Twenty-Five Childhood Memories
I originally posted this as “Twenty-One Childhood Memories.” I just realized that I’d mis-numbered them, and there were actually twenty-three. I’d remembered a couple of other nice childhood things, so I stuck those in there as well. So now there are twenty-five, and I’m reposting.
1: I used to have a Wonder Horse. You know, one of those horsies on springs that you could rock and bounce on. I dearly loved it. One day, I left it outside in the snow. When the snow melted, the horse was gone, and for many years, I believed that it had melted too.
2: I believed that there were little people inside my television set up until oh, about a year and a half ago. This made Kukla, Fran, and Ollie a very creepy experience.
3: For the longest time, I couldn’t figure out the difference between things that could be done on cartoons and things that could be done in reality. Example: I once watched Ricochet Rabbit pour milk into a glass. He poured and poured, and the milk kept going up over the top of the glass, still retaining the shape of the glass as it reached the ceiling. I tried this and it didn’t work. As you’re probably beginning to surmise, I wasn’t a very
bright child.
4: I used to get into a lot of trouble with straws. I couldn’t use one without blowing bubbles– the temptation was just too great. Getting millions of milk bubbles to the top of the glass– that was my mission in life.
5: McDonald’s straws used to be made out of this cool kind of (probably toxic) plastic. You could bite them and they would tear, and you could make your entire straw into a giant curleyqueue.
6: White bread was never meant for eating so much as for licking or rolling into a dough ball between my palms. Sometimes, the dough would become gray from the dirt on my hands, but I’d eat it anyway. Making bologna masks was fun too: Instructions for kids: Just cut eyes, a nose and a mouth out of the slice of bologna with your teeth and hold it up to your face. It will make grownups mad, but never eat the bologna– it’s made out of scary things.
7: Mud pies!!!!!! I remember the smell of the mud, and the cool wetness of the pies to this day.
8: When I was about ten or so, I had a fascination with hippies. One day, my best friend
and I dressed up in these little bell bottoms, and put headbands around our foreheads. My mom dropped us off at the Highland Strip, which was the “hippie” area of town, and let us mingle among the groovy people for a while.
9: As a pre-teen, I had simultaneous crushes on Greg Brady, Keith Partridge, Cat Stevens, Jack Wild, and a boy named Payton.
10: When I was eleven, some neighborhood kids and I had an Archies lip syncing band for about two weeks. I was Veronica, and got to play air keyboard.
11: I used to have a piano, and I miss it to this day.
12: When I was in second grade, I made up a story about why I didn’t have my homework. It involved UFOs and an alien who bit my mother and ate my dog. My teacher called my mother to find out if she was okay.
13: I loved Allen, the school bus driver. He was tall and thin and brown, and had the softest, sweetest voice. He wore a snap brimmed hat. He always seemed so happy to see me each morning, and I was very happy to see him. The afternoon bus driver was Julius, and he was funny and nice. I held the bus drivers in much higher regard than most of my teachers. They were kinder to me.
14: Two of my mother’s cars that I remember were a gigantic green Desoto (you could see the street through the holes in the floorboard) and an old blue Buick convertible. The convertible had a little American flag decal in the middle of the back window, which covered a hole in the plastic and kept the rain out.
15: My mom used to have really cool mini dresses, which I loved to play dress-up in.
16: One of my best birthday presents was a Beautiful Crissy doll. She had orange hair, and
if you pushed a button on her tummy, you could yank her hair and make it grow.
17: I used to visit my grandmother in Tampa for a few weeks every summer.
18: Stringing things together was big when I was a kid– beads, daisy chains, necklaces out of clover– but I never could get the hang of making gum wrapper necklaces.
19: We moved a lot when I was a child, and I remember having some really colorful neighbors. There was a magician who had his own TV show called “Magicland,” and a lady who made rooster pictures out of colored popcorn whose daughter was on Dark Shadows (I believe she played Angelique). We had a beautiful babysitter named Sandra who wasn’t allowed to cut her hair. She was a fantastic dancer. She wanted to be on a local dance show called Talent Party and would practice her routine to the Jackson 5’s “ABC” while sitting for us. She auditioned, and was offered a job as a WHBQ-tie, but her very strict father wouldn’t let her do it. There were so many more wonderful people– I’ll have to write a post just about them one day.
20: My first serious relationship was with a boy in first grade named Jeff. He gave me a little gumball machine bracelet with a blue charm on it. He was too shy to hand it to me, so he hid it in my desk for me to find.
21: My first “real” kiss was from a cute boy named Curt. My parents dropped us off to see a movie, and afterwards, while waiting for them to pick us up, we sat on the curb and smooched. It was so nice. I saw him years later, completely dressed in drag, and accompanied by his boyfriend.
22: I loved my Easy Bake Oven and my “Thingmaker,” which was like a Creepy Crawler maker, only you made flowers with it. You poured different colors of Goop into the mold, then stuck it into this dangerously hot oven, and voila! Pretty little rubbery flowers that you couldn’t do anything with besides admire.
23: Scaring the hell out of myself was one of my favorite pastimes. I never missed Fantastic Features, the weekend horror movie show that came on at midnight. It was hosted by Sivad, the “Monster of Cermonies”–a Memphis vampire with a heavy southern accent. I would sit trembling in the dark and watch B movies like “The Blob,” “The Werewolf,” and “The Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman,” all of which generated nightmares for weeks. I couldn’t sleep without the hall light on. I also loved, “The Twilight Zone” and “The Outer Limits.” Ooohhhh!
I remembered two more nice things:
24: When I was thirteen, my father and stepmother took me to one of the fanciest restaurants in Memphis. It was one of those spinning restaurants on top of a very tall office building, and there was a maitre d’ and water pourers and very proper waiters. Dad gave me a beautiful sapphire ring in a box, and he and I danced to big band music. The ring disappeared soon after, but I’ll always cherish this memory.
25: When I was eighteen, my dad, newly divorced, gave me a pair of really weird earrings. They looked like little pale pink water balloons. I think it may have been the first gift that he had ever picked out for me all by himself. I treasured those earrings, and now my daughter has them. She’s very superstitious about them, and won’t fly on a plane without wearing them.
My favorite birthday was…oh wait–this is my favorite birthday!
Brian said,
September 18, 2007 at 3:45 pm
Aw! I love the picture and I had one of those horses when I was a kid, too.
I think #19 is hilarious!!
moonbeammcqueen said,
September 18, 2007 at 4:03 pm
You did, Brian? I’ll bet your Wonder Horse is still alive and kicking– mine was sent to the glue factory long ago.
Brian said,
September 18, 2007 at 4:16 pm
I have no idea what happened to mine. Most of the things that we had a children disappeared over several moves and several yard sales.
I do have a few books and smaller mementos, though.
randomyriad said,
September 18, 2007 at 9:11 pm
I had one of those horses too. and my nephew and my children used it in the 80’s and 90’s. But we moved to another state, it was one of the casualties of the move. I have a picture of my daughter riding it when she was three wearing one of her funny hats (she is an avid collector of funny hats). It was still viable when I saw it last at a garage sale to raise money for our move in 1997. I also remember creepy crawlers, what was that stuff you put in the molds made out of?
moonbeammcqueen said,
September 18, 2007 at 9:36 pm
So…I had to look Wonder Horses up to see if they still make them– they do! You should feel glad that you got rid of yours–they recalled many of the ones made prior to 1986. The funny hat things is so cute.
moonbeammcqueen said,
September 18, 2007 at 9:54 pm
Oh, and I looked up the Goop that Creepy Crawlers were made out of, and it looks like PVC plastic. In my day, we were tougher so apparently they used lead in the coloring…I’m starting to feel sick…
Little Miss said,
September 18, 2007 at 11:31 pm
OMG, I had that same Beautiful Crissy doll too. I loved her long silky hair. #12 made me laugh out loud. It fortold of your ability to capitvate an audience with your words. Hope you had a great birthday. You deserve it.
moonbeammcqueen said,
September 19, 2007 at 12:15 am
I was such a liar– and really bad at it too! Wasn’t Crissy beautiful? She seemed so high-tech at the time. I loved her crocheted dress and her little shoes. She was very hip for a little doll.
awriterinthedesert said,
September 21, 2007 at 7:17 am
My God we have so much in common. From Crissy to Dark Shadows to the Wonder Horse to eating balls of Wonder Bread. We should start at 47 Club, where we can all sit around in Keith Partridge T-shirts on some front porch and brush out Crissy’s (or her sister, Cricket’s) hair. I’m sure it would be really crowded on that porch.
awriterinthedesert said,
September 21, 2007 at 7:19 am
And that photo of you is just adorable.
moonbeammcqueen said,
September 21, 2007 at 7:48 am
“Club 47″ sounds wonderful!!!!!!! And thanks– that photo was taken on the birthday that I received my Wonder Horse. I wish they made ‘em for grownups….
Little Miss said,
September 21, 2007 at 1:09 pm
I’m in! I remember Dark Shadows too. We used to have a babysitter that watched that, and General Hospital, every day.
thegirlfromtheghetto said,
February 6, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Wow, that 13th birthday story is great … what a wonderful experience. I feel bad that we just took our step-daughter to dinner at Outback with her BFF and let her have a sleepover when she turned 13 last year. Her mom was supposed to throw her a party, but …
moonbeammcqueen said,
February 6, 2008 at 9:04 pm
@ ghetto girl: Don’t feel bad– it sounds like a great time! I think you probably saved the day.
That birthday was so meaningful for me because it was a once-in-a-life time thing. The thirteenth birthday of course, but it was also the only time that my dad treated me like a princess. It was all his wife’s doing, but I didn’t care!
teagan said,
April 26, 2008 at 12:17 pm
thes stories areamazing
Moonbeam McQueen said,
April 27, 2008 at 12:46 pm
@ teagan: I’m glad you like them!
Jamie said,
April 28, 2008 at 6:24 am
I had a Crissy Doll too…she was a Christmas gift I was around hmmmm 10 when I got her. My sister got Velvet when she came out. Ahhhhhh memories! Thanks for helping me to remember some of my favorite times!
Moonbeam McQueen said,
April 28, 2008 at 2:42 pm
@ Jamie: I forgot about Velvet! Thanks for reminding me. I love these memories too– thanks for your comments!
sSg said,
May 31, 2008 at 12:40 pm
qeeOndaa!
naa psz.ariiba Los hippieS!
seeQese!
=)
sOn Lo mehOr
Los amOh musHoO!!!
sOn mehOr qe Los meTaLerOs,
emOs,eTz…
a webO bdd?
y Los hiippiesS a un viiveen!
baeee!*
jhonatan clark said,
July 13, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Peruvian .. I know would be a taste … I want to join the gender ..
teeni said,
August 3, 2008 at 8:58 pm
These were awesome! I remember rolling Wonder bread into balls, I remember McDonald’s Grimace used to have at least two pairs of arms, My sister had the Chrissy doll and I had her younger sister. MY younger sister had a wonder horse with the springs. Oh, what fun things to remember! Great post and a very happy birthday to you!!!!!
Moonbeam McQueen said,
August 3, 2008 at 10:52 pm
@ teeni: Thanks! It’s an old post– my birthday’s not until September. Please don’t age me prematurely!
Re-reading this makes me remember how much fun it was to write. I may have to do another one!
David Scott said,
September 3, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Hey I like your blog.
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Thanks,
Dave
monique said,
October 31, 2008 at 4:20 pm
I wish i could do #8 my moms way too paranoid!! haha so fun
Moonbeam McQueen said,
October 31, 2008 at 9:21 pm
@ monique: Looking back on it, it was very out of character for my mom to let me do this. She was really overprotective!
bluetrees said,
December 22, 2008 at 2:32 pm
I never missed Fantastic Features either. The episode where the plants ate the people, and then their faces were in the middle of the bloom. And “House on Haunted Hill.” Wow. I’m gettin’ scared.
Moonbeam McQueen said,
December 23, 2008 at 9:54 am
Eeeeek, Bluetrees! I’d forgotten about the plant people (shudder)! That one was really creepy! If you remember the name of that one, please let me know. I’d love to see it again.
you said,
February 25, 2009 at 11:08 am
hippies were odd
mp said,
April 16, 2009 at 7:46 pm
I LOVED my Chrissy Doll, mom kept her, she’s in the closet
VJM said,
November 1, 2009 at 9:36 am
I found this by googling Crissy dolls. I had one, too! As I read on, I had to say I share so much else… Easy Bake, Creepy crawlers, smell of mudpies, hippies and tv shows – when you mentioned Magicland, I remembered the Memphis tv show with the magician (Dick Williams??) and his wife/assistant, whom I thought looked old. I was on that show, sitting in the bleachers, eating McDonalds hamburgers with all the other kids! I also watched Sivad, and ate at the revolving restaurant- the one time I felt rich! My hands and nose were pressed against the glass watching the city spin around me! I loved those Memphis memories. BTW… As a teen, my Dad danced on a tv show, not sure it was the same one, (I’ll ask him today). He won a tv set and got to be in a warm-up act for an up-and-coming local singer named Elvis Presley. So cool.