toysoldiers
Ard Hesselink
See 'toysoldiers' On Black!
These were (some of) the toy soldiers and dinkey toy army vehicles I played with when I was a little boy in the fifties. The bulk of my collection I found as a "get well" present upon my return from the hospital in 1956/57 when I had my tonsils removed.
I loved playing with them, especially together with a brother or a friend. The most fun was in the preparation: first the taking turns whose army got what (you the big tank, then I the big canon, etc...). After that the preparation of the battlefield; which 'divisions' went were, where were the 'spies' located, the headquarters, how did the roads go, etc. Sometimes we used big pillows to simulate mountainous terrain or designated part of the floor to be the ocean...
When all was done and the battle could really start, the game was usually over pretty fast. Not much fun to see who won, I guess...
Nowadays quite a few of the cars and soldiers are lying hidden in a box in the attick. Not all unfortunately (for instance, the 'big tank' is missing), some got lost when I loaned them to the young sons of a friend of mine (even that is now a couple of decades ago...). Well, I never did that again!
When I first started getting into photography, around 1971/1972, I once re-enacted my childhood play and see here the result.
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