Joe Carter over at First Things took on a big job when he tried to list The 100 Greatest Children’s Toys. In fact, it was so big that he only came up with 92. I think you'll enjoy looking through the alphabetical list and seeing if it contains your favorites.Among those in Carter's list that were around our home (the 5 Hartford kids were born in the span from 1946 to 1961) were Army Men, jump rope, Lincoln Logs, Mr. Potato Head, Play-Doh, Matchbox cars, roller skates, Slinky, teddy bears, Tinker Toys, and View Master.
What our family used that didn't make his list were:
* Balls. Sorry, Mr. Carter, but this was a serious omission. Rubber balls, plastic balls, beach balls, baseballs, basketballs, footballs, whiffle balls, Super Balls, even old golf balls -- these were by far my favorite toys from the earliest age.
* Balloons. These were a summer staple in our neighborhood. Why? Think water hose, hot days, and backyard frolics.
* Bikes. I can see why this might be disqualified from a toy list but, hey; he did list Big Wheels, wagons and roller skates.* Electric football.
* Guns. Carter listed the Daisy BB gun which our folks never let us possess. (A wise decision, I think. All three boys had trouble enough surviving childhood.) But he didn't list air rifles which we did have and all those play pistols. We also had a plethora of squirt guns but since Carter does list the Super Soaker (alas, too expensive a water weapon to ever make it under our Christmas tree), I'll let that pass.
* Jacks
* Marbles
* Models (planes, cars, ships, monsters, Rat Fink)
But, like I said, Joe Carter's list is still quite impressive. And he's done us all a nice service not only for you to go on over and see if your favorites made the grade but to use as a conversation starter for family reunions this summer. Thanks, Joe.
