1958

1958 was the true golden age of Mattel. The Fanner 50 was still selling well, and a more powerful rifle version was now available. I was a very good boy that year, and yes I got the rifle too, and a new box of bullets.





For girls, 1958 saw the introduction of the Chatty Cathy. The less said about this outrage the better, but CC was a blonde haired plastic doll that had a pull chord on her back. Pull this string and CC would shout out some random banality about how she wanted to go shopping with you, wanted her own credit card, needed refreshment, or perhaps a change of wardrobe. They sold a trillion of them.





This shrew beget Barbie, only a few years later.

Before kids had rights

In my formative years kids did not have rights, so I still have trouble with the notion of parents soliciting the opinions of children. In the olden days, parents rarely gave a moments consideration to what their kids wanted, or the safety of the toys they gave their children.

One of my favorite all time gifts was received Christmas 1957, that golden age of kids toys. Plastics were just coming available. The possibilities were endless. In that glorious bygone day, Santa brought a Mattel Fanner 50 toy pistol. Young moderns watching the video below will be aghast at the gincracks found on this baby. But I swear this is true,and widely available.





Yes in fact, it did shoot real plastic bullets, at a pretty good distance. The greenie stickem caps sucked, and I still remember attempting to peel them off the backs of the cartridges.



While I can't accurately say for sure, I do believe that this gun, and the better shooting rifle which was released the next year may have had something to do with the inception of product safety laws. You might not only put your eye out, but with luck could blind your best friend too!















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