could so totally have that on display, but I bet it cost a lot more than I'd be willing to pay. woohoo, troll!
I only read one Nancy Drew. I did not care for it as I read many many horse stories. All I could get. Branched out into Zane Gray Westerns. I also read all the Science Fiction I could get as those were actually my Mom'a favorites. I read a lot of classics like Little Women series and Five Little Peppers and how they grew. I read all the Tarzan series. Oh good memories and yes I still have a lot of them in my bookcase.
OMGosh...that was hysterical! I never knew they existed either...LOL. Great Post. Laughing makes one feel so good. Between this and the abbr. discussion at theinboxjaunt.com my side is hurting from laughing so hard.
Have fun sewing today! My wonky wishes stars are taking shape! yay!
Great fun! And I loved the trolls too. I had a whole little house set up for all my trolls and "sewed" little outfits for them! Wondering now where they all went?!
Wonderful trip down memory lane. My first book series was the The Boxcar Kids. Then I was hooked. Mom would make me go outside as I would sit and read all day and night. The library only let me have 5 books at a time. That summer I was back every 3 days. I wouldn't change our childhood for anything. Thanks Bonnie for the fun post. Today will be a happy day. Have fun Talkin Turkey.
I had NO clue they made all those different types of Veggies to add faces too. What a Hoot! I love browsing for the dolls of my childhood. My sister and I got "Suzette" dolls instead of Barbies. And my Baby doll that was as big as a real baby. I'd like to have it again. Still searching. So did yu find any treasures to share?
Such fun! I do remember a lot of the other veggies related to Mr Potato Head. Not sure I had any myself...
Love all the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Books!
Have a great class today!
OH those were the times! Seeing the Nancy Drew books bring me back in time so quickly. When I was about 11 yrs old, I disliked having to go to Girl Scouts. So when I left school, the town library was on the route to the meeting house. I took time and went in ... the Librarian offered me Nancy Drew --- as the assaying goes "The rest is history ..." Been a mystery book ever since!!! I bless that lady every day!!! :)
Smilies
JulieinTN
Bonnie, I loved Nancy Drew too! Do you have any of the Nancy Drew fabric line by Moda?
Oh my, your troll reminded me of some fabric I have in my stash two yards of bright trolls on bright aqua fabric. I was going to make it into a kids quilt for charity, but life got in the way. Now think I will make it into a quilt for my daughter since she had a collection of trolls as a kid. Will try to email you a picture.
Okay, the 'veggie' head assortment is hilarious.
I never really got into Nancy Drew, but I loved the Trixie Belden mysteries. I still enjoy re-reading them from time to time, even now.
Thanks for the funnies this morning!
If you didn't have pictures of Mr. Potato Head on the moon with his sidekicks, we wouldn't believe you!
Just goes to show you we are obsessed with carbs via the potato family
Jan
OH! I had Oscar the Orange to go with my Mr. Potato Head! LOL.
Nancy Drew mysteries bring back fond memories too.
Oh wow!!!! I have never seen these before - I'd have been thrilled with them as a child :) Actually, our two-year-old grandson loves his Mr Potato Head - it's one of his very favorite toys. And I read all those books too while visiting with my grandmother in Baltimore .... my, my, my - thanks for evoking those wonderful memories!!!
I'm working on Talkin' Turkey today too! Three of us get together every other Friday at my house and work on TT. We share scraps to make our reds go farther and have a ball together. Today they were not able to come, but I'm working on mine anyway :)
Loved Nancy Drew, the Bobbsey Twins and add Cherry Ames to the list. I have a birthmark, so could not be out in the sun a lot during the summer. Reading was my summer (and the rest of the year too) fun.
It was definitely a Depends kind of adventure, everything struck us as funny or made our little hearts skip a beat........ Hang on for the quilts and machines share, simply grand, between what we encountered and the time spent together, well, just an incredibly blessed and lucky lucky girl am I............
Weirdly, I have seen Katie the Carrot before, but none of the others. That must have been someone's collection for sale.
I didn't have a "real" Mr Potato Head, just a rip-off version of plastic facial features labelled something like "Mr Vegetable Face" and probably made in Japan - which is where junky toys came from in those days.
As someone said, Mr. Potato Head is still around today. My granddaughter got one from Santa this year. Did anyone besides me read the Cherry Ames series? She was a nurse.
We had a "Katie the Carrot". Ah, the memories. I wonder what ever happened to Katie? :)
My kids had Mr Potato Head Wild West. Isn't it fun to see and remember the "oldies"?! LOL
Brings new meaning to "playing with your food". LoL..... yes, I remember reading a bunch of the Hardy boys and the Nancy Drew... now my nieces daughter is reading them. The grandkids will be next.
Haha, when I was a kid, Mr. Potato Head didn't come with a body. You had to ask your mom for a real potato to use, and you stuck the arms and legs and other things into it. All the limbs etc. had a sharp tack on them so you could stick them in. (there was no concept of toy safety regulation in those days, I guess). The bad thing about that (besides the sharp parts) was that if you forgot about the pierced potato it would end up a week later in your toy box as a smelly pile of mush. (don't ask me how I know this) And then your mother wouldn't give you a potato to use as Mr.Potato Head for a long time after that. Waah!
I remember having the carrot, cucumber and green pepper:) When I tell my kids about crazy toys like this they look at me like I'm making it up. I'll have to take them to an antique store one of these days. Thanks for sharing.
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