It looks like they'd all belonged to a boy called Graham.
They are a bit of a boyish selection, with tractors and cars, etc. - if that isn't too much of a gender stereotype - but Graham obviously liked his machines.
In my childhood home with two quite tomboyish girls (my sister had her Hot Wheels and I adored my clockwork train set), we definitely had the Toys And Games To Make book like the one in the picture. Pretty sure we tried most of the suggestions in it with things we found in the sticky kitchen drawer. You know the drawer, every household has one, full of bulldog clips, candles and miscellaneous hardware that “might come in handy one day” . It definitely had corks and matchboxes, so we did alright. Ours smelt of rust and chocolate wafers for some reason too.
Hard to imagine many kids being impressed with the ideas in the book now, though...
I especially remember trying this one below and speaking to my sister in her bedroom, all the way from the bathroom:
I've vivid memories too of owning a Ladybird book on how to tell the time, and another on Marco Polo; they all had that same feel, the illustrations very typical of their era.
From this batch, The Story Of Railways has some particularly charming images:
Anyway I'm going to keep them for a bit - they're a part of history now. I might even learn something (I mean, I'd completely forgotten what a 'vulgar fraction' is - Maths not my strong point)
And now I've a tenuous excuse to include this song too!
Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood: Ladybird
I still have Toys & Games to Make! My dad and I made the periscope, I seem to remember.
ReplyDeleteBtw, thanks to some inconsiderate parking by the owner of the red 1100, matey with the Triumph Herald is gonna really struggle to get back into his vehicle when he returns.
Ah, you still have it?! That's brilliant. I'm just looking at the Periscope one now. Love the last paragraph suggesting that to try it out you "hide behind an armchair" and "will be able to see everything in the room and yet not be seen yourself. You can peep round doors, through windows and over fences - and nobody will know you are there!" I'm not sure Ladybird should be encouraging that sort of thing but - well, did you?!
DeleteI made endless versions of toys from that book. All were shite.
ReplyDeleteSwiss Adam
I've just laughed aloud at that... superb. But ohhh
Deletenoooooo! I've been looking forward to making a boomerang!
That matchbox/cork/paddle thing. Sank every time.
DeleteOne for the Ladybird Book on life lessons in disappointment....
DeleteLove these. Pretty sure we had Toys And Games To Make. It was always "we", as these daisy-chained their way down through siblings to me. Wish I still had my Ladybird book of the computer, from the late 70s/early 80s.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Great artwork on motor cars, my only quibble being that there's not a lot of room for any of those cars to get their doors open.
DeleteI'm starting to think that every household with children in the '60s/'70s had a copy of that book - a compulsory purchase - although Mr SDS swears he didn't (always has to be an exception!)
DeleteThe computer one will be a real memory-jogger I'm sure - I'll keep an eye out in the charity shop in case more turn up!
A nice bit of artistic licence on the Motor Cars cover. The Art Director obviously briefed the illustrator to fit all those featured cars in the picture somehow, within the constraints of the margins and text. And the illustrator will have thought, "But the only way I can do that is to squeeze them all up close, I'm not happy about it because it looks like no-one would be able to get into their cars but, hey, that's my brief... "
:-)
Hey, maybe they just parked in sequence and got out one at a time... :)
DeleteP.S. Just read, and commented on, your Emiliana ICA. It's brilliant, C, a fantastic piece of writing. I hope you are well chuffed with how it turned out!
Haha, yes, that's exactly what the drivers had to do and then the same when they left. I'm imagining it now like an aerial view of a dance - that would make quite a neat little silent arty film!
DeleteThanks for your kind appreciation of the Emiliana ICA, I loved doing it.
Oh my goodness - I too had Toys And Games To Make and pretty sure it's still in loft somewhere. Probably thought DD would appreciate it when she go to the right age but along came computers and really cool stuff so a matchbox paddle steamer would have been very lame. We were easily amused in those days and all the better for it I feel.
ReplyDeleteGreat excuse for a bit of Nancy and Lee though - Always a pleasure on the ears.
Ah, another one! Seems like that book was omnipresent. Absolutely agree - simple pleasures with simple things - very cheap too. I hope they still do some of that kind of thing in primary schools at least.
DeleteI thought you'd appreciate the Nancy and Lee!
Really enjoyed this post. Can't help but yearn for this simpler time... and any time is a good time for Nancy and Lee!
ReplyDeleteThanks Brian. They do sum up the simpler pre-digital times very well. From what I remember you saying about your children I could imagine they might appreciate them too!
DeleteWe didn't have very many ladybird books and I always made a beeline for them in other children's homes. (We did have a big paperback "100 things to make and do", which eventually disintegrated through overuse, that also featured the " tins telephone) I was at an auction yesterday where one of the lots was about 30 ladybirds and I was very tempted but it went to a dealer....
ReplyDeleteAh I'm so pleased you mentioned that book! I was just saying to Mr SDS last night about the very same one, which had suddenly popped into my memory after reminiscing about Ladybird books, and how much my sister and I loved that big fat paperback. Like yours our was in constant use and got very tatty. We must have all been busy children!
DeleteShame you missed out on the Ladybirds this time.
What a wonderful find! And a bargain at £7.99. The book of motor cars appeals to me, because it has a Mini and a Midget (or is that a Sprite?) on the cover. Both fun cars that trigger happy memories for me. Love those illustrations.
ReplyDeleteYes, the Motor Cars one is a treat. I think it's a Sprite on the cover, judging by the inside illustration of one. There's an E-Type Jag in there too... very nice!
DeleteThink it is an Austin healey judging by the badge but to be fair that's the only thing that distinguishes from a Midget - couldn't help wish mine had been nearly as big as a Rolls Royce tho, bit of scale needed there!
ReplyDeleteYes, must be that as sadly no Midget featured in the inside pages - but a rather nice MGB instead! Also there's that nice Triumph Herald so I'm happy about that (although a different model to my dear 'Prudence'!)
DeleteSee what you mean about the scale, though!
Bargain of the year! So beautiful and evocative. I was lucky enough to grab 19 original Ladybirds from our local Greyhound Rescue shop the other day. Now have pride of place between bookends on my little table in the front window.
ReplyDeleteYour charity shop haul sounds fantastic RR! 19 of them - a real treat - and bet they look brilliant lined up together. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for more too.
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