It goes without saying that things were different when I was growing up — with Christmas almost here, I was thinking about toys. When I was young, I had a lot of toys, but not compared to what the average kid has today. There were a number of reasons, but if you went to a toy store (I never remember being In a toy (only) store until I was an adult — toys were sold in other stores… some of the bigger ones had separate “toy” departments) there wasn’t the infinite variety of toys available today. There were dolls for girls and a few trucks/cars for boys, although none of them looked “real” the way they do today. I also remember Lincoln Logs, Tinker Toys and a few other building sets. After the war, Erector Sets became available, because all the metal wasn’t being used for the war effort. And of course, there were games — not anywhere near the number available today and none were “electronic” — most were played on a board of some kind or with cards. We also often built our own toys, something that doesn’t happen much today. I remember making little “tractors” out of empty thread spools and “rubber” guns, that shot strips of rubber cut from old tire inner tubes…we made these “guns” out of wood that usually came from the grocery store when they threw out the wooden boxes that apples and oranges came in.
As far as “bigger” toys went, there were no skateboards or rollerblades, or battery powered vehicles. If you were lucky, you probably had a bike, maybe a scooter and (boys especially) maybe had a wagon — which brings me to the real topic for today. I don’t remember too much from my very early years, but I remember that when I was about 2 or 3 years old (I’m guessing at the age based on a couple of old pictures I’ve seen) my granddad made me a wagon. I think I remember him giving it to me and I remember playing with it. My granddad was a carpenter, not a “woodworker.” I’m sure the wagon wasn’t a “polished” product, but at 2 or 3 I don’t think that made a difference to me.
Well, here it is a lot of years later and I’m the grandad and my grandson just turned 3. I don’t know if modern kids play with wagons or even have wagons anymore… I don’t remember seeing a kid with a wagon for a long time. Most things that kids seem to like today require batteries, have motors, talk, light up, fly or something cool like that. Wagons don’t do much — they just kind of sit there, until you pull them… of course you can put “stuff” in them and haul it around — I think that’s what I did, and I remember it being a lot of fun — today? Maybe not so much.
But all that aside, I decided to build my grandson a wagon. Not because he asked for one, but because I wanted to. A lot of years from now will he remember and want to build his grandson a wagon? Maybe, maybe not… but it doesn’t matter. As long as he loves his grandson and does something with him — that’s what its all about.
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