Retro pool toys: Inflatable animals, rafts & more vintage water fun from the ’60s

Water play! Retro pool toys, rings & more

Pool-time play: Inflatable balls, rings & novelties

• Six-panel hex ring
• Six-panel rainbow ball
• Sea horse – heavy-duty vinyl, with a noisemaker
• Two-color printed ring
• Dog ring
• Dalmation split ring
• Fat cat split ring
• Bear ring
• Fish ring
• Jumbo hex ring
• Sea oval – heavy vinyl, rope all around

MORE: Vintage pool floats & air mattresses from the ’60s delivered fun in the sun

Retro pool toys: A new world of watery fun (1961)

This summer it isn’t enough just to go down to the water, jump in, and swim. With a whole flotilla of lightweight, inexpensive, watery games and toys, the water bugs can tote their own playgrounds to pools, lakes, or oceans.

There are rafts to float on, little boats to paddle or sail, ball games to play, a waterborne chaise for luxurious lazing, and even shoes for walking on water — as fast as walking on land — at a brisk 3 mph.

Plastics make all these possible, and plastic water equipment, like that [shown], will be a $40 million business this year.

Retro swimming pool toys & inflatables featured above

Water equipment in the back row (left to right): Water shoes $40; mats $10 each; volleyball game $13; bounce ball $1.50; foam sail boat $50; molded sail boat $20.

Second row (from left): basketball game $8; water polo net $15; basketball game $10; horseshoe game $10; paddle boat $16; surfboard $8; sea horse $7.

Third row (from left): chaise $20; horse $7; tiger $6; kayak $60; toboggan $25; panda $6. Front (from left): raft $10; dumbbells $2 and $3; ring $5; alligator $4; raft $13; snake $2; boat $10; seal $2; Sylvan pool, 20’x40′, about $4,700.

MORE: Vintage kiddie swimming pools & inflatable backyard wading pools for children

Doughboy Water Playmates: Pool toys (1965)

Retro pool toys: Doughboy Pool Accessories

BULGY the whale — 44-in. long, 21-in. wide. 
AQUA-PUP the Dog – 15-in. wide; 13-in. high; cute floppy ears. 
RIGID FRAME POOL — 4 ft. x 6 ft. The tubular steel frame is easy to assemble (no screws used); vinyl-impregnated canvas pool. 
TIPPY the Sailor Buoy — The weighted bottom keeps him upright. 
SWIM PADDLES — Junior-size frog men’s special! 
SWIM VEST. Kapok-filled for real buoyancy. Wonderful idea for a “beginner” water toy. Four sizes.
2-RING POOL — 9-1/2 in. deep, 65-in. diameter. 3-color decorated bottom; repair kit; filling and inflating device. 
3-RING POOL — 14-1/2 in. deep, 90-in. diameter. 3-color decorated bottom; repair kit; filling and inflating device. 
SPLASHER the Frog — 48-in. long, 30-in. wide. 
BEACHBALLS — 16 in., $1.00; 20-in., $2.00; giant 28-in. $4.00.

Inflatable small boats

Vintage vacuum-formed plastic kiddie boats (not inflatable)

MORE: Vintage above-ground pools like these made swimming & summer water fun affordable