About Me

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No Fixed Abode, Home Counties, United Kingdom
I’m a 60-year-old Aspergic gardening CAD-Monkey. Sardonic, cynical and with the political leanings of a social reformer, I’m also a toy and model figure collector, particularly interested in the history of plastics and plastic toys. Other interests are history, current affairs, modern art, and architecture, gardening and natural history. I love plain chocolate, fireworks and trees, but I don’t hug them, I do hug kittens. I hate ignorance, when it can be avoided, so I hate the 'educational' establishment and pity the millions they’ve failed with teaching-to-test and rote 'learning' and I hate the short-sighted stupidity of the entire ruling/industrial elite, with their planet destroying fascism and added “buy-one-get-one-free”. Likewise, I also have no time for fools and little time for the false crap we're all supposed to pretend we haven't noticed, or the games we're supposed to play. I will 'bite the hand that feeds', to remind it why it feeds.

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

I is for Instruments

So, it's the 7th birthday of the blog today, not something I've celebrated before, but I happened to notice the fact last night, and as it's the party season and we're looking at plastic novelties for a while; let's make some noise!

Kazoos (one marked Hohner so probably not that cheap a toy!), Pan-pipes, Harmonicas, Horns and Trumpets, Swanee & Penny Whistles, Football Rattles....who didn't have one of these at least once in their childhood and drive some grown-ups to distraction with it? That's nostalgia, right there...plastic shite!

More - smaller - whistles and a tiny harmonica (top right: blue and yellow), one has a windmill attached for extra 'play' value, while another highlights one of the problems with classifying/categorising this stuff, is it a whistle first or a key-ring? As the charm loop fitted to several can be for a 'charm' or a key-ring, it's a moot point, but this crossover is a feature of a lot of these cheepie toys, not forgetting - does it go with the instruments, or the unknown Wild West? Or, if you collect enough of this shite...does it go with the horns or the Indians!

2 comments:

johnpreece said...

Congratulations and thanks for all of the last seven years.

If I had another lifetime for a second useless hobby I might well collect plastic, shite and Herald plastics alike. Failing that your Blog makes a very acceptable substitute.

John

Hugh Walter said...

Thanks John...as I said to someone yesterday...you won't be thinking that after three weeks of budget cracker toys!

H