Ramblings

Welcome to My Ramblings Drawer —

As I go through the old model car magazines that I have not read for years I find a shocking revelation. Slot cars and model cars are NOT what they used to be. I know. This is shocking? Wake up and touch reality fool. Don’t get me wrong. I know reality. It’s just that as I read the articles and look at the ads for all those great cars and tracks and look around at what is still here, I am saddened. The reality is that somewhere that simple excitement for these hobbies seems to have died.

Remember the 50’s? For me, that was a simpler time…..a time where imagination was something that kids had and USED. There were few kits, as such, and that meant that we had to use our own imagination to create from nothing. Long thin tree branches became swords for our pirate adventures. Mom’s dishtowel became that parachute that we needed for jumping out of the airplane into the battlefield. Basements became laboratories for experimenting with our chemistry sets that we got for Christmas. Remember the stink bombs? Remember dad coming down the steps to suggest that the bomb was a bit invasive? Actually he put it in another way, but enough said. Stick airplanes required us to carefully hand cut each former using old double-edged razor blades that dad couldn’t use or if we were lucky, a single-edged blade that kept us from shaving our fingers as we cautiously cut the balsa. Glue was stinky and dried like a lump of plastic. But, it was NOT instant glue that bonded fingers, worktable, pants and part together. Come on, we were not ALL fantastically coordinated at that age.

I look at the photos of the happy faces shown racing their slot car creations at the newly opened slot car store and wonder where to go to find that same happiness today. Kids with T- shirts and crew cuts and tackle boxes loaded with parts (just in case) and their hand made cars ready to do battle on that incredible track with 10 lanes. Mostly, the cars looked a bit shabby and the construction was less than perfect. The paint jobs were creative and original. One could even overlook the fingerprints in the still soft paint job. The racing number was hand painted and not the same size on all sides.

I am aware that there are slot car businesses still in existence. I know that there are still “clubs” out there that have meetings and races. I also know that there are thousands of kids on the streets that don’t even know that there are HOBBIES available for them that they can AFFORD and that can give them something to do that has nothing to do with gangs or drugs. I see bored to death kids who have never been challenged to use their brain to imagine, to problem solve, to think outside the printed instructions. If it doesn’t come in a kit that is pre-painted, pre-decorated, pre-thought out, then forget it. The garage slot car track passed away in the 60’s. The model car/ slot car magazines also passed into never- never land about the same time. Big buck R/C things became a popular item. In fact, big buck everything became the norm and not the exception. What happened to the friction car converted to model custom car or the AMT plastic model that became the detailed scale slot car?

This is the rambling “drawer” and I have definitely rambled. Please folks, look at the old mags and see the faces. Remember when you were that age and the fun you had that did NOT keep you wondering when you were going to be busted. Remember using that incredible imagination to create something that was ALL you? Remember learning by trying again and again and again? Remember the pride when it worked? Is it too late for the kids today to have that same pride in something they do? Hey, I am just an old fuddy duddy who really doesn’t know anything. I am WAY over 30 and that puts me into the dinosaur age as far as most young people think. So be it. Later.

Model Making - then and now —

kids

As I was thumbing through a model car mag from years ago I came across this picture of some young people who had won some trophies. Look carefully at the faces and you will see pure joy and happiness. If you look even closer you will see that they are smiling EVEN wearing ties and jackets! Guess what struck me was the change from then to now. Do you suppose that kids get as thrilled today when they win a model building contest or slot car race? I wonder if the kits today allow kids to think creatively like the early kits. Come on, you know what I mean. Today the kits are as complete as they can be. Some adult has preplanned, prepackaged, and even prepainted the kit so all that is left is to put 2 screws in and it is finished. Talk to a young person about custom cars (ALA Barris) and they look at you like the outdated person you are. Suggest that the car might look great if it had a chopped top or shaved hood and the eyes would surely roll. Please don’t get me wrong here, I love the new kits. I love the extra parts that I have when I am done. They will surely find their way into another car. I think my comment here is that in the early days of model making we had to imagine and create because there were no extra parts or alternative building plans. We could dream our own creation into existence. Did you ever mix your own custom paint from all those little bottles of enamel you had sitting around? Remember the thrill when the results were exactly like you wanted OR BETTER? Hey, if you are one of us old dudes who love to build with the flare of the early days of customizing, grab a kid and teach the basics of IMAGINATION.