"Once upon a time....."

I'm a nostalgia junkie.
I love finding & collecting toys, movies, games, books, etc etc etc from my youth.
Just yesterday, I went berzerk because I found out that GNIP GNOP was getting re-made for the masses ( for those that have never heard of it - check out this: http://www.feelingretro.com ) I owned and loved this game ( but I seem to recall getting my knuckles bashed apart on the game. ) Anyone else have this problem?

Inchworm, Milky The Marvelous Milking Cow, Vincent Price's Shrunken Apple Head kit, Creepy Crawlers thingmaker, Digger the Dog, Sweet April dolls ( that cry real tears! ) Baby Alive, Romper Stompers, Smack It!, Patches McGee ( "Patches! Patches McGee! That lil' ragamuffin filled with lots of love and stuffin!" - I think that's how the jingle went. ) The Joey Stivic doll, The Sunshine Family, Slime....the list is endless. And that's just toys!!

Now that I have kid(s) of my own, I'm always thinking about things from MY youth that I could pass onto them. I do have a large container filled with some of my collectibles that I will share and save for them - but what comes to my mind most are the BOOKS of my childhood. My husband and I are big readers - LOVE the books - and lately I've been hunting down my favorites from the past to either read again ( nostalgia phase ) or save for the kiddies.
These are the books that I loved the most:

"Ginnie and Geneva" - by Catherine Woolley (released in 1948 - the tale of 2 girls that meet and become best friends. It's so squeaky clean and fun. I would get lost in this book in the 5th grade - wanting to have the bond that they did. There are a few other G&G books - a cookbook even, which is rare and pricy and I'm DYING to get it - but this is my favorite. )

"The Adventures of Patrick the Mouse" - by Katja Beskow ( A story of a little mouse that lives in Sweden, with his mom and dad and 17 other brothers and sisters. Feeling a little cramped in his house and too curious for his own good, his wandering off gets him lost and caught up in an amazing worldwide adventure. )

"The Great Brain" - by John Fitzgerald ( Takes place in "turn of the century Utah". The story of Tom, and his brothers/family. There is a Tom Sawyer kind of feel to it. I love the many tales within the book: Basil the greek kid with the Erector set, being quarantined while having the mumps, the first indoor flush toilet, etc etc. There is a series of these books, and I read them all.
In fact, some of you may recall that Jimmy Osmond and the Osmond clan actually turned the book into a movie. )

"Are you there, God? It's me, Margaret"/ "Blubber"/ "Starring Sally J. Friedman as herself"/ "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing"....... - by Judy Blume ( I'm a little bummed that I am/will be the mother of 2 boys, only because I really wanted to share all the girly Judy Blume books with my imaginary daughters one day. These books, to me, are essential for every 10-12 year old girl. They may be dated in some ways, but they are still so great to read. Judy did make many "boyish" books as well - and frankly, I would love if it my boys wanted to read the chick ones too. )

I don't want this post to get TOO huge, and I'm finding it's starting to spreeeaaaaaad, so I'm just gonna list the other books I wanted to mention ( without giving a brief description. )
Where the Sidewalk Ends, The Lorax, The Phantom Tollbooth, Ramona The Brave - and other Ramona stories, Where The Wild Things Are, oooh I could go on and on.....

I love the stuff of my youth. I get fueled by images of 70's and 80's memorabilia.
Here's a couple tunes that bring me back to "that time". ( if only I had FREE TO BE YOU AND ME on cd and not vinyl....sigh )

"Spiderman Theme" ( by Will Power ) from THE ELECTRIC COMPANY ( I wish they would show reruns of this show on PBS. The Electric Company was THE SHIT!!! )Spiderman theme.mp3

"S.W.A.T. Theme" ( by Rhythm Heritage ) In the 70's, S.W.A.T. was a hit tv show - which then became a Samuel L. Jackson flick a few years ago. Me and many friends would get together and "play SWAT" - I always wanted to be Hondo - and we would put on this 45rpm and BLAST it from my babysitter's house.
S.W.A.T. theme.mp3