Wind ‘n Watch
Date stamp, 2014. How do I convey the joy that comes from winding and waiting and watching and then re-winding a wind-up toy, circa 1950, then repeating the cycle at least another half dozen times?
Beats me. I’m writing this post for nostalgic reasons. I may not be a pee-in-the-pepsi-can marathon gamer, but I do know my brand-name video games with all their built-in wizardry and subliminal, addictive allure. To entice those twenty-somethings into their parent’s past . . . .
I offer Yugioh “Game King” (Japanese: ゼンマイ Zenmai) wind-up. I admit, it’s different, but the same, at least in name. It does carry the “wind-up” or “mainspring” moniker, perhaps in an attempt to draw in that transition age-group? Those boomers with kidlettes of their own now? Doesn’t much matter to me. I have no kidlettes left. I do have memories of those . . . .
Wind-ups
Or “mainsprings”. Like Yugioh of 1996, the vintage toys of the 40’s and 50’s were manufactured by the Japanese.
However, wind-ups date as far back as the 15th century. Leonardo da Vinci crafted a wind-up lion for Louis XII. René Descartes made a wind-up human girl (another post, entirely). Not to mention some sort of detailed battle scene made for the Dauphin of France in 1660.
The ones I recall were made of tin. Many had springs for moving parts as in the dog’s tail, below, a toy which my brother owned and being twenty years my senior allowed me to play with every day.
There were others in our collection.
My brothers favorite.
And mine.
Not much more to say
I did preface this post with a very self-serving remark, days-gone-by, and such. I’m hoping these images stored somewhere in your fading, boomer memories arouse at least a sliver of pleasure. I so lovingly tucked my recollections away some forty years ago and then brought them to life again in Gravel Roads.
I can almost feel my stubby little paws wrapped around that wind-up key
Neat, huh?
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