Written by Velma M. Smith

I may not have had as many toys as some children my age but I was very happy with mine, because I had parents that played with me, and took time to make toys for me. I had a doll, a china head and cloth body that Aunt Sadie gave me, that was my beloved Susie. My companion for many years. I had a lovely wooden cradle that was my Mother’s, some man made it for her. It had lovely quilts and bedding. Also a small carriage that I got for Christmas when I was 4. It was under the Christmas tree at the Cherry Flatts Methodist church, with two dolls, one had eyes that opened and shut and blond hair, the other had red hair, china head and a soft leather body. They became my family named Mae and Virgie. I had a car with three wheels, wind-up toy about 5 inches long, ABC blocks, dominoes, pick-up sticks, little dishes for my dolls lunch. A puzzle of U.S. that was Uncle Jay’s, and a book of nursery rhymes.

I remember best the hours my Mama spent with me at the kitchen table. A Sears Roebuck catalog and a pair of little scissors, bottle of glue and cardboard box. We cut out people, all black and white of course, stoves, tables, beds, bureaus etc. Cut them out and glued to cardboard, with a standard. We had families, all named, we played and played. We had schools, church and picnics.

Mama saved her spools from thread, wooden spools, she pasted pictures of a head from an animal on one end, tail on the other end, used matchsticks for legs and she had an animal. The dominoes made a nice fence. Papa made me whistles from bushes by the bridge.

Mama played a game with her fingers. “Two birds sitting on a fence, One named Jack and one named Jill, Fly away Jack, fly away Jill, come back Jack, come back Jill.”

Papa made a jumping jack, cut out of cardboard, torso of a man, made arms, legs and head, put them together with rivets, put a string through and pulled it a certain way and “Jack” went through all kinds of dancing. I never was able to make one. They also made button buzzers. We played button, button, who has the button on the stairs. They were both good at making shadow animals on the wall.

I don’t ever remember being lonesome. One thing I learned, when we finished making toys and playing, I put all scraps in the coal pail to be burned. The toys were placed in a box, the catalogs and scissors in a box I carried upstairs; opened the attic door and put in Grandma’s sewing machine, inside the door and they were left there until the next time. Everything was cleaned up before I played with anything else. That is if Mama was home. I could get away with leaving it if Grandma was keeping house. One day Mama called from Galeton that she was coming home, Grandma told me and I said “I’d better get my truck out of sight”, and began pushing it all under the lounge, which had a cover that went to the floor. I would have been 3 or 4 years old.

Papa made tops out of spools to spin on a plate or table and Mama made music with a comb and waxed paper. I loved to hear my Mama play the organ and sing church songs.