Have you seen this video?  It's circulated on social media and is actually a lot of fun.  For those of us who grew up in from the 50's to the 1980's, it was our childhood.  We had the best toys that could never be made today!  

For instance, who remembers these guys?  

All those years we played with them, and we never understood that in actuality, they were an army, bent to kill us all! 

Yes, in 1990, Fisher Price ceased production of all the timeless "Little People Play Family" toys because it was deemed that the small people were small killers of small children in that they might be disassembled and swallowed.  Although there were never any reports of a choking on a whole Little People figure, when the toys were taken apart, they posed a hazard.

Thus brings the question, is anything ever safe?  The Little People are held together by a nail up inside the body that attaches the head to the body.  It is pretty darned hard for an adult to disassemble one, let alone a small child.  And if your child is smart, strong and skilled enough to get one apart, they are probably old enough to find something else to choke on, like marbles.

Thus, sets like the ones below, were phased out completely by 1990.  

Today, these sets carry tremendous nostalgic appeal.  Consider the farm alone.  First issued in 1968, the production ran for over 20 years; probably longer than any toy ever issued!  We not only survived them, we cherished them.  We passed them onto our children and even grandchildren, (none of whom are choking on them as far as I have been able to find out) for whom they still hold special appeal. 

To the dismay of children (and adults) everywhere, "little people" were replaced by "Chunky People" monstrous in both appearance and width compared to the classic Little People.  

Because of the massive size, to assure that no child could cram them down their throats, the playsets were far inferior to the detail and creativity of the previous sets.  

At the same time, child safety standards changed for dolls as well.  For well over a century, dolls had been held together by metal hooks inside the body.  Millions and millions of dolls in Europe, Asia and the United States had been made this way.  As far as I know, no child was ever injured on a stringing hook, as shown below in a 1970's Sasha doll.  

 These hooks were held tightly into the body by strong bungee cord.  Again...if you have a child who can disassemble a doll...hopefully they are old enough not to eat the components.  If the danger was injury, it's not like we're talking machete knives and razor blades here; we're talking a piece of metal inside a doll.  However did we survive?  Consider Ideal's "Shirley Temple" doll; one of the most iconic toys of the 20th century.  Millions were manufactured; millions were played with by young children in the 1930's and not one case of choking, bleeding to death by hooks, tetanus or whatever else a piece of metal could inflict, can be found  Still....

the perceived danger forced modern doll companies to create their dolls with a plastic plug-like insert that is embedded into the leg itself with the cord going into it.  The way the cord is inside the bodies causes decreased mobility to the leg joints and they are often difficult to pose to stand alone.  (Unlike this 1935 Shirley Temple doll,  standing 80 years later)   This renders it almost impossible to repair some of these dolls when the cord becomes loose or broken. Dolls like the American Girl doll can be easily repaired, because of the plastic used, but for a Magic Attic or newer Sasha doll, where the hole in the leg is very small, and the vinyl is very thick and hard, forget it.  It is possible but as I have learned from experience, the time, effort and risk of breaking the plastic piece isn't worth it.   

Burned in our collective Christmas memories in this house was the year that my 6 year old received her very coveted "Terri Lee" play doll.  She already had several of these dolls; having asked for them for every Christmas and birthday.

 Terri Lee Associates had reissued the classic 50's doll for children today.  As we removed the newely treasured Terri from the box, her arm popped off.  The crappy piece of plastic that held her arm in place snapped right in half.  This led to an emergency repair of creativity on my part, in rummaging through my doll repair supplies, found some hooks attached to large plastic pieces used to repair dolls, and I figured out a way to actually string the arms together (instead of separately as they were manufactured) one to another.  (Now that doll actually has better mobility and pose-ability than the others)   

Maybe we can laugh about it now, but I was not laughing on that Christmas morning! I averted a teary Christmas day but I was certainly none too happy about the experience!  I wrote to the Terri Lee company and complained and the response was "sometimes these things happen; please send your doll back (on your dime)  for a replacement".  Well my daughter did not want a replacement-she wanted that doll!  So there I was, 10:00 Christmas morning with a hair dryer trying to soften the vinyl enough to get the remainder of the plastic pieces out.  (Did the child safety laws ever take into consideration quality standards?  This was a bigger hazard than hooks!)  I noted several complaints of similar nature to mine on the internet.   The dolls continued to be made for a couple of more years, but as far as I can find out, the company is now defunct. 

So where is the line drawn?  Will the day come when marbles and jacks will be banned?  What are we teaching kids about responsibility in completely insulating them from any potential perceived danger?

And what about THIS amazing toy?  Metal plates were put on an open hot plate that you plugged in, and plastic "goop" actually cooked in the molds until you had marvelous (chokeable I'm sure) toy insects and other critters!  This was the BOMB of creative play!  My only issue with the ad below is that we girls liked to make kooky and creepy things too! :)  

In fact...THIS was burned into my childhood memories as one of the best creative toys I ever got.  

Yes, it's a shrunken head kit.  Complete with (is that Vincent Price?) creepy guy on the front.  I guess this could not be made today, as kids might eat the apples.  (Yeah...actually I did try that once it dried once...and survived).  Pins were stuck into the eyes and teeth and the apple dried in a weird electric heated oven like thing.  Note that it says that the cooker "hooks to any table lamp"!  

On the subject of monsters, I think every boy in the 1970's remembers this guy.  He could NEVER be made today! 

 I remember my brother had this, actually he had the stretch Monster I believe, and eventually his curiosity got the better of him and he poked him with a pin to see what was inside.  To our delight, it was a strange red gel that oozed out.  (No doubt, ultra toxic..for those supposed kids today who might get the bright idea to eat it)  However, it was only when we realized that that band aids would not fix Stretch Monster, especially when we stretched him again, that it was chalked up to be a fatal, and regrettable, mistake.  For Stretch Monster at least.

So what are we to do as parents? As a society?  We gotta keep kids safe after all.  Clearly toys like THIS should never have been made.  In 1952, someone got the bright idea that perhaps an atomic energy kit for kids would be a great idea.  Teach the next generation how to make their own A-bomb!  It contained radium and uranium. 

But somewhere between an atomic energy lab and this 

we have to have a degree of common sense.  Maybe it's teaching kids about respect.  And responsibility.   Maybe it's actually sitting down and teaching a child how to use a toy.  About playing with them to teach respect for that toy and not just bombarding them with a million things to play with for the purpose of keeping  them out of our hair while we complete the next level of Candy Crush.  I think kids really haven't changed very much at all; they are a whole lot smarter than we give them credit for.  After all, we survived!  

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Kelly and Joe Wenarsky are the owners of "Suburban Treasure"; a shop filled with nostalgic toys, jewelry and collectibles from the past.   We love, and sell, old Fisher Price toys, vintage dolls and lots of other great childhood items from the Victorian era to the 1990s.  (No atomic energy kits though!)  :)  

  https://www.etsy.com/shop/suburbantreasure 

Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SuburbanTreasure

I also bring previously loved Sasha dolls back to life at

http://kelscustomdolls.blogspot.com/