An original blogger long before the "easy" media existed. Compilation of newspaper articles and stories written by Betty Ainslie (my mother) from early 1960's onward, about everyday life as a wife and mother. Snapshots of life in suburban Chicago...
What did we ever do before plastics were invented? What did boys do before model kits were developed from this easily molded material? Now like-like images or cars, boats, trains, animals, humans and things mechanical can be constructed from the contents of assorted priced boxes.
A jaunt into our basement these days is an adventure to monster land. The train table, long deserted by its original tracks, stations, trains and scenery, is now repainted. There was a period when the Civil War--both World Wars and a bout with prehistoric animals occupied this same table. But now I've grisly fictional characters, plus their equipment, leering at me every time I do the family wash.
The lights have been painted blue, black, yellow or red and I have to peer nearsightedly at the dryer settings the place is so dim.
Dracula and Frankenstein had their birth in the horror movies of my youth; but they're back along with The Mummy, Wolf Man, The Creature, Phantom of the Opera and assorted customizing kits which add bats, rats, spiders complete with webs, ribs, headstones, lizards and other ghostly goodies to this train table display.
Some figures are perched on cement mountains (made originally for a realistic Gettysburg battle). The phantom stands in front of a log house made of Lincoln Logs left over from kindergarten days. Frankenstein occupies the center of a desolate cemetery complete with grave stones, a black cat or two. Dracula is there with hands outstretched and surrounded by real looking spider webs and bats.
Some of the creations have red or yellow bulbs hidden under the piled up stone mountains, and in the darkness of the basement, give off a weird and uncanny light--casting numerous shadows on the wall.
The path to this bit of organized horror goes through doors marked with signs. Signs which declare "beware", or "go farther at your own risk," or "go through if you dare."
In fact this whole clothes washing business has given me an opportunity to be constantly amazed. Not at the ability of Son no. 2 in creating this horror, because certainly anyone can make these models; but at the originality and imagination the kits manage to bring out in the boy modelers.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The educational value of this plastic construction is astonishing. There's the fun of putting the set together--the painting of the finished product and finally deciding on a possible layout so the new models can be displayed to advantage.
Now we parents keep harping on the "good old days" when as children we invented all sorts of make believe games. Remember gathering flowers and weeds as salable items for our imaginary stores? The times we played queen with clover chains holding together our court and woven into crowns. The Indians and Cowboys where tents were blankets, clothes-pinned to the wash line.
Erector sets we had; but until the invention of plastics, let's face it we never had such building kits or possibilities for our imaginations when we were young.
Remember the Celluloid dolls? That material was a forerunner of plastic, and paper mache which was developed by the Chinese centuries ago is the real granddaddy of the new Polyethylene compound.
These boxes containing hundreds of plastic pieces in cellophane sacks are perfect for that small fellow who has to play alone. Instead of being glued to the TV set he can create something to decorate his bookshelf of have a little fun in the world of imagination.
The lifelike possibilities that are constructed are constantly changing so no boy can buy all of them. In fact if his parents weren't so practical, the next project of Son no. 2 would be lakes and oceans for his glued together, painted and decorated battleships.
