Merlin, the ‘electronic wizard,’ was a red telephone-shaped toy used buttons, lights and sound effects to let kids play a variety of simple games, and was one of the earliest gaming consoles.
vintage toys
More than one billion Colorforms sets have been sold since the ’50s. They started with basic geometric shapes, then moved on to branded playsets.
Today’s toddlers ride in style in the sleek and racy, brightly-colored, low-slung plastic numbers like the vintage Big Wheel from Marx – that whiz, spin, skid, slide, race and even roar.
The first vintage Etch-A-Sketch toy was made back in 1960. It was a big seller from early on, and over the years, Ohio Art made several other creative, artistic toys – such as those shown here.
What better use to make of those big, clumsy cartons that once held ar new refrigerator or range? Make a fun toyland for the kids with these creative DIY cardboard box fort & playhouse ideas!
By the early 20th century, materials were more readily available to make picture jigsaw puzzles – and the novelties were soon found in households across the country.
Years ago, companies promoted all kinds of vintage freebies and low-cost mail-in offers, usually requiring some boxtops or proof of purchase. Look back at some of the premiums from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s!
Have a look back at these cute vintage Fisher-Price dollhouses from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s! Take a look at how they changed over the years, and see which one you remember best.
It’s like going to the movies. Only better. With Fisher-Price Movie Viewer toys, kids could run short films all by themselves, just by turning a handle. In slow motion, speeded up or backwards.
This easy-to-make vintage cardboard dollhouse is a project that can grow with your children! Here’s how you can make it – along with tips for cute ways to decorating the little play house.
These vintage Rig-a-Jig toy sets were popular back in the fifties, and were sort of a hybrid of TInkertoys, Lego and an Erector Set. See how they worked, and what you could create with them, here!
Put together a half dozen pieces of this DIY fun furniture for kids, and your child will have endless play ideas. Made from just one simple box construction, the pieces are great for pretend games, the right size to use as table and chairs.
The Campbell Kids appeared in Campbell’s Soup advertising for decades, always with those little round faces. Here, see dozens of vintage toys, cups and more with their images, find out how they began, and meet the artist!
Look back at these cute vintage Tinkerbell manicure kits, BO-PO (Brush-on, peel-off) nail polish and other beauty treats marketed to little girls back in the ’70s and ’80s. Lots of memories here!
Back in the seventies and eighties, these vintage Fisher-Price dolls enchanted millions of little kids. They were available in a few different sizes, styles and colors, and you could get them a lot of different outfits.
These vintage Sew Magic & Sew Perfect toys were working sewing machines that let kids do real sewing, but without having to use needle and thread by hand.
Hopefully, these vintage 1970s Playskool toys, dolls, ride-ons and more will bring back some happy memories! They may also remind you of a simpler time, when most toys were joyfully kid-powered.
What’s a Nauga? In the 1960s, the people behind Naugahyde vinyl upholstery found the unlikely answer. It turns out that the Nauga was an adorable monster-like mascot who made furniture a lot more fun.
How many of these cool vintage scratch-n-sniff stickers do you remember seeing? Can you vividly recall their scents, too? Here’s a look back at a collection of more than 50 of the decals.
With this easy vintage DIY puffy happy face pin project, it’s easy to put on a happy face, a funny face, or any kind of face you fancy with soft, cuddly cotton creatures!
These retro spinning circling train top were popular with kids in the sixties! Each one had a clear plastic dome with a mini locomotive inside.
This creative collection of ideas came from Crayola, the famous crayon maker, back in the 1950s. They suggest some simple old-fashioned ways for kids to have quiet fun at home with crayons and paper.
Take a look back at these vintage jewelry boxes that were so popular, including some with fold-out storage and – of course – spinning ballerinas.
When you joined this Young Model Builders Club back in the 1960s, with each kit, your child would get a booklet outlining the history and development of the original car or other object upon which the model was based
Take a look at more than 40 of the cute vintage plush toys and sweet stuffed animals that millions of kids cuddled back in the ’80s.
These old Betty Crocker Storybook Dinnerware sets featured vintage kid-friendly characters like Peter Rabbit, Raggedy Ann & Andy, 3 Little Pigs and more. See them again here!
These vintage play tunnels were mini passageways that kids could crawl through, play in, or even sleep inside. Here’s a look back at a few!
Vintage Hoppity Hop toys – and the Hoppity Horse – were inflated vinyl balls with a handle. Kids and adults alike would climb on and bounce for fun. Take a look back!
See some of the vintage baby gear from the 1950s that parents used when raising our parents and grandparents – including a lot that wouldn’t be considered safe today.
See some of the dozens of the most popular vintage board games from the ’30s & ’40s, including Camelot, Ro-Nock-O, Crow Hunt, Senet and more old-fashioned fun.
Take a look back at the latest and greatest toys from 1986 in these pages from the vintage Toys R Us catalogs called the 80s Out of this World Toy Book.
Originally played with people in place of the pieces, vintage Parcheesi had a long and unusual history before becoming the popular board game we know today.
The handheld Atari Lynx was a one-pound, portable video game system that (for the time) featured detailed graphics, sharp color and sound effects.
Retro pool toys like these plastic inflatables made summer twice as fun when you could float and play and create pretend worlds right in the swimming pool!
This old ad said you could toss these prehistoric dinosaur toys in the air, and they would always land on their feet. It sounded too good to be true… and it was.
The original Patsy, made simply with painted eyes and a small mouth, was very popular around the Great Depression. See a vintage Patsy doll here!
Make bedtime wonderfully wild with these lion and elephant quilted comforters for kids, that can turn nights from hassle to heyday. See how to make them here.
The ‘in’ gift of the year! Lava lamps are so unusual they defy description! You’ll want several! Beautiful! New! Exotic! Fascinating! Intriguing!
Here, take a look back at some of the most popular vintage Tuppertoys of yesteryear, including the now-iconic Tupperware shape sorter!
Do you remember the old metal hoop with a handle fastened to it? The small wooden hoops were usually rolled by the girls, using a small paddle to roll them along.
Take a step back into the beauty of yesteryear, and see some pretty vintage & antique Christmas decorations that were both charming and affordable.
Have a look at 126 of the most popular toys from the ’40s that millions of kids found under their Christmas trees back in 1948, courtesy of Santa… or from mom and dad.
With the vintage Growing Up Skipper doll, if watching a little girl grow up into a bosomy teenager seemed a bit much, just turn her arm back and she’s cute and young again.
Model kits: Build guided missile ships… jet planes (1956) with Revell Authentic Kits from Woolworth’s U.S.S. BOSTON, first Guided Missile Cruiser, built 1955. Revell model
Here are just a few of the toys you could find at a Woolworth’s store in the ’50s – the old discount retailer that seemed to sell just about everything!
Vintage Thingmaker toys were pretty basic – but so fun. Fill a mold with colorful plastic goo, then heat it up. The result: rubber bugs… and flowers, dragons, monsters, cars and more.
Look back at all of these talking dolls from the ’60s! Just pull the string – or the ‘Magic Ring’ – and you never know what these toys will say next!
“Weebles wobble, but they don’t fall down” is the memorable slogan that helped sell millions of these wobbly wee folk from Hasbro/Romper Room. Take a look back at some vintage Weebles here!
This vintage playhouse from the ’60s is a real house, with a Dutch front door and hearts and flowers dormers and a white picket fence.
Holly Hobbie was the old-fashioned girl dressed in calico with lace-up boots and an enormous sunbonnet who appeared on everything from curtains to clothing.
Why so much excitement? Because the teacher brings a basket brimming with weepuls — doughnut-hole-sized bits of brightly colored fur with shaky eyes and sticky feet.
See vintage Milton Bradley board games like Uncle Wiggily, Candy Land, Go to the Head of the Class, Chutes & Ladders, Stratego, Concentration and others!
Here, see a dozen classic old-fashioned board games that are freshly-made, but look just like you remember… or, at least, pretty close.
How to have fun with Lite-Brite: Put in the black picture outline, insert colored glow pegs, then watch them light up the screen with your fun design!
The Hula Hoop fad had millions of children and adults shaking their hips to make the hoop spin. See what the craze was all about – and how to hoop!
The Dorothy Dot “Around the World” paper doll series ran in newspapers (such as the Los Angeles Herald and Salt Lake Tribune) in 1909. As much as some
Here are several cute paper doll sets – as well as clothing and furniture for the doll – that were published in newspapers back in 1911.
Explore the rise of vintage video games in the 1970s and their impact on home entertainment!
How to give a preschooler something fun to do. And something fun to learn. (1966) The Mattel-O-Phone talks, teaches, and works like real. The voice
