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Those of you who have passed the half-century
will probably breathe a nostalgic sigh when you look at the
little collection of toys and games on this page. Do you
remember the tin-plate spinning top? Press down hard on the
plunger and let it spin! Quite a jump to a Sony Playstation! And
the good old reliable 'marla' or 'mawlyah' as we called
Plasticine here in Ireland. Many a show-jumping arena or a
hurling match appeared on a kitchen table made from that simple
modelling clay - but wasn't it annoying when a sister or brother
rolled it all up together and all your lovely colours became a
dirty brown lump?
Oh and of course Blow Football - pre-Subbuteo. A very simple
game that brought hours of fun and its fair share of arguments
too. Two goals made from wire similar to that used in coat
hangers and two tin goalkeepers. the secret was that there was a
kind of a loop on the goalie's back through which the wire went
and you could move the keeper left and right to save shots from
the opposition. The little plastic ball was propelled by each
player blowing through a plastic tube about 10 cm. long and if
you took a deep breath and chose the right moment, you could
send that ball like a flash of lightning past the goalkeeper!
The tin cowboy, indian and cowgirl are clappers. You might
remember one being given free with The Dandy once. On the back
there was a length of tin similar to what we used tack on to
hurleys and whatever way it was loaded, it would make a sound
like a gunshot or if you left it on the floor, it would jump
into the air.
On the bottom left you can see a plastic Bagatelle game. I don't
think I ever left Woolworths in Galway without one! Like a small
pinball machine, you had to pull back a spring-loaded trigger on
the bottom right corner and propel a ball-bearing up and around
the curved top until it dropped into one of the seven or eight
cups, each marked with a different score. Needless to say, 100
was the most difficult one to get! |
