As the Christmas shopping season sneaks up on us again, we look at those Christmas must-haves of days gone by, those one-off hits that we all remember from our childhood. True, it’s nigh on impossible to include them all in this list. I mean, who can forget the Hula-Hoop, Transformers, BMX bikes, Tamagotchi, the Care Bears… you see, we would be here until next Christmas if we tried. So here is our list, can you see your favorite? Tell your kids, maybe pull it out of the attic for them to have a try. After all, it’s not the gift that matters, it’s the enjoyment you can get out of playing together that counts. Happy holidays everyone.
1920s: The yo-yo
Invented in the 1920s, it became the most sought-after gift for kids of all ages. Throughout its long history the basic design remains simple; two equally weighted sides, a small axle and a piece of string. Hours of fun!
1930s: Hasbro’s Monopoly board game
Invented in the 1930s, this iconic board game still has families arguing about who landed where and who owes who how much money. With special-edition versions available for almost any theme, this game will continue to entertain generations for years to come.
1940s: The Slinky
The slinky was invented in the 1940s. While engineering springs for shipping, Richard James apparently knocked a coil off the table and then down the stairs; sometimes the simplest things can delight the most.
1950s: Mr. Potato Head
The 1950s saw this little plastic vegetable with detachable arms, feet, ears, eyes, glasses, hat and moustache adorn little kids’ stockings on Yuletide morn. He was brought back to prominence with the movie Toy Story, proving there’s plenty of life in the old spud yet.
1960s: Barbie
This plastic female monolith of a doll was designed in the late 1950s and, through many make-ups and style transformations, is still popular today. Politics and gender equality issues aside, Barbie now does much for the self-confident child to aspire to, with her wide variety of careers and nothing but kindness approach to life. As for Ken…?
1970s: Slime
Do you remember slime? Dip your hands into the green bucket, feel the gunk squelching through your fingers, stretch it, pull it, throw it… why? Who knows. Slime was invented in 1977. Its purpose is still to be decided and it seems to be making a comeback with many homemade recipes available and new colored versions on the market.
1980s: Hungry Hungry Hippos
Introduced in the late 1970s, this finger slapping, marble gobbling, fight starting, crash of a game at least got the kids tired after half an hour. Ready for bed kids? Sneaky Moms, they knew all along.
1980s: GameBoy
1989 saw the dawn of the first truly playable handheld videogame system. Who would have thought that from those humble beginnings of Tetris and Mario we would now be playing…? Tetris and Mario still. Now pass it over, it’s my turn.
1980s: Rubik’s Cube
Designed in 1980, these cubes were a huge hit on the Christmas present scene for the ensuing decade. Spawning a multitude of varieties, the Hungarian geometric puzzle cube still lays unfinished somewhere in every attic or garage.
1990s: Cabbage Patch Kids
With the dawning of advertising and mass media saturation, the Cabbage Patch craze was perhaps the first sight of hysteria at the tills that many had witnessed. Now, almost commonplace, but then… well, you just had to have one.
1990s: POG
In 1991 things went retro, though not many of us knew it. POGs, harking back to old milk-cap throwing games of decades before, were cleaned off the shelves of every store lucky enough to get an order in. Things soured when educational bodies deemed the game was a form of gambling, banning them from schools across the land. Hurumpf!
1990s: Furby
Brought to life in 1998, people were so desperate to get their hands on a real Furby that black market sellers were charging two Cabbage Patch Kids just for the basic fluffy robot. Honestly though, prices went through the roof and this iconic little fella became a huge Christmas hit.
