Last Night I Didn't Knit ...

Last night I didn't knit. Nope. Not even one stitch. I went to my neighbor's house and played Bunco, instead.
Hard to believe, I know! I guess I thought after living in this neighborhood for 15 years, it was about time I met some of the neighbors.
ANYHOW, I had never played Bunco before. It's really fun and one of the best things about it is that nobody can get mad at you for making poor decisions like they can at cards. (It's kind of scary to play bridge with hard-core bridge players.)
Well, for some reason, playing Bunco made me start to reminisce about all the old games and toys I used to play with when I was little. So, I had to go to eBay (my favorite place for taking a stroll down memory lane), and check some of them out.
Right now, for sale, is the version of Candyland that I soooo remember! I had to pull my hand away from the "bid now" button. (I mean, really, what would I do with a vintage Candyland game after I had it home?) But there, on the page, I could supersize the photo and drool over the peanut brittle and the little candy canes and the gingerbread men pieces. Ah! It was great! And there, best of all, was the ice-cream float card. That was my ultimate favorite! That card, sadly, was later removed in newer versions. When my children had Candyland, it wasn't the same at all. The manufacturer re-did all the illustrations and replaced the cute, gentle drawings with weird, garish cartoons. I never could get used to King Candy ... and Queen Frostine. Playing Candyland was just never the same. Now, the game looks even worse! Take a look at this newer version for sale. What's up with that peppermint guy? YIKES!
And, while I was looking up Candyland, my thoughts suddenly turned to Josie West. I smiled and nodded to myself. Yes, Josie West. I remember her well. I remember that Christmas that I wanted Josie West so badly. I think I was in 3rd grade. My older brother had lots of the other Marx action figures in the West family ... and I wanted Josie with her cute ponytails and her neat horse. *Sigh. I guess my parents waited too late to shop for Josie, though, because on Christmas morning when I opened the box I thought would have Josie in it, it had Jane. (This link to an eBay auction photo gives you a good idea of the difference between Josie and Jane.)Jane was Josie's mother, you see, and she was HUGE (and rather ugly, to boot). I was disappointed, to say the least. I never did get Josie. I might get her now, though, as I see eBay has a lot of Josies for sale. Strangely, my daughters LOVED my Jane doll and used her quite often when playing Barbies. She was, after all, in great condition, as I had relegated her to the storage shelf and never played with her much. For my daughters, Jane was the "popular" girl. I had to laugh because I couldn't stand old Jane, myself. (Though I have to admit, it wasn't Jane's fault for being Jane and not Josie.)
I really liked the guy dressed in black that my brother had and, for all these years, I thought he was Johnny West. To my horror, this morning as I looked up the people at the Marx Online Museum, he was a bad guy! He wasn't Johnny at all! No, I think he may have been (shudder, gasp)the outlaw Sam Cobra!
Well, after I had my fill of the West family, I started thinking about all the hours spent playing card games like Spoons and Pig and Milles Bornes. (How I loved throwing a flat tire down on one of my unsuspecting siblings!) Ah, yes. Those good-old days when you could still buy Mint Julep candies 2 for a penny!