Christmas Past: Vintage Toys Reflect Simpler Times

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bsaunders@cnpapers.com 348-1738 The holiday film favorite A Christmas Story arguably features the most famous toy in the movies: an official Red Ryder, carbine action, 200-shot range model air rifle. BB guns, of course, are still available, but, lets face it, the two-fisted cowboy mystique that made 12-year-old boys slaver for them is gone. But vintage toys still have an appeal, not only to collectors, but to anyone feeling nostalgic about their childhood at this time of year. At area antique malls, one can still find toys that come from another era -- toys your parents or grandparents might have played with. At Nitros Antiques on the Avenue, located at 22nd Street, antique toys can be found to fit most budgets. There are dolls, for example, ranging from classic rag dolls that go for a few dollars to a highly-collectible Scarlett doll from Gone With the Wind that sells for $1,500. Mall owner Carolyn Haikals favorite, though, is a Shirley Temple doll from the late 1930s, or possibly early 1940s. It is made of some kind of composite material, and is in beautiful condition. She has her original clothes and wig, and the shoes are leather. This doll was shown a lot of love, Haikal said. The price tag is $550. Many old toys reflect a more rural, rustic world. A stroll through the nearby Somewhere in Time Antique Mall shows an array of sleds and pedal-pushing toy tractors. Theres even a Davy Crockett Kentucky rifle, popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The gun doesnt shoot BBs, so for you Ralphies out there, dont worry. Theres no danger of shooting your eye out.

Metro photos by Robert Saunders Carolyn Haikal, owner of Antiques on the Avenue mall at 22nd Street at Nitro, holds a Shirley Temple doll from the late 1930s or early 1940s. The doll, in pristine condition, is $550.

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Christmas Past: Vintage Toys Reflect Simpler Times

A sled u...

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