Childhood Memories and a Murder

Our local historical society presented a lecture that was very interesting, The Murder of David Varney, a local tragedy that took place in 1905.  They also had an exhibit of children's toys from their collection which was like a trip down memory lane.  Pick-up sticks, jacks and marbles, all sorts of old board games like Chinese Checkers, and the View Master I remembered very well.  (How I loved my View Master!) There was even a Tiny Tears doll which my Scottish friend and fellow blipper, Damnonii, were just talking about a couple of days ago.  My doll, which I received in 1955 for Christmas, had painted hair.  My grandmother knitted sweaters for it, she was named "Sally" after a character in the Dick and Jane readers which I was using in my first grade class, and my mother sewed a lot of little dresses. This one is from the 1960's but the face was just the same.  All the toys were "kid powered", not a battery in sight!  Ah, much simpler days.  What really made me laugh though was a box of "non-poisonous" art crayons!  The colors seemed so dull compared to today's vibrant colors.  A very interesting afternoon.