Different seasons - differerent games and toys
Springtime would be baseball, football was in the fall. These childhood
rituals corresponded to the natural cycles of the greater and higher
powers--professional sports. But exactly who determined that it was yo-yo
season, and how did we all know it?
The coming and going of these "minor seasons" was one of great mysteries of
childhood. What made something appear in the neighborhood and then just pass
on? Take tops. All of a sudden it was "top" season (as in "spinning like a
top"), and each one of us would just have to have one. We'd go down to the
store, buy a top, break it, buy another, break it and within a week or two, no
longer care because it was no longer top season. Perhaps we were now on to
yo-yos or had declared something else entirely like "punch ball season."
So what brought it about? TV commercials weren't as pervasive back then. Was
it the candy store guy pushing a promotion from one of the toy companies? Our
own theory is that aliens from a super advanced civilization were
experimenting with various methods of mind control to see how they could
infect the youth and later control our planet. Interesting theory, but tough
to prove. In the meantime, we're going to fly a kite while bouncing on a
pogo-stick and doing the hoola hoop.
Talk about your favorite outdoor toys and
games in our discussion area!
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