Did you have any favorite toys or pets as a child?

Question:
Did you have any favorite toys or pets as a child?

Answer:
Toys. I had a lot of toys when I was a kid, but the one that probably sticks out the most was my little bean bag Snoopy. He went with me just about everywhere. He had a little black nose that I vaguely recall falling off once or twice. I think my dad glued it back on. There were other toys I remember, like the BB gun or the sled or the GI Joe Terrordrome.

Pets. I often claim that I never had a pet as a child. Most people think that's odd, but in fact it isn't true. I did have pets as a kid, but not in the conventional sense. When I was in sixth grade and living with my mother in Pennsylvania, we somehow acquired two turkeys. We built a little pen for them next to the tree line (we lived on ten acres) and even clipped their wings so they wouldn't fly away. They started as little chicks that went "peep peeeep" all the time and eventually grew fairly large. Along the way, they died and we got two more. I think the second set eventually went to a farmer for butchering. Anyway, the turkeys were dumb as rocks. One time they broke out of their pen while I was waiting for the school bus and tried to follow me. They were much cuter when they would ride on my step-father's shoulder when he cut the grass. I think he even built a little box for them to ride in.

During this same time, we also acquired a shaggy, mangy, stray dog. He was white I think, or at least a light brown. I'm not sure how long we had him, but I think at some point he got sick. Shortly thereafter he took a trip to the woods, was shot, and never seen again.

So now you know why I tell people I never had a pet as a kid. It was traumatic at the time and overall, the pets weren't with me very long.

Photos:
Here I am in 1980 playing with my Navy Rescue helicoptor with Space Capsule. Yes, I still remember playing with this toy too.



References:
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.