Urban Archeologist is written by Greg Van Antwerp, a Brookfield resident and blogger, who can be found on the weekends in search of a good “dig” or a good story.
I like toys and I'm not ashamed to admit it. Is there anyone who doesn't like toys? When I'm on the hunt for treasure, among the many (many) things I look for are old toys. It might be because when I am looking in odd places I've discovered toys stashed in squirrel holes long ago. The other reason is nostalgia.
How many millions of toys passed before our eyes growing up? To see just one of them again at a sale vindicates some part of me that I forgot existed. Any number of memories arrive instantly: Who gave me the toy; Where I was when I played with it; Who was playing with me at the time. It really is like visiting an old friend.
At a recent sale I found an old toy, not one from my childhood, but one from someone else's. I am guessing it's antique because it looks home-made, but with no stamp marks or labels it could have come from anywhere. See if you can recognize it.
A 5” x 6” wooden castle with a courtyard and walls painted to mock windows and possibly town buildings, it also had a ramp leading down and away from a castle gate. There was a secret compartment underneath the courtyard that contained eight soldiers and one captain of the guard. Each seemed painted with more care than a home craftsman might be capable of providing.
I didn't start appreciating it until my 9-year-old daughter began carrying it around as an indication that it would be hers. I had dismissed it, even recommended her against it, but when the price was reduced to nearly nothing I acquiesced. Something inside me wondered if 30 years from now she might remember this wooden palace. Would this be a piece of her memory that could be vindicated someday?
She was thrilled to have it, but I must admit, my fascination with the small size and fine detail got the better of me. You will see in the short video that it takes very little to inspire a story from inanimate objects, even if you're a *ahem* mature individual like me.
In the end we had a lot of fun playing with this mysterious toy together, I hope she can share it with her children some day.
From the archives, I posted a story about some toys I would have liked to see in my toy chest, but I was a little late being born. Some of these might make you nostalgic for the way toys used to be made. I hope they do.
The video referenced can be found on YouTube here: http://youtu.be/HF8HOhPpGu8
Read more about Van Antwerp's adventures by visiting his blog.
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