The other day I stumbled across the BBC TV programme called The Repair Shop, which takes old broken items, precious to their owners, and restores them to their former glory.
In the episode I watched, a woman had brought in a horse-racing toy that had belonged to her father. They'd had hours of fun playing it when she was a child.
But the mechanism to make the horses "gallop" down the cloth racecourse no longer worked and the lead horses were in a sorry state.
But not for long - the expert craftsman used his skill (and a good deal of TLC) to restore the toy so that it worked perfectly once more, bringing back many happy memories for her and her father.
Old toy memories
The programme sparked a conversation between me and my husband about favourite toys in our own childhood. He
recalled a set of lead model Knights of the Round Table he'd once had (prompting him to go scouring the internet where he found the exact models for sale on eBay!) and I thought back to my baby doll, called Rose.
While sadly I no longer have the doll, I still have some of the beautiful clothes my great-aunt knitted for her (see above!).
My old teddy!
I also had a very old teddy, who was so well cuddled that his fur was almost bare and his stuffing virtually non-existent.
My mum, in her wisdom, decided that it was time he was thrown out. I was devastated - and so was Mum afterwards, worrying that her rash act had caused me psychological damage!
So, while it's a bit faded, it was wonderful to find a photograph of Old Teddy while scanning my dad's collection of photograph slides.
What are your favourite toy memories?
Aww he sounds like he was a very posh bear!
Oh how adorable, Gill! I inherited my dad's old teddy. He wears a pair of worn out trousers from another bear and a very faded velvet jacket. Don't know where that came from!
We love this programme too, i love watching craftsmen/women work. I still have a teddy from my childhood called Little Ted. He is still wearing the dungarees my mum knitted for him over 50 years ago!
I'm going to do the same, Helen, now I've discovered it - record it to watch later. A delightful programme.
Oh, a doll's house. How wonderful. Mine's long gone, sadly. It was one my dad made. It used to have electric lights inside at one time but they stopped working. So my sister and I used to close it up in a darkened room and shine a torch in at the windows and imagine the little people inside!
I'm impressed your rabbit still squeaks. How lovely!
I love the Repair Shop – I tape it to watch in the evening. My own prized possession is a rabbit – a gift, apparently, when I was a baby. It still squeaks and isn’t too shabby, although it does show signs of being well-loved. Another treasure is my doll’s house. It still has the original furniture and sits atop a wooden trolley made by my grandfather. Other shelves are crammed full of family photos, medals and ornaments.