Oooooo I loved both Mallory Towers and St Clare's Hi Cosmo

I don't think I ever read the St Clares ones

My favourite was "The Naughtiest Girl."

They weren't any different than the Malory Towers ones, Sprout - except for twins 

Was all lacrosse, horses and lashings of ginger beer   And we weren't allowed to read them at school; I can still see Mrs. Webster's disdainful sneer when I told her I had the full set of both at home   I was only about 8 yrs old..!

Which series had Gwendolyne the spoilt brat, Smarty?  Can you remember?

That is Malory Towers I think Cosmo.  Although it was a long long time ago.

I can't really remember who is in either series.... I just remember loving them, and wanting to go to boarding school And what about the Chalet School series....

Anyone ever play jacks?  I think they were called 5 stones too.

Yayyy... I can.... but 5 stones were different.... they were like coloured, chalky dice..... with ribbed edges... and you didn't use the ball.... And did anyone remember collecting *scraps*....?

Don't remember the Chalet School, Baz.

We used to have a teacher, Mr. Tutt, who always finished Friday's off with a book.  He'd read a chapter and then the rest of us would take turns to read to the class.  I used to love fridays!  Can't recall many of the books now but one that sticks in my mind (and which my mum bought for me) was One Hundred Million Francs by Paul Berna.

Must have got lost in transit and translation then, Baz 'cos I always thought you used a ball with 5 stones too?  Perhaps we did where I lived, eh?  

What were *scraps* (they sound like playground punch ups)

  Well we just used to throw them up in the air and try and catch as many as we could o the back of our hands........ Scraps were little paper cut outs, of all sort of things, but mostly Victorian ladies etc....... Oh and what about Pick a Stix???

Oooh yeah, we used to throw them up and catch them too - we played that with the jacks as well.  I suppose it depended on who remembered to bring their jacks/stones in to school that day as to how we played the game

Yep, remember Pick a Stix - those plus marbles must be the fore runner to Kerplunk, surely?

And I had two cut out dollies with 'real' hair - 1 blonde and 1 brunette.  I used to love playing with them as they were really good quality and didn't tear easily.

Cinderella shoes..!  Pink plasticky glittery heeled thingies with elastic straps to hold them in place..!!!!  God, they were awful when you look back, and no where near as good as the ones they make for kiddies nowadays

 I was too much of a tom boy for those, but I do remember them....... and I remember having those cut out dolls... with lots of cut out clothes Mind you, i hated dolls.... give me a sword any day

S'funny Baz, I wasn't into dolls really either. 

Barbie and Sindy left me cold although I'm sure I was bought a Sindy one Christmas, but I did love those flat cardboard cutouts!   I used to ride my bike wearing my Cinderellas and as the brakes didn't work, the shoes soon fell apart

I think my favourite toy back then was my doll's house (never had a doll for it though);  my dad was an electrician so he added a few extra lights to it.  It looked like a gin palace

I was the envy of my mates for that.

Grace Brown and Wendy Paul, if you're reading this you KNOW you were

OMG!   I remember coveting them for months... the local sweetie shop/confectioner sold toys too and they had them on display.   I was over the moon when i finally got a pair.    Loved them.     They also had one of those money boxes shaped like a chocolate vending machine that dispensed Cadbury's miniatures for 2p (or 1d more likely!)    Speaking of which - who remembers proper vending machines stuck to outside walls that dispensed chewy and chocolate bars?  (and fags of course)

I remember collecting scraps too, Baz.   All seems a bit pointless when you look back eh?   

Hurrah..!  K-Bo, you remember the shoes   And of course I can recall the Cadbury's choccy machines;  I think you can still get them now on sites like iwoot etc.

My mate's upgraded and got herself a humungus M&M's choccy dispenser.  It's a big globe shaped thing and you just turn the dial and it serves up a perfect handful of those irrisistible peanut coated chocs.........

I used to get 10 Number 6 out of vending machines whilst wearing my school uniform and trying to look inconspicuous (wearing a straw boater too!)

I adored this game

Can anyone remember playing 2 ball against the wall  when my nana died and we emptied her house, i found the 2 tennis balls i used too play with, i've had them for years and my daughter wanted to have a go when she was little first time she did she threw it straight onto the roof 

We used to play a game up the wall with tennis balls that involved things like...1 up the wall, 2 bounce then catch, 3 turn around etc...

Yes. We called it stott against the wa`. (bounce against the wall) 

You were an expert if you could manage 3.  

We called that doublers.     We also had a game that was a bit lethal... put the tennis ball in the foot of a pair of old tights or stockings, standing back to the wall and swinging it back and forth so it hit the wall in various places - left side, right side, between your legs, above your head, right of your head, left of your head.  One wrong move and you were concussed....

Loving this thread.

Yes, doublers. We called it that too. I forgot about that game with the tennis balls in tights. One stott wrong and you were clobbered! 

Now you're talking Yogi I loved my Spirograph with a passion.

I bought one for one of my children years later and they all hated it with the same passion

It got thrown away in the end

I had a slightly more modern version of this record player - mine was lilac.

I loved mine too, Rexi.

When telephones looked like this -

and your telephone number consisted of three digits

and you had to share a party line with your neighbour

My auntie had a party line, but we had one to ourselves - we thought we were proper posh.

And you had to tape a coin on the arm to steady it

Yes!

I loved the sound it made when you dialled. 

I used to love the feel of the A  & B buttons in the old public telephones.... and going from each box pressing the B button to see if anyone had forgotten to collect their change