Sears Wish Book

Or as it was referred to in our house, "The Christmas Catalogue". A small card arrived in the mail in the fall and Mom would go to the Sears catalogue outlet store to pick it up. In a few days the covers would be torn and pages would be falling out. We memorized that catalogue! This catalogue is from 1972 and even though I was only 6 years old I distinctly remember that cover and the Mickey Mouse record player that you could stand on.

Yogi Bear Cutouts

These were my younger sister's, cut-outs of Yogi and Cindy bear. I seem to remember that she had more cut-outs than I did.

Microscope

This was my older brother's. It came with a lot of prepared slides of bug's wings and cells, we loved looking at them.

Reader

This was a reader my older brother and sisters used in elementary school. I didn't use it but we had it at home and I loved reading all the stories.

Flower of the Month Glasses

One year for Christmas we all got glasses like these with the flower of our birth month on them. Mine isn't here, I was born in February. Mom kept them in the china cabinet and I think we used them at Christmas and New Year's dinner.

Jean at St. Hilary's

This was one of my favourite books when I was in elementary school. It was my older sister's, I think she won it as a prize in school. It was about a girl who lives in England and goes away to boarding school. I wanted to be just like her.

Yogi Bear Mug

This was my younger brother's, I can remember him using it at a lot of meals. I seem to recall that he was the only one with a special cup.

Viewmaster Set

My sister owned this viewmaster set that came in a cool bucket. The reels were all about Disney which we loved of course.

Waterworks

This was a cool game, it was my sister's. You had to make a pipe system that started with a tap and ended with water flowing out. Along the way your team-mates could place leaky pipes on top of yours which you then had to repair with little brass wrenches or extra cards. You can still buy the game today but the wrenches are just cardboard and the quality doesn't seem as good.

Happy Face Salt & Pepper

This was another of mom's salt and pepper sets. A different saying on each side. And what says the 1970's more than a happy face?

Helen Keller's Teacher

This was my sister's book. I can't remember how many times I read it but I am sure I memorized it. I can still remember the story and all the details, it was a really good book.

Halloween Mask

We had a few halloween masks and wore them every year......no fancy costumes for us! We owned a mask like the one on the bottom right....Frankenstein I think it is.

Perfume Bottle

Another bottle of perfume from Avon. This was either my sister's or my mother's, I can't remember. But when I was a child I thought it was pretty.

Mallards

We had 3 mallard ducks like these hanging on the living room wall.

Barbie Furniture

My sister got this for Christmas one year, blow-up Barbie doll furniture. Before this we made furniture out of everything, from pillows to frisbees.

Lord of the Rings

My oldest sister gave me this set of books when I was in high school. I was an avid reader then but I could never get into this series. I loved the set though and kept it on a shelf above my bed.

Mad Game

I think this was my brother's, I remember playing it as a teenager.

Atari

My brother got this game system when I was in high school. We loved it! My sister even broke her toe on the couch running to play the game.

The Un-Candle

I think Mom got these for Christmas one year. We were impressed by them, floating candles on water! It didn't take much to impress us in the 70's.

Birthday Candle Train

This was always in the "junk drawer" in the kitchen in its original box. It was used when we were really young. I'm including a photo of my youngest brother on his 1st birthday. It's a fuzzy photo but you can just make out the birthday candle train on his sailboat cake.