Games of "olden" times

Frantic Fun

Goin' back in time to the late 60's/early 70's this Flashback Friday and investigating some games I fondly recall.  

First on tap is the ol' "Ants in the Pants" game.  This consisted of a pair of Farmer Jack's (or whatever farmer you care to choose) plastic red suspender jeans and a hoard of plastic ants that actually looked more like grasshoppers.  The simple object was to flick your ants/grasshoppers into the pants by pressing the rear end of your bug,

A.k.a "Don't Break the Camel's Back"...at least to me

catapulting it into the air and hopefully into  your plastic pants objective.  I can't really remember anymore of the rules and I don't think we really kept score on this one...it was just lots of giggles to send those critters flying all over the place.

Next is a game called "The Last Straw" which I swear was named "Don't Break the Camel's Back", but apparently my memory is stinky.  This one was fun and easy as all you had to do was take turns adding the "straws" (tiny wooden dowels in slightly different weights) to the basket on the camel's back.  But uh oh, watch out because that camel has a weak back (in fact he was two separate pieces held together by a stretchy rubber band) and you did NOT want to add that "last straw" that made the poor creature break in two!  This game, as well as the "Ant's" game was fun to play alone as well as with others.

Super High-tech in my day!

And finally is a "high-tech" game I have a vivid memory of playing for the first time.  "Pong" was one of the earliest arcade video games and was the first one I ever played.  I used to love pinball machines (still do) and would go crazy on them when I had the chance, such as at the state fair I went to back in the day and I would badger poor Mom for quarters to play.  Well, one year upon entering the arcade tent, my eyes were instantly drawn to the mesmerizing Pong screen...what was this game?  It must sound odd to those youngsters out there, but Pong was instantly THE game to play with it's "advanced and modern" video screen.  I know it's so nothing nowadays, but to me it was entrancing!

These games are either basically near extinction or dead and gone, but the giddy memories I have of them make those games still alive and jumping, breaking and ponging to me ;)