My brother and I were able to divide the toys up fairly easily, something that may not merit any further comment but it was our ability to divide a big box of large Matchbox cars, small Matchbox cars and even Micro Machines into two piles of ownership that speaks to the importance and value of play value and what is gained from childhood play experiences. The picture below shows 1) a selection of the small cars, 2) the cars owned by myself highlighted in blue and those owned by my brother in red.
// Red was always a colour allocated to me if duplicate objects (birthday/Christmas presents for example) were given to my brother and I. Wherever possible a blue version was always given to my brother and a red version to me. So by these rules I have not used the correct colours in highlighting who owns/owned which car in the image below. This allocation of colours to determine ownership of specific items when we were children is something that I have only just recalled as a result of preparing the images below. When viewing the finished, coloured image, I suddenly realised that the colour blue represented an object owned by my brother and not me. //
The matchbox cars provide yet another example of how play objects, in this case toys, have the ability to provoke memories deeply embedded in my mind that have rarely been recalled (if ever). The third photograph (below) contains five numerical markers, each of which is related to a short recollection included below the image. I have limited myself to five, although I think I could write a recollection for every single car - even those that belonged to my brother.
1) This was one of my favorite toy cars - it was a Jeep style Police car and it brought back memories of a previous 'sorting' of our toys that occurred when I was a lot younger - still a child though I can't remember exactly how old. I had entered the attic where my parents were deciding which toys (amongst other items) were going to be put into the charity shop. As I entered I saw my (previous) favorite car being put in the 'charity shop' pile. I was very upset and made it very clear (in a typically child-like and loud manner) that I did not want the car to be given away. The cars had been in the attic a while and it had been assumed that we were not interested in them anymore.
2) This truck was given to me by my Nanny one Christmas. My brother was given a NASA version so that they could be told apart and ownership remained clear. I remember that the rocket that sat on the back of my truck went missing soon after it was entered into play. Whenever we played with the 'small cars' and I came across this rescue truck I would search for the rocket in the box; I never found it but never gave up looking!
3) This dust cart was given to me on my birthday, although I can't remember how old I was. I remember that the back of the cart could be manipulated to imitate the action of a dustcart emptying its contents. On my birthday I played with the dustcart and some small sweets that I had received. I pretended that the sweets were rubbish which allowed me to focus play on the, then novel, movement of the rear section of the vehicle.
4) In an effort to keep everything equal and 'fair' our parents would sometimes buy us the same cars (usually at Christmas). This worked in the sense that the cars were identical so neither of us was getting what we perceived was something better, but as soon as any damage occurred such as scratches to the paintwork or plastic trim breakage the debate over who owned which car began. This was sorted out by my Dad writing 'Andrew' on the base of one car and 'Martin' on the other. The Chevy highlighted here was one of the cars that was subject to such markings. It also made it difficult for any 'swaps' to take place as ultimately ownership could easily be claimed if he car was named.
5) This caravan was taken on holiday with me to Bournemouth. I was quite into my cars at the time but had been told that I could only take five with me on the holiday. I remember being quite upset that I had to make this decision (I obviously had no awareness of the fact that my parents didn't want to spend their 'holiday' tripping over and clearing up our toys) but as this was ,at the time, one of my favorite vehicles it came with me. I played with my cars even more than I would have done if I had been at home, I think I was trying to make up for the fact that I didn't have the usual access to all of them.
It was only on reflection that I realised the implications of the events that had taken place (the recent division of toys and the recollections that this caused). We had not seen or played with these toys for many years (at least 10+) but were instantly able recognise who the rightful owner of each toy was.
Important lessons had been learned through play; value, exchange, ownership etc. Lessons that had been learned, the hard way in some cases, but all of which had stayed with us for the many years since they occurred. It was the ability to divide every single 'big car' (Matchbox Superkings/Corgi Major type size), every single 'small car' (Regular Matchbox cars) and every single Micro Machine that I found really surprising. At the time that the event occurred we barely had to think about who owned what and there was no divided opinions over ownership either (I think that if we had tried this exercise when the toys were still active in our play the result would have been very different with regular differences of opinion with regards to ownership).
1 comment:
Man, what a memory! It's amazing how you can recall so much information. I find it fascinating that your memories are so clear and vivid and easily accounted and yet Martin - who was brought up with exactly the same experiences - hardly ever chooses to recollect anything. He still has those memories though, because he was agreeing with everything you wrote. I showed him the first picture of the toys (before you coloured them red or blue) and he named each one the same as you. I guess something must be different in his make-up that stops him from sharing any kind of thoughts or feelings in the first place. It's wierd how he can be so different.
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