Sooty, Slinkies And Sindys

We take a trip down memory lane to revisit some of our favourite childhood toys and games...

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1940s & 1950s

Invented by accident when naval engineer Richard James tested the tension springs for a suspension system, Slinky became one of the stars of the toy box. Hands up who tried to race two of them down the stairs and then had to spend hours trying to tease apart metres of tangled metal mess?

If you were a fan of television programme Watch with Mother, there's a chance that your Muffin the Mule string puppet also occasionally required some emergency unravelling. Along with Sooty puppets, these were early examples of children's television and film driving demand for product spin offs, retail opportunities that would increasingly dominate wish lists to Santa over the following decades.

Similarly, boys were recreating Western shootouts in cowboy hats while toting silver cap guns, while girls were generally encouraged towards nurse's caps and capes. Meccano, and later LEGO, were among the options for quieter, more creative moments.

HONOURABLE MENTION: Mr Potato Head. Four decades before his '90s reboot, he was just a humble spud, plus various plastic body parts and accessories.