So it’s the holiday season and I’ve actually taken a break from my usual Scroogy behavior to go Black Friday shopping last week. This is the first time I’ve ever done that! Normally I stay in, safe from getting trampled. But the kids were in town to visit this last Thanksgiving weekend, and we don’t get to see them that often these days, so I suggested we stampede Historic Valley Junction. And man did we have a blast! Black Friday isn’t as crowded as it used to be.
Of course, I turned it into a client post too. Everybody else runs around Valley Junction taking selfies with everything, so why not join in and be able to monetize it too? That link you will find is also an eccentric gift idea guide.
What didn’t make it into that post: We ate lunch at Heavenly, an Asian restaurant where they know what a bowl of hot ‘n’ sour soup is and set the table with chopsticks in mind first. They have this awesome mural behind the bar there:
And that’s not all. The holiday season put me in mind to revisit vintage toys from the middle of last century at IMGUR. What happened at Valley Junction was, I found a stack of View-Masters and slides in one of the antique shops. I may return to get them yet just to have around, as outdated as they are now. I spent SO much time on View-Masters when I was a kid, I collected the reels every chance I got. It was like early IMGUR.
Here’s somebody who took View-Master to an unhealthy obsession:
Anyway, that made me think of other vintage toys that modern kids won’t know about, so I curated a whole IMGUR gallery of old toys. Board games, playsets, activities, and cool gizmos from way back. If you’re Gen X or older, drop by there to get your mind blown.
Related post: 1980s action figures. I didn’t do action figures in the vintage toy post because I’d already covered them here.
One more thing I must confess about Valley Junction. Among the many corny impulse buys we made while holiday shopping, there was this:
It’s a cornhead hat. Which I got, not for any sports-related reason, but because this is Iowa and I’ll by God celebrate corn right along with the bacon lip balm I found (see the gift guide). So I propose the sequel to Stephen King’s Children of the Corn, working title OK Boomer of the Popcorn.
Still MOAR gift ideas: Penguin Pete Picks a Peck of Geek Toys!
I really outdid myself this time. The toys in the above list are fun for all ages, qualify as geek pursuits, but can be enjoyed by anybody with a soul. Open one of these Christmas marking and you’ll have something to play with all through Christmas break.
