Toy shops 50s and 60s

I have no idea of the number of toy shops in the UK when I was a lad - but there must have been many more than now as it seemed as if there was always one close enough to be able to stand and stare at the tempting array of wonderful things in the window; I am pretty certain that there were no chains of toy supermarkets although I think that Hamleys, in London, did exist as the dream destination for most children. I remember regularly checking that the wonderful sailing boat, with a keel, the hull light blue and a yellow line all around it was still there - I doubt that it was more than 10" (25 cms) long and it had little detail - no remote control, no engine, just a simple boat - but to me when I was about 8 or 9, it was the height desire. Later (maybe a year or so) I saw a submarine . . .this one was controlled by two bulbs, the first one pressed to fill or empty the ballast and thus make it sink below the waves or rise above them, and the second was the propulsion unit, squirting water out of the back of the sub. I was lucky enough to get both of these (Christmas a year apart) and the sailing boat may well be circumnavigating the world as I last saw it sailing strongly away from a beach; the submarine was the winner of many sea battles in the bath.

Toys in the late 40s and the 50s

Some toys have endured – I remember having a Tap Tap in the 40s; toy cars existed then as now albeit that they were different – Dinky was, I think the main brand; the cars then had rubber tyres which could be, and were, taken off. Lead soldiers were there before plastic ones and were preferred. A Japanese tin tank was a great favourite of mine – made of old tins and sporting a cannon which sparked from a flint, I thought it was great; there was a risk of injury as the top was held to the base by tabs which were located through slots and then bent to hold it all together. Meccano was always popular but most of us did not have the big sets which allowed marvellous constructions. Baiko was a house building toy where one stuck rods into a green base and then slotted plastic tiles (some looked like bricks, some like windows or doors) to build really very good buildings – I wonder if it is still available? Water pistols were rubber bulbs fixed to a small gun and operated by squeezing the bulb. Cap guns (a roll of caps was inserted and the hammer fell and exploded the one cap making both noise and smell) were great for running battles emulating the black and white TV heroes like Hopalong Cassidy or The Lone Ranger – I suspect that they were more fun than any Wii equivalent. Many toys were made – go-carts with wheels from old prams or pushchairs and the chassis made of bits of wood, propelled by pushing and guided by bits of string connected to the front wheel axle; telephones made of two tins and a stretched piece of string; sledges to hurtle down any slope; boats of all sizes and shapes; loads of things and the making was as much fun as the using.