A Kid's Pocket!

[Henry Beige]

The stuff I used to carry in my pockets is stuff I don’t have any more. I might carry two or three of my favorite Matchbox cars, or a small selection of those green rubber Army guys. I was more likely to have half a box of kitchen matches loose in my pocket, or a railroad torpedo. I was a walking fire hazard.

The items in these two photos probably belong in a different thread. I acquired them as an adult, and never actually carried them in a front pocket. They are just things that have a random quality like the things that kids carry in their pockets, and they are the right size.

The coprolites pretty much speak for themselves. The one that looks like the top of a Dairy Queen cone is a turtle coprolite, said to be 40 million years old. I have no reason to doubt the guy’s story for fifteen bucks. It is a splendid little piece; i laughed out loud when I saw it, and had to take it home. The other one came from a shop in Scenic, SD. A couple of years later, the guy had a break-in and lost almost all of his rocks and fossils. His business never recovered.

The stainless capsule in the lower photo contains a thimbleful of the ashes of an old dirt bike buddy who liked to be known as The King of England. I didn’t know him for a real long time but got to know him well on a couple of trips to Mexico before he succumbed to liver cancer.

O

 

[meako]

Silver tarnishes to black....if thats any help...
Copralites: imagine how much of that we are bequeathing to the future bazillions of years from now....i reckon some one would invest in that.

 

[Jolipapa]

This nearly all I have kept from my primary school days because one day when I was on holidays, GrandMa' came and took all the toys I was (supposedly) not playing with anymore - including Dinky/Corgi Toys, Solidos, Norevs, Matchboxes, marbles (those in the picture are fakes), throwing bones, etc- to give to other kids of the family.

Cow bell and chimney sweep are typical of Savoy, the Scarab tractor my only Matchbox remaining -the first, a gift from a friend of my brother, back from London long before matchboxes became well known here-, the hedgehog from Hungary, he was smoking "cigarettes" (you would be sued for selling that today!), an Opi (mine is long time lost, this one belonged to... GrandMa') because in the Alps one kid one Opi then, an eraser given by Dad, a Bic, because I was making such a mess with ink and Sergent-major nibs that I was the only one in the whole school to get authorized to use a (then new) roller (firsts had ink leaking from heat in my pocket ).
And all the craze of these days, an advertising key holder. Most of this I found when my Dad passed, he had kept all secretly in his private cabinet.

 

[Jack Black]

I always liked knives, and always carried one even as a kid, always liked outdoor pursuits, mainly fishing and hiking (climbing later), and was an avid reader. I remember my mother telling me as a young boy, that I should always carry a clean handkerchief "in case you have to lend it to a lady" (we lived in a terraced house in Sheffield ), and I always have. The knife here is by Richards of Sheffield, and the same as one I bought when I was aged about 9. As well as my trusty pocket knife and handkerchief, my pockets would have contained matches, and (from the age of 7) cigarettes, a cap-gun when I was small, or a slingshot, maybe a bottle-opener, some coins, a comb perhaps, some gum possibly

 

[JohnDF]

Dang!! I forgot about marbles!!!
I was really into trading and playing marbles when I was a kid.
Always had a few to trade in my pockets.

 

[AnW]

I grew up in Titusville PA, so one of my first knives was a Queen lockback. (Queen even used to sponsor one of our summer baseball teams although I played for the US Steelworkers sponsored team if I recall correctly). I had an Ulster Cub Scout Knife and a number of souvenir cheapos from various places we visited on vacation but I managed to lose all of those. I vividly remember getting a Swiss Army Classic in my Christmas stocking one year - I think I was more excited about that than whatever my main present was. I also collected various coins, matchbox cars, baseball cards, etc. I've got a plastic bin somewhere with many of these things stashed away.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

Fortunately I still have the Queen although it doesn't get out much anymore ...

 

[Jack Black]

Dang!! I forgot about marbles!!!
I was really into trading and playing marbles when I was a kid.
Always had a few to trade in my pockets.

Yes Marbles! I'd have had those too John, and conkers when they were in season

 

[Frailer]

My first knife (acquired when I was around 6 years old) was a small Imperial pen knife with faux MoP covers. A couple of years later my maternal grandfather gave me an Imperial “Diamond Edge” large stockman for Christmas, and I thought it was just about the greatest thing ever. It rode in my pocket for many adventures in the woods. If there was anything else in one of my pockets it was probably something I stumbled across on my travels: an interesting rock, or—if it was a particularly good day—an arrowhead. Sadly, my old knife is no longer with me, but a few years ago I picked up this Frontier to replace it.

There were no Civil War battles fought in the immediate vicinity of where I grew up, so I can only imagine my excitement had I found this small cannonball my dearly departed father-in-law plowed up near Columbus, KY.

 

[Jolipapa]

Dang!! I forgot about marbles!!!
I was really into trading and playing marbles when I was a kid.
Always had a few to trade in my pockets.

Same here, there were different qualities, I prefered the blue/white glass ones (agats/agathes ) Most others were made of plain brownish clay. I still can hear the noise of a winning strike!

 

[Blake the Blade]

Great thread waynorth. My first photo shows what I suppose was basic every day carry for a ten year old then. The second would be for carry in the field for non-school days.

When I was a kid in the 70s you could really up your game and gleen an Adventure Kit out of your parents or relatives. With this you really were equipped for anything including running away, which I often fantasized about but never actually got around to. I never really had a reason to to be fair, but the idea was attractive. I'm pretty sure the Adventure Kit contained a camp knife like the Richards one pictured, unless I added it.


My last photo shows us in our back garden as kids. Over the back wall were fields, streams and a mysterious wood called Happy Valley. This was where we spent all of our time and where many an adventure was had.

So lucky to have been young in the 70s, and so fortunate to have had such a happy childhood. Thanks for enabling me to revisit it.

Untitled by Blake Blade, on Flickr

Untitled by Blake Blade, on FlickrUntitled by Mark Saunders, on FlickrAdventure-Kit by Mark Saunders, on FlickrUntitled by Mark Saunders, on Flickr

- Mark

 

[Jack Black]

Untitled by Blake Blade, on FlickrUntitled by Mark Saunders, on FlickrAdventure-Kit by Mark Saunders, on FlickrUntitled by Mark Saunders, on Flickr

Great photos Blake, I might still have that very annual The one in the background of my pic is the 1970 Topper annual I had the same Milbro catapult too

 

[mrknife]

I think the nickel is silver. They made pennies from steel during the war, but I don't think any nickels were steel. There were silver nickels, though... I just don't remember the years they were made.

youre thinking of war nickels, 30% silver rest was manganese and nickel. the 1942-45 nickels with the composition have the mint mark

 

[Blake the Blade]

Great photos Blake, I might still have that very annual The one in the background of my pic is the 1970 Topper annual I had the same Milbro catapult too

Thanks Jack. Both of my pictures are from Dandy annuals from the 70s, all of which I have re-purchased in adulthood..as I have my Richards knives, catapult and other items of boyhood accoutrement. Nothing to do with mid-life crisis of course.

 

[Jack Black]

Thanks Jack. Both of my pictures are from Dandy annuals from the 70s, all of which I have re-purchased in adulthood..as I have my Richards knives, catapult and other items of boyhood accoutrement. Nothing to do with mid-life crisis of course.

LOL! I have very little that survives from my childhood, and have done much the same mate I'd definitely pick up a Milbro if I came across one!

 

[mrknife]

Haven grown up in the concrete jungle that is the city, I relished the thought of perhaps playing in the creek or fishing at the lake. Perhaps I romanticize growing up in the country too much. I can remember the sorts of things I had in my pocket as a second grader and perhaps well into fifth grade since it really wasnt terribly long ago, maybe about 20 some odd years, however those items are long gone or possibly stored away in boxes somewhere. However one fond memory is when I joined the scouts as thats where my love for knives began. I wouldve been about 9 at the time and definitely wouldnt have been able to afford something like a GEC boys knife let alone the price to convert it to a single blade despite having gotten it at quite a reasonable price from @LastRodeo. Oh the halcyon days...

 

[Prester John]

Dang!! I forgot about marbles!!!
I was really into trading and playing marbles when I was a kid.
Always had a few to trade in my pockets.

Oh yeah--marbles! Loved them! Spinning tops and yo-yo's too.

 

[joeradza]

Oh yeah--marbles! Loved them! Spinning tops and yo-yo's too.

How could I have forgotten my Duncan Yo Yo?

 

[JohnDF]

Spinning tops and yo-yo's too.

Right?
Spinning tops, yo-yo's, and jacks were standard fare when i was a kid.
But marbles were probably the very first thing I collected and traded.

 

[mrknife]

Right?
Spinning tops, yo-yo's, and jacks were standard fare when i was a kid.
But marbles were probably the very first thing I collected and traded.

funny enough, adults spend money on tops today too! fancy little titanium things with ceramics and what not. theyve made quite a come back. yomega yoyos were the yoyos of my childhood. for about a few dollars they even had those with "brains"

 

[Chief]

Love threads like this. Thanks waynorth and all contributors.

On top is my first knife. Bought at TG&Y in the late 60s for less than 10 dollars, it was always in my pocket as a boy. Back then I thought the stagalon was special because it stood up to gas, oil, most everything. As you can see, the main clip blade is broken. Still remember the day I snapped it using it to pry off an engine cover on my Suzuki TS90. Loosing the clip blade was devastating … forced me to use the spey most all the time. Probably resulted in my penchant for a nice clip blade and dislike of speys! Did turn it into a more useable screwdriver though. Money was tight, mowing yards, washing dishes and busing tables at a local eatery provided barely enough for insurance, gas and oil, so it wasn't too difficult to force myself to carry it until going in the military. Was gifted a replacement by a kind porch member.

Growing up during the depression in rural Texas there was no money for a boy to own a knife, so my Great Uncle Eldon made the pine functioning slipjoint for my Dad in the early 1930s. My dad treasured this knife and must have enjoyed it immensely as a boy. Wanted to play with it myself as a boy, but my dad rightfully was afraid I might break it, so it remained in a cabinet above the stove out of my reach.

The few ball cards I had as a boy spent their final days as noisemakers in bicycle spokes. Have plate blocks of stamps from the 60s that have so little value the last time I inquired the dealer told me they had no collector value and to use them as postage! Inherited a few coins from my grandfather / dad, collected a few, nothing too valuable.

My collecting gene remains strong as an adult. Have a huge collection of cold war memorabilia, patches, pins, trophies, plaques ...