Question of the Week : What was your favorite toy growing up?

By Tom & Peggy Peterson

Welcome to Question of the Week, a weekly news column that poses timely questions about life, politics, culture, economics, health, and more to people out and about in our communities. Our hope at CCC News is that having this space dedicated to being curious about other people’s experiences can help us to deepen our understanding of people from all walks of life. 

This week's question is: What was your favorite toy growing up?

Courtney Kiser, young at heart, The Dalles 

“It was a "Give a Show" projector. I got it from my mom and dad,” he said. “It was a projector you put slides into, and it projected on the wall or ceiling. It projected pictures with captions to read, kind of like in a comic book. I had Flintstones, Quick Draw McGraw and others. I remember laying on my bed watching it on the ceiling, trying to read the captions. I loved that thing!” 

“So how about you? What was your favorite??,” Kiser asked the interviewer, Peggy Peterson 

Peggy Peterson, 50, The Dalles 

“Well, I did love my older sister Kathleen's toys the best!!,” she said. “Little sisters just love their big sisters and their TOYS! She got the toy Winnebago for her Barbie dolls. I thought it was so cool!! My skipper doll loved it too.” 

Wow, Tonka made the Winnebago too.

What kid could keep their hands off this?

 Tim Willis, 59, The Dalles

“Tonka truck, metal not plastic,” said Willis without pause. “My favorite was the articulating dump truck. We played with them inside and out. That’s why it didn’t last. We played hard with those things growing up. I was the youngest of five and I inherited the truck from my oldest brother. It had a little cab and a big dump box. It was bright yellow with black letters and it even said Tonka on the tires. That brings me back to a good moment, Thank you.” Willis, who grew up in Columbus, Ohio, said he eventually got on some heavy equipment in college, getting to operate a high lift, skid steer and backhoe. 

Jill Gordon, 67, Portland

Chubby Cubby

 “I had a stuffed animal named Chubby Cubby. It was black and white and a foot long. I would carry him with me everywhere. I wonder what happened to him?”

Gordon was meeting with a friend from Boardman at The Dalles, and the pair were thrift store shopping together. 

Sergio Serrano, 49, The Dalles 

A lot of wild horses in your youth

 “I grew up in Mexico City and we did not have toys like here. We had to create our own toys,” he said. “My favorite was horse and dog (figures). We would play with them outside with my friends and in the yard. I miss that energy. When you’re young, everything is about fun. Now, like, you have to be more careful about what you're doing.” 

Cowabunga dude!

Dick Nonsenzo, 30, The Dalles

“Mutant Ninja Turtles,” he said. ‘90s toys were amazing. They were the best. I was an only child but I had cousins that were like brothers and sisters to me. We played inside and outside with them. Fun Times.” But which one? “Michaelangelo,” he said immediately. The Turtles were renowned for their pizza-eating skills and here are a few of their favorite toppings - granola, clams, peanut butter, pepperoni, fudge. Cowabunga dude! 

How many ways can you put it together?

Austin Clark, 24, The Dalles. 

“My Lego set. I was big on them,” he said. “Which set? That’s hard to choose. In elementary school I got a Darth Vader ship,” he said. “I played with that set after school and on weekends. I would let my imagination go wild with it. When you’re a kid, anything was what you made of it.” 

Felix Cruz, 56, The Dalles. 

In its simplest forms, joy came as easy as swinging a leg over your bicycle.

“Oh, it’s a lot. I grew up in Mexico,” the local McDonalds manager said. “Bicycle. I was always riding my bike downtown Mexico City. It is a really big city but they had places like here to ride bikes that was really safe. I had a Magistroni. It was an old nice bike. I rode with my brothers everywhere.”