Toyland

Saying for the day- Why TOYLAND was like heaven when I was a kid.

I was in Menards the other day and they had a big sign that said “ TOYLAND”.
I haven’t seen one of those in years.

It brought back memories of the time just before Christmas when I was a kid.
In those days there was no Toys are Us or Wal mart with a big toy section all year long.
But the month before Christmas the big department store in Ishpeming and the big Montgomery Ward store in Marquette would open their TOYLAND.
It was like getting a preview of a child’s heaven.

In Ishpeming you took the elevator to the third floor an experience in itself.
When you got off there it was.
A land filled with every kind of toy you could think of.
There were Lionel and American Flyer trains along with the lowly Marx trains.
A boy could dream that he could get one of those really fancy Lionels though deep inside he knew he’d only get a Marx.
There were tinker toys and Lincoln logs and hundreds of other toys.
You wanted to stay there forever.
The toys weren’t on shelves like at Wal Mart they were displayed .
There was always at least one train running on a big display table.
It ran around a big doll house and model toy cars.
Every year I waited for that visit.
When the Christmas toy catalogues came I would pick out what I wanted to see up close and then look for it in one TOYLAND or the other.

Today’s kids will never know that joy because they have toys coming at them all the time.

It’s just not the same.

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News From Pigeon Falls– the little town where the trains still run for at least one more day-Mrs. Trumble has a meeting with Dr. Fortress this afternoon to try one more time to extend the closing date of the railroad so that she can get everything in order to keep it running. Dr. Fortress has given no indication if he will listen to her or not. One wonders if he knows what he is going to do.
Tonight the big parties will be held. Petrovich has promised the finest Doomsday party ever. The Fly Inn is all decked out in black with Halloween decorations on the walls ( skulls and stuff). They even have glasses with skulls on them. It is going to be some party.
The preparations are well along at Last Lutheran as well. Pastor Marvel is ready to “embrace the future” . There will be games and a pot luck meal. There will be Yule logs to take home . It will all be very upbeat. Pastor Marvel may even play his accordion. He knows three songs.
Nancy says that most of the people who are stopping in for coffee are going to the church party. They don’t think anything bad is going to happen. But just in case it is the church is a better place to get ready than the tavern.
Mrs. Schmidt says she is going to Hawaii if she has to walk to the airport. Nothing is getting in the way of her dream, nothing.
Mrs. Trumble looks tired. She has given everything she has to the task of being Mayor and it shows. She needs to slow down a bit.
The wild cards, if you will, in tonight’s parties are the White Rabbit and the Dragon. Will they make an appearance? Who knows.
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I tried to leave some comments but blogger wouldn't let me at any Beta Blog.
I got out of the Fortress for a bit. we went to the Credit Union an d Wal Mart. I needed some more ink for Christmas caqrds. I now have all the Christmas certificates ready to mail except two ) I don't have their addresses. I got half of our Christmas card list finished. Betty went and had her hair done. If possible she even looks more beautiful. Tomorrow we get Luke and Bree for the weekend and the dog. Well I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA