Some Assembly Required—Including Your Memory
You probably remember the toy you begged for every Christmas. But what about everything sitting beside it on the shelf? The 60s had some strange ideas about keeping children entertained—and plenty of them disappeared. Let’s see how many still ring a bell.
Strange Change Machine
Mattel’s 1968 Strange Change Machine turned compressed plastic blocks into dinosaurs and other creatures using heat. Then you could warm them again and crank them back into blocks. Owning a toy dinosaur apparently wasn’t enough. You also needed the equipment to flatten it.
Little Miss No Name
Hasbro took a very different approach to dolls in 1965. Little Miss No Name had enormous sad eyes, bare feet, a ragged dress, and a tear on her cheek. Forget the glamorous wardrobe. This doll looked like she needed you to take her home immediately.
Mr. Machine
Ideal’s original Mr. Machine arrived in 1960 with a transparent body that let children watch his gears working. The 44-piece toy could be taken apart and rebuilt using a little wrench. He wore a top hat, but you were the one doing the work.
Suzy Homemaker Appliances
Topper introduced Suzy Homemaker in 1966, offering miniature household appliances, including a working oven and blender. Not everything performed its adult counterpart’s actual job, but the appeal was having your own little kitchen equipment. Apparently, household chores looked better when they came in a toy box.
The Great Garloo
Marx’s Great Garloo arrived in 1961 looking like a green monster that had wandered out of a late-night movie. A wired controller let children move him around and make him pick things up. Underneath that frightening face was a surprisingly helpful little household creature.
Motorific Cars
Ideal launched Motorific in 1964, with miniature cars carrying their own batteries and motors. Track sections and accessories let children build a little motoring world. Unlike a car you simply pushed across the carpet, these could keep going while you stood back and supervised traffic.
Super Stuff
Before Mattel’s green Slime, Wham-O introduced Super Stuff in 1966. This pink material could be stretched, squeezed, and popped, giving children something satisfyingly strange to handle. Its packaging insisted it wasn’t dough or putty. Apparently, “stuff” was the best description anyone could agree on.
Penny Brite
Introduced in 1963 by Deluxe Reading, Penny Brite was an eight-inch child doll with extra outfits and playsets, including a schoolroom and beauty parlor. She offered an alternative to Barbie’s grown-up glamour. Barbie looked ready for an evening out. Penny looked ready for school.
Johnny Astro
Topper’s 1967 Johnny Astro promised spaceflight, but its spacecraft were balloons with little attachments. A controllable fan supplied the lift, letting children practice launches and landings. It was a clever way to bring the space race home without requiring anything more advanced than batteries and patience.
Green Ghost
Transogram introduced Green Ghost in 1965 and marketed it as the first glow-in-the-dark board game. Turning out the lights became part of the attraction. Most games wanted the family gathered around a well-lit table. This one made darkness part of the sales pitch.
Vac-U-Form
Mattel’s Vac-U-Form let children heat plastic sheets, position them over molds, and pump a handle to pull the softened plastic into shape. You weren’t just playing with plastic toys anymore. You were running a tiny manufacturing operation, complete with the need to keep buying supplies.
Big Loo
Marx released Big Loo for the 1963 holiday season, and the name wasn’t exaggerating. This robot stood 37 inches tall. At that size, he wasn’t something you casually tucked into a toy box. You needed to find him a proper place in the room.
Gaylord The Pup
Ideal’s 1962 Gaylord the Pup was a mechanical basset hound with droopy felt ears. Tugging his leash controlled his movements, and a magnet let him pick up a plastic bone. Even his packaging became a doghouse. This was a pet with remarkably convenient living arrangements.
Feeley Meeley
Milton Bradley’s 1967 Feeley Meeley put plastic objects inside a box and challenged players to find the one shown on a card using touch alone. Everybody reached in together. It was a simple idea, although sharing a mystery box with several competing hands could get complicated quickly.
Secret Sam Attaché Case
Topper’s 1965 Secret Sam case looked like something a young secret agent should carry. Alongside its toy gadgets was a functioning film camera that could take pictures through the closed case. Suddenly, carrying a little briefcase around the house felt like very serious business.
Tressy
American Character introduced Tressy in 1963 with hair that children could lengthen by pressing a button and pulling out a hidden section. A key wound it back inside. You could give her a dramatic new hairstyle without scissors—which was probably a relief to everyone involved.
Hamilton’s Invaders
Remco’s 1964 Hamilton’s Invaders line pitted toy soldiers and vehicles against giant insect monsters, including Horrible Hamilton. It brought the oversized-creature movies of the era straight into the playroom. A few ordinary plastic soldiers suddenly had a much bigger problem than whatever was happening behind the sofa.
King Zor
Ideal’s 1962 King Zor was a mechanical dinosaur with an attitude. Hit the target on his tail with a toy dart, and he could turn around and launch a plastic missile in return. This wasn’t a dinosaur content to stand there while you bothered him.
Show ’N Tell Phono-Viewer
General Electric’s Show ’N Tell combined a record player with a filmstrip viewer in 1964. As the record played, pictures automatically advanced on its screen. Children could follow stories without someone turning pages for them, all on a box that looked rather like their own television.
Swingy
Mattel’s Swingy arrived in 1968 as a battery-operated doll that could walk and dance, complete with a record. She was built for children who wanted their dolls to do more than sit around. Whether she danced better than everyone else in the living room was another question.
Robot Commando
Ideal’s 1961 Robot Commando appeared to obey spoken commands, but the trick involved a controller knob and air pressure from speaking into its microphone. He could move, turn, and launch projectiles. He didn’t understand your instructions, although that hardly spoiled the appeal of commanding a robot.
Odd Ogg
Ideal’s Odd Ogg appeared in 1962 looking like a mechanical cross between a frog and a turtle. Children rolled balls underneath him, and his movements depended on whether they succeeded. Miss, and he could retreat while sticking out his tongue. Even the toys were giving you attitude.
Crazy Clock Game
Ideal followed Mouse Trap with the Crazy Clock Game in 1964. Its elaborate chain reaction was designed to spring a little sleeping figure out of bed. Getting someone up apparently required considerably more equipment than an alarm clock—and watching the contraption work was the attraction.
Mr. Kelly’s Car Wash
Remco’s Mr. Kelly’s Car Wash brought a miniature version of the roadside business into the toy aisle during the 60s. It was a motorized playset built around an ordinary adult errand. Somehow, cleaning a little car sounded much more entertaining than helping clean the actual family car.
Flatsy Dolls
Ideal introduced Flatsy dolls in 1969, with colorful hair and flat vinyl bodies containing wires for posing. Their packaging could even serve as a picture frame. After years of companies trying to make dolls more lifelike, someone found a market for making them look delightfully squashed.
Zeroids
Ideal’s late-60s Zeroids included robots named Zerak, Zintar, and Zobor. Battery-powered motors brought the little machines to life, giving children a mechanical space crew. Their names sounded like something arriving from another planet, which was considerably more exciting than another delivery from the department store.
Ka-Bala
Transogram’s 1967 Ka-Bala was a glow-in-the-dark fortune-telling game with a prominent eye and a marble moving around its track. Letters, numbers, and other symbols supplied its mysterious possibilities. Plenty of toys promised an entertaining afternoon. This one went further and offered to tell your future.
Incredible Edibles
Mattel’s Incredible Edibles arrived in 1967 with molds and a heated unit for making edible creatures from a mixture called Gobble-Degoop. Flavors included cherry, root beer, and butterscotch. Children could manufacture their own unusual snacks, with considerably more equipment than opening a package of cookies required.
Billy Blastoff
Eldon’s Billy Blastoff reached toy shelves in the late 60s with a battery pack on his back that powered accessories. The small, child-faced astronaut had considerably more equipment than his size suggested. You weren’t simply buying a space figure. You were buying into his electric adventures.
Did You Remember Even Five?
Some of these names probably brought back an entire Christmas morning. Others might sound completely made up—even if you spent the 60s pressing your nose against toy-store windows. So, how many did you remember? And which forgotten favorite should have been on the shelf here?
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