When I was his age WWII had been going for over two years, My father was in the Royal Engineers in North Africa and we had not seen him for a long time. We did receive a small wooden crate from him which contained about 20 tangerine oranges, something the war department or some charity arranged. We also received a greeting card from him. These were photo reduced to about postcard size, his writing was therefore very small, and on the card was a seasonal cartoon. He had a buddy who was a great cartoonist and he would embelish any letter with something humerous.
Christmas presents were quite basic. Usually a Rupert Bear Annual, some paints and a painting book and a few small items in a sock. In the toe of the sock would be one of the tangerines. How Christmas has changed.
My aforementioned grandson is an only child and special for reasons that are irrelevant here but, suffice to say, his gift pile varies beyond belief from my own at his age. Three gifts that particularly caught my attention are, the mini ipad pre-loaded with apps appropriate for young children and suitably blocked against any uncontrolled internet use. He has had an old ipad with a cracked screen for some time and is adept at using it.
Two 'toys' that really caught my attention were a Minniom and a Mip. These are both electronic robot type toys which, underneath, use some quite sophisticated electronics.
The Minnion is something that responds to voice commands, it rolls around and falls over but manages to get to its feet again. It gets frustrated but then farts and laughs hilariously at his achievement. Here is a short vid:
The Mip is an amazing little robot that runs on just two wheels. Louis can control it from his ipad and it will dance to any music but most amazingly it gan carry a full can of drink and (mostly) avoid any object in its path. I am sure Horus will agree that there must be a pretty strong gyro or counterbalance inside somewhere. Here is another short vid:
Just a few examples of how toys have changed since my day.
Happy New Year All
When I was a kid, our Christmas presents depended on what other children had finished with and donated to the local church. Usually a book.
toy soldiers, guns and I was in my element. The best present was one my dad made me, it was a model fort with towers and a drawbridge and it all stored away in a box base. He had spent many weeks in his shed making it and it looked like real sandstone on the outside because he had coated all the parts by dusting dried sand on the top of varnish to create the effect, he was very good with his hands and could make most things, I treasured that model fort and would play with it for hours on end.
