Child's Play

 I scroll through eBay and similar sites and there are the (now vintage) toy soldiers I used to play with as a child- all costing rather more than they did in the 1950s. I am tempted to make purchases, but then I think "You don't get your childhood back that easily- and why would you want it anyway?"

At the Clerks last night we played a game where you answer four questions and then work out what the answers have in common. For instance if the initial answers are Jerry Seinfeld, High and Mighty, Mickey Rourke and Mini then the linking idea and final answer is Mice. Lateral thinking is involved and you either get it or you don't. And so the right brainers were separated from the left brainers and the latter were cast out into.... No, they weren't, but isn't it curious how what is child's play to one person can be utterly baffling to the person sitting next to them....

Little People

 

As a fairly young child (don't ask me to fix the exact age) I used to fantasize about making a scale model of the world- enormous of course, but exact in every detail- right down to the writing on all the tombstones. So far, so Borgesian. I never really followed through, but I've always loved miniatures and as a child built model aircraft (badly) and amassed a mighty army of toy soldiers. At the beginning of the current century I collected fantasy war-gaming figures- and painted them (rather well, though I say it myself)- not because I was into wargaming but because of my love of all things small. They now live in a castle in the attic. They need dusting. I should really take time to do it. I've featured them before on this blog so we'll pass them by for the present. I still collect toy soldiers- but randomly and unsystematically. And not all of them are soldiers. Here are the only survivors from the mighty army of my childhood. They were made in the 1950s by the German company Elastolin out of a material that is basically sawdust and glue. They came as part of a gift pack one Christmas. Elastolin dates from the beginning of the last century and during a certain period of German history produced models of such real life characters as H*tl*r, H*ss, G**bb*ls et al- all of them with moveable right arms so they could salute one another. with vigour Such figures can still be found for sale on eBay where they are coyly described as  representing "officers" or "general staff".... Here are some Napoleonics. The lass in the centre is a vivandiere.... They were made by the French company Starlux. The Napoleonic armies sported the most beautiful uniforms in the history of the world. Another French comapny, Papo, is still going great guns. They do a terrific range of fantasy figures. This one is from 2003 and seems to be no longer in production. I don't know who or what she is supposed to be. i just think she's ineffably cool. These rather blobby and unsatisfactory crusaders entered my collection because I was once a crusader myself and can't hear or even think words and phrases like "Crac des Chevaliers", "Outremer" or "Horns of Hattin" without a certain prickling behind the eyes. My favourite song of all time is Walther Von Vogelweide's Palastinalied. Nuff said. Finally, here is my most recent purchase, an item from Corgi's Forward March collection. Most of the figures in the range are military but these are the wartime music hall entertainers, Bud Flanagan and Chesney Allen. Paul McCartney once said he'd like to see a gold-plated statue of Bud Flanagan stuck on top of every fire hydrant in London- a sentiment I heartily endorse. Hey Paul, you have the money now, how about living the dream? Bud is best known for singing the Dad's Army theme tune- which is my second favourite song of all time.- and which we arranged to have played at my mother's funeral....