The DU Lounge
Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsWho remembers the precursor to the etch and sketch?
Now, I don't know if it was a precursor, but it was rudimentary and did the same thing.
But, it was basic. Just a cardboard that had a black sticky substance painted on one side, and a clear sheet that was laid over that. Then, with a stylus you drew whatever you wanted, then, when you wanted to start over, you pulled the clear sheet up and your drawing vanished.
Anyone remember what they were called?
Yonnie3
(17,376 posts)Still available
hlthe2b
(101,730 posts)than the big ostentatious plastic filled $$ toys now, I think... I'd get three of four things like the magic slate, a game of jacks or pick up sticks, maybe some silly putty or a sparkly jump rope...
Those inexpensive toys kept us occupied for hours as kids.
Yonnie3
(17,376 posts)My parents made toys for us. We were on a very tight budget. We did have a magic slate which was grudgingly shared.
hlthe2b
(101,730 posts)that beat just about anything produced commercially. A lot of those end up selling for big $$ today or in museums. Not to mention the hand made "rag" dolls of old.
I know a lot of people bemoan the demise of ToysRUs, but to me, it was just a warehouse full of that plastic (landfill-headed) expensive stuff that would entertain a kid for about a second.
Yonnie3
(17,376 posts)I the late 70s I was working in a custom cabinetry shop and made toys in the evenings. Tugboats, paddle wheel river boats (rubber band driven), puzzles and so forth. I placed them in artsy-craftsy stores on consignment. They could not be cheap because I paid the cabinetry shop owner for material plus tool time and paid commission to the stores. It was very hard to sell them and even break even.
hlthe2b
(101,730 posts)justhanginon
(3,287 posts)we always loved the little balsa wood glider from the corner store. I think they were either five or ten cents apiece, took about ten seconds to assemble and invariably ended up on a neighbors roof.
hlthe2b
(101,730 posts)Lochloosa
(16,019 posts)Or both.
justhanginon
(3,287 posts)frightened in retrospect at some of the really dumb things we tried as kids. I remember our solution to the high price of aerial bombs was to shoot M-80s out of a Wham-o slingshot. Me doing the slingshot and my brother lighting the fuse. Good god, can't get any more dangerous than that. Thankfully we survived with all our fingers intact.
Lochloosa
(16,019 posts)Arkansas Granny
(31,484 posts)I have tried to buy my grandkids toys that require no batteries. It seemed that so many toys, including those for infants, didn't need any interaction, just push a button and watch the toy play.
I bought them books, board games, card games and arts & craft projects. They loved them.
Baitball Blogger
(46,576 posts)until I realized my other four siblings were playing with my toys when I wasn't around.
Ferrets are Cool
(21,063 posts)Edit: evidently I forgot how to spell forget.
hlthe2b
(101,730 posts)And back in the "day" these viewfinders just memorized me... Like 3D glasses today...
Ferrets are Cool
(21,063 posts)mountain grammy
(26,571 posts)Yonnie3
(17,376 posts)This favorite, classic toy has delighted children for decades and also served to protect sensitive government information.
Spy stories are great. Theyre great when theyre intricate, gritty thrillers and theyre great as cartoony, action romps. Some of the best parts of these stories are the tools spies use. In the grittier ones, you get to see the inventive ways covert operatives used and manipulated real-world technology. In the more over the top takes, you get to see all sorts of wacky, implausible gadgets. So what exactly do you imagine when you think about a spys arsenal? A pen with a recording device in it? A car that turns into a submarine? An umbrella thats secretly a dart gun? What about a piece of cardboard, wax, and plastic with a picture of Donald Duck printed on it? I speak, of course, about the venerable Magic Slate Paper Saver, the unsung, silent hero of the Cold War.
<snip>
defacto7
(13,485 posts)eppur_se_muova
(36,227 posts)Time to go out and buy some again.
Little Star
(17,055 posts)It was to be a super-sensitive inspection tour of the new U.S. Embassy under construction in Moscow. But how to keep some discussions during the visit hush-hush?
Well, there's always Magic Slates.
http://articles.latimes.com/1987-04-11/business/fi-760_1_magic-slate
Baitball Blogger
(46,576 posts)TexasProgresive
(12,148 posts)I remember Magic Slate. Had one as a kid. It was more fun than EtchaSketch. I never could do much with one, but some people could do fantastic work on the EtchaSketch.
Ohiogal
(31,671 posts)I was constantly drawing when I was a child and used to wear the darn things out & my mom would get me another one.
VOX
(22,976 posts)<snip>
In 1956, a toy company called Wham-O (founded in 1948 by Rich Knerr and Spud Melin) acquired the rights to the Pluto Platter and in 1958 the company introduced the Wham-O Frisbee.
<snip>
Lars39
(26,093 posts)Ron Obvious
(6,261 posts)We used to scratch our names into the dirt. And we liked it!
And if you tell the kids today that, they wouldn't believe you.
Baitball Blogger
(46,576 posts)IADEMO2004
(5,538 posts)malthaussen
(17,066 posts)... we had to make gestures in the air with our hands.
-- Mal
helmedon1974
(92 posts)Snackshack
(2,540 posts)Magic Window was another toy I had back then (which I liked much more) along with the Magic Slate.
BadGimp
(4,009 posts)Ferrets are Cool
(21,063 posts)llmart
(15,502 posts)where you look in one end and turn the other and it made colorful shapes like you were on an LSD trip. LOL
I also liked my Popeye and Olive Oyl colorforms.
tblue37
(64,982 posts)from nostalgic delight.
I also give ViewMaster 3-D viewers, with those circular cardboard "reels" (disks) of pictures:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/fueledbycoffee/242654758
I like to give kids low tech that spur their imagination.
Colorforms and Play-Doh are also popular with the kids I give gifts to.
Ptah
(32,983 posts)Generic Brad
(14,270 posts)When my Magic Slate got too scratched up to work, I would eventually get another from somewhere. That was a cheap toy. The Etch-A-Sketch was an expensive one (at least it was billed as one in my house when I was little).
Demovictory9
(32,324 posts)left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)LeftInTX
(24,560 posts)They never seemed to last very long. The film would get bent or the black stuff wouldn't work anymore. Or it would get wet. Or I would use a crayon on it.
The fact that I probably abused them probably didn't help.