Toys from 1976

An artist has uploaded the entire contents of an Argos catalogue from 1976. Let’s explore the toys...and prices!

Electric Washer and Cash Register

I love the description of this cash register: ‘Decimal currency price flags raised by 13 button control.’

Thirteen button control!  My friend had one of these. It was great fun pushing those thirteen buttons, I seem to recall. What a shame it didn't come with real money.

I am gutted I didn’t have the washing machine. I could have played The Game of the Missing Sock and Who Dyed My White Shirt Red?

 
Toy Electric Washer. Tumble washes and spins. Operated by batteries. £3.45
Cash Register. Spring release drawer and paper reel. £2.75

Scooter and Bike

This was my scooter. There were no brakes. You just held on for dear life when going down a slope – in fact, I don’t think its wheels could cope with slopes. I seem to remember I always fell off, usually because I was attempting An Ill-Advised Stunt.

I may have also had this bike, which is described as a ‘Pony’ Pavement Cycle. Pony is British slang for rubbish... but I liked my bike! It was certainly not rubbish. It got me from A (the school driveway) to B (the alley behind my house) by way of C (the brook). ‘C’ wasn’t meant to happen. I was cycling down a slope which led to the brook and wondered what would happen if I cycled with my eyes shut. The result of my experiment was my 8-year old self went straight into the brook, and then the bike fell on my head.

Bantel 3-wheel scooter. £4.25
'Pony' Pavement Cycle. Detachable stabilizers. Front wheel cable brake. £17.95

Kojak board game

I didn’t have the Kojak game with its ‘Beretta’ type plastic gun. (Yikes!) Nor did my brother, which was probably a good thing as I just know those sucker darts would not have been aimed at that board.

Chad Valley 'Kojak' Target Game. 'Beretta' type plastic gun and sucker darts. £1.99







Tiny Tears doll

I did have Tiny Tears, the doll that wouldn’t stop weeing. You fed the doll water and then it would drip out of the other end, so to speak. Everywhere you put the doll would be damp. If only I had the washing machine toy. Missed opportunity there, mum.

Casdon 'Bernie and Bath' set. Soft vinyl doll with rooted hair and accessories. £2.99
Palitoy 'Tiny Tears' Baby Doll. Drinks, cries and wets her nappy. £4.75 

The entire catalogue can be found by following this link

Budget? What budget?

How damn easy is it to spend money whilst at home? I have just blown over £100 on Argos home delivery (yes, only the best, dear friends), on what appears to be a bathroom bin. Okay, there's a shoe rack, an airer, bath mats, towels and an alarm clock, before I sound hopelessly delusional. I did explain this is a new flat, didn't I? So we do need all the gubbins to go with it, you know the sort - you fancy mash but have no masher, that sort of thing.

So I have ordered a few bits in the hope that this time Argos will not manage to louse up my order. I am not overly hopeful, the few times in my life I have given in to the spell cast by the catalogue of dreams (har har), the dream in question has always arrived with a screw loose. My bet is on the shoe rack, they cannot cock up towels, surely? I will wait with bated breath…

...And I haven't worked out my budget yet for being at home. I have saved enough for six months of self funding, keeping in mind jobs may be few and far between - although I'll keep my eye open for any opportunity. So I need to eek the money out as carefully as I can, despite this being Wedding season which means I am showering money like confetti everywhere I turn.

I have also worked out it takes me 14 minutes to get from my living room to the shops.

This is not a great thing for a girl on a budget to know.

I made a list of practical things I needed – things such as ‘cable ties’ to do something about the nest of wires snaking around my feet. Then I went on a (14 minute) jaunt to town to see what I could find and the result has me £80 lighter, mainly on blackberries, as far as I can see. And did I say I shopped in Waitrose? That is hardly economising, is it? I did weigh up whether to walk the extra distance to Tesco, but the thought of dragging my bags back looking like Stretch Armstrong on a particularly bendy day didn't fill me with happiness. So Waitrose was (eagerly, I have to admit) selected and now I am tightening my purse strings with Soya milk, organic eggs and stupid sodding blackberries, not a cable tie in sight.

The upshot is that I have managed to spend £200 before midday. Anyone know where Excel is on this computer?