I think... no wait... yes! Yes, it is! This is the first article I've ever done on toys from my childhood! Isn't it the Internet Law or something that every retro-nostalgia-humor website (you know, all 11,000 of them) has to devote some time and space to talking about toys from long ago? Okay, then! Here we go!
So I was a child of the 80's, except that my parents didn't buy me any toys from the 80's during the 80's except for some Strawberry Shortcake stuff. Actually my whole room was adorned with the chic. Funny how now I am allergic to the fruit. Ha ha on you, Shortcake. I also had some mini Care Bears and like one G.I. Joe action figure that I never played with and some Transformers and stuff. All right, so I plain and simply lied. I had many 80's toys. But I also had the cheap knockoff Cabbage Patch dolls, so I get to complain.
Thank you.
Point is, though, my parents went to a lot of garage sales when I was little, so I ended up playing with a bunch of toys from the 60's and 70's, which was okay by me. And one thing they kept coming back with was Little People.
Fisher-Price Little People. Oh, how I loved them. They've evolved a lot over the years. For a while, they were wooden, then they went to a kind of hybrid wood-plastic, then all plastic. This is when they were still small, like these guys...
You may be aware of how, in later years, Little People grew taller, fatter, and eventually grew arms. Those are the ones you see in stores nowadays. They are tall and fat because apparently some moronic child went around swallowing the smaller ones and they probably sued the company or something. Because of that child, a whole new generation has had to suffer. Really, there was something special about the small ones. This article is all about them.
There are many groovy playsets you can get for the old-style Little People. I only own a few, and that makes me sad. If you want to see pictures of any of these that have no photos, just search for "Fisher Price Little People" under Toys & Games on ebay.
Schoolhouse
I believe there were two Schoolhouses made for the Little People back in the day. This was one of them.
The side opened up, and it also had doors, windows, a bell that actually made noise, and a clock!
Want to hear a random fact? A long, long time ago, I used to only own four or five LP children. So I would have the LP dogs go to school, too. No, I am not weird.
Parking Garage
Oh man, the garage was intense! I had this at one time, but my parents got rid of it. So here's a shot of the one my aunt has.
It has three levels. To get to levels two and three, a LP car can drive up a ramp or take an actual working car elevator. There is also a people elevator, a gas pump, and a weird twirly thing on top that I never could quite figure out but that I enjoyed anyway. The whole thing is gigantic. Gigantic... and beautiful.
Houses
There weren't a whole lot of options when it came to Little People dwellings. There was the standard house, which had a working doorbell, a garage, and four rooms. No bathroom for the poor little people.
There was also an A-frame house with sliding doors and a bell. Here's a photo. Please excuse the crudity of this model, I didn't have to clean it and part of it is broken. :(
The Farm
The Little People farm had a barn that had two levels, including a loft. Upon opening one of the doors on the main part, you would hear a "moo" sound! And there was silo whose sole purpose was to store excess animals and fence pieces... just like a real silo... or not.
Playground
This playground, I believe, came with the other schoolhouse. It had two ride-on toys, a bench, and a slide. If you put a LP person on the top of the slide and pushed the little white button, down they would go. Wheeee!
Sesame Street Clubhouse
This one ruled every school that has ever been built. It had a trapdoor/slide, a "plank" slide, a tire swing, a merry-go-round, a revolving door, and much more... and it came with Sesame Street LPs! And if you spun the merry-go-round fast enough, the LPs went flying off in all directions! Oh, such fun.
Amusement Rides
All in all, I think there were three of these: a swing ride, a ferris wheel, and a merry-go-round. The latter two wound up, and the first was hand-controlled. They all played music. Here are some photographs.
There was also a town, a Sesame Street "Street" playset, a castle, a firehouse, a zoo, an old west town, and a few other things that I have never personally laid eyes on. No matter which one I had as a kid (and at times, I had several, though my parents were really big on giving away my stuff or selling it at their own garage sales), I was always happy playing with Fisher-Price Little People. I could play for hours. I finally gave them up at a very embarrassing age, but not before they helped spark my imagination and instill in me a love for telling stories through characters. For that, I will love them forever.
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