Games of 65 Years Ago

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Should the pre-Christmas season be a time of expectation, or a time of frustration?

Of course the answer depends on you. Most Americans can't help to get a bit strung out. Some may even get bent. Some may get stressed and even frazzled.

The underlying fact is that we have already too much stuff.


I vote we give each other a fruitcake. Once the stinkbugs are gone, they make a great doorstop the rest of the year. AND, you can pass it on to a lucky new friend you made the next season.


Some of us remember a time when we didn't expect anything for Christmas, a sure way not to be disappointed. But, I always got something. A book, a ruler, a compass, and always a string of rock candy.

Toys were rarely part of Christmas. No one sold toys at the bakery, dairy, butcher or the veggie store. We as kids made our own toys. Toys flowing from our imagination, our own trial and error, our own efforts.

We did have two family games, (no batteries required), that we brought with us from Germany. The game below offered a chance for all family members to sit around the kitchen table. It simply consists of a sack full of triangular, colored, wooden tiles.

Imagine, sitting for hours, with your children, and no one whining about how bored they are.

Heidi spent a precious long time on the above masterpiece.

Other grandchildren had fun doing their thing.


"Floh Hupferl" we call the game below. It translates to "flea hopping". I hear it is similar to "Tiddlywinks". Again the game is simple. I have forgotten the rules we had when I was a kid. So, we made up our own. The overall object is still the same. You use one wink to make your wink jump on top of the other guy's wink. When you do, you conquer that wink. The last wink standing wins.

How many toys in your family have lasted at least 60 years? You may say these are silly games. Maybe so, but they teach concentration, respect of others, waiting your turn, a competitive spirit and you may add . . . spatial relations, which opens the mind to mathematics. . . AND, the entire family can participate!


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