While metal detecting and bottle digging for the senior reminiscence program a fairly common find are cast iron toys. Sometimes you will find police cars, at times fire trucks, maybe horses, and quite often guns. A big manufacturer of these cast iron toys was Hubley. Most of the cast iron toys that I have found have HUBLEY stamped somewhere on them. I have found many of these cast iron toys but by far the most common cast iron toys that I find are guns. Some of these toy guns are pretty realistic with quite a bit of detail.
When I find one of these guns I can’t help but think about the young boy (most likely) that was running around playing Cowboys and Indians. I can imagine that young boy screaming BANG BANG BANG and complaining when his friend doesn’t agree that they were shot. I can also imagine the poor acting that was done when they finally admitted to being shot. Playing Cowboys and Indians was a VERY popular game back in the 1940’s -1950’s.
I can’t imagine however the game of Cowboys and Indians being played today.
Sadly, I can’t help but think this game might even be dangerous today. Seeing a kid run through your backyard with a gun just may cause a panic in 2021. At the minimum people may be offended today. First of all, we don’t even call Indians Indians today, they are Native Americans. The bottom line is the times have certainly changed. Kids are not as likely to be playing Cowboys and Indians today.
Many seniors probably played this game a lot during the 40’-50’s. One major reason for the popularity of these toy guns that are found is what was on television during this time. Back in the 40’s and 50’s, TV shows had a lot of guns being fired. Shows like Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Lone Ranger, Hoppalong Cassidy, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and the Cisco Kid were all extremely popular.
There have been so many changes since the 1940’s-1950’s. Some of these changes are societal, political correctness, technological, and indoors vs outdoor play. Changes in television programming has obviously changed a lot as well. All that being said Seniors will likely have fond memories of this era and the fun they had running around and enjoying their youth. Times have changed and play has changed, but the seniors fond memories I am certain have not.