“When we were young nobody died
And nobody got older
The toughest kid in the street
Could always be bought over
And the first time that you loved
You had all your life to give”~~Whipping Boy - When We Were Young~~
Ah nostalgia, it just isn’t what it used to be… As a kid, everything was new and sparkly; coated in a layer of shine that only the sense of surprise or the unexpected can offer. Eventually, the relationship between one’s senses and one’s environment ‘dulls’ somewhat, as experience eventually readies you for virtually anything this strange grossly over-inhabited rock can throw at you. Now, this may sound like a lyric from Radiohead’s latest release and admittedly such maturity does have its advantages (anyone for a pint?) but I still believe that nothing ever quite matches the feeling of being a kid. Whether it was the feeling of finding excitement in everything (before you became a professional cynic) or just the blind optimism you held (before you had to hear the words ‘banking crisis’ every 5 seconds), being a kid was most definitely the way to go. So, as I wipe away the tears and sit down to learn of Tracker Mortgages and Pension Schemes here’s my little rose-tinted reminisce over the ‘good auld days’…
POGS
Arriving from nowhere, these coin-shaped wonders soon swept across every school yard and road in the area. I can’t remember exactly what the game entailed other than kind of flipping these ‘pogs’ to win the other person’s collection but by God, it was genius. It also ushered in the first lesson in the power of acquisition as those who went out of their way to seek out the chunky, reinforced gargantuan ‘slammer’ pogs were set to rule the entire area till someone else came along with something similar. Democracy at it’s finest.
PREMIER LEAGUE STICKER COLLECTION
The basic premise here was to fill the sticker album, which contained a space for each player in the Premier League, with the matching player’s sticker, which could be purchased in packs of 10 or so. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, think again as such a simple equation soon became an all out turf war as we all viciously sought some random Charlton FC reserve winger to complete our collection. With our poor parents shelling out a fortune each week to get us packs upon packs of these tickers it wasn’t long before a stack of personal ‘swapsies’ were formed; you can forget cigarettes and prison, this was true currency. “Have, have, have…NEED!” was all you could hear from the school yard and I can still remember the moment I traded in my mammoth mound of ‘swapsies’ for a single sticker (an early lesson in supply and demand, no doubt about it), a certain Paul Walker of Tottenham Hotspurs; the only remaining player missing from my album and the player who would see me become the first in my class to complete it. You can stick your Leaving Certificate – this was real education!
FOOD
Well, food is perhaps just a touch misleading as really what I really mean here is sweets and crisps. Whereas 50p (or 65c or so) would be lucky to get you a look at a Mars bar these days, back when I was young you could walk out of a shop feeling like Willy Wonka on such a wage. 10-penny bags were a staple, as were a couple of 10p crisps (Banshee Bones, Hot Lips, Wheelies...there was a new one every week!), throw in a cool pop or a fat frog and then you could top it off by asking for ‘the rest in jellies’ and be safe in the knowledge that you’d come away with a mini-mound of sweet, additive laden, artificially coloured wonders to keep you bouncing off the walls for the evening.
GAMES ON THE ROAD/GREEN
World Cup, Heads ‘n’ Volleys, Squares, Kerbs, Rounder’s… in retrospect the array of games we developed, on what was essentially a narrow strip of concrete or a patch of grass, was fierce impressive. A personal favourite was ‘gates’ where one of us would ‘mind’ the gate of one house and then subsequently try to shoot into the gate of the house across the way, while the second player did the same. Sounds disastrous and it was. Having to call into my neighbour’s house having smashed their car mirror straight off is not one of my finest moments…
SUPER MARIO BROS 3
Put simply, the finest game ever made and the first game I ever completed. Yes, I can remember being blown away by the Playstation and its fancy graphics when it arrived but before that Super Mario Bros 3, on the grey block of wonder that was the SNES, was true gaming. Turning Mario into a raccoon, discovering all the 8 worlds, a magical tin whistle to take you anywhere…all topped off by that euphoric feeling of finally beating Bowser at the end…bliss, sheer bliss.
Honourable Mentions go out to:
Ren and Stimpy
Tamagotchi’s
Live and Kicking (of a Saturday morning)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Power Rangers
In truth, there’s far too much to cover here and I’m sure I’m forgetting lots of things. Maybe next year if this Nostalgia week becomes a fixed event (make it happen Culch HQ) then I can ramble on for more but for now, feel free to add your own memories as you take a trip down memory lane and reflect on the best days of your life.
Great post and great idea to do a nostalgia week Culch! Gah! there’s just too many memories to reminise about
hmm lets see… some of my best ones are of games on the payground which were mainly skipping, mother may I, tip the can, corners, concentration, duck duck goose, catch the bacon, chasing and that game where you have to get up to a person but freeze everytime they turn around so they don’t see you move!
You’re spot on with pogs as well! the were one of the biggest phases at my school and were soon followed by pokemon cards and stickers (my personal fave
)!
Also, who could forget furbies (and their creepiness!) baby born dolls, lego, duck hunt (on nintendo), gameboys, art attack, man hunt, roller blades, sunny delight, building huts and just riding around on bikes with your mates for the craic!
ah good times..
*sighs as she opens the dissertaton she has to read by monday*
Good choices! And the original gameboy was a glaring omission on my part - I remember my Dad and Brother arriving back from 1994 USA World Cup with the original Game Boy for me and a rake of games including Zelda: A Link to the Past…those were the days!