Dark Shadows

As a kid, I was really into Dark Shadows. I loved watching the stories unfold on the TV screen. However, there was much more to Dark Shadows than the TV show.

First off, there was also a whole series of books related to the show. The author, Marilyn Ross, was actually Dan Ross writing under his wife's name. I probably read most of these books at a young age. A precocious and avid reader, I tended to sneak and read the things I actually wanted to read instead of the more age-appropriate offerings.

I also had two board games that tied in to the series: Dark Shadows and Barnabas Collins.

Dark Shadows was a game in which you moved a token around the board. It was a traditional board game by Whitman, and it was my favorite of the two. As a bonus, it included a wallet-sized photo of Barnabas himself.

Barnabas Collins was different; the object of the game was to collect bones and put the skeletons together. Milton Bradley also included a set of fangs that glowed in the dark.

I also found this cool site about Dark Shadows collectibles. Looking it over, I think I recognize the pink Magic Slate, so it's possible I had one of those. I have no idea why I didn't have the two jigsaw puzzles, since I loved putting them together, but I'm pretty sure I didn't. Still, the one in front looks vaguely familiar, so maybe I really did have that one. My memory is pretty faulty, so I just don't know.

I remember how happy I was when Dark Shadows was revived back in 1991. It was really good, but unfortunately, it was only around for twelve episodes.

I've tried to watch the original series as an adult, but I gave up. It just wasn't the same, so I thought it was best to leave the series in my memories.

Elsie Stix

Borden was a company based in Columbus, Ohio, with a large product line. A lot of their products were dairy, such as ice cream, condensed milk, and cheese.

Borden used to have these great frozen treats, and there was something special about them besides the taste. Instead of a wooden stick inserted as a handle, each one had a plastic stick to hold onto. Elsie Stix (named for Elsie the cow, Borden's mascot) came in different colors and were designed to be interlocking so that you could build things with them.

A lot of kids--and probably adults too--collected Elsie Stix. It was nice to have something to play with after the ice cream was gone. However, the best thing about Elsie Stix was that you could enjoy your frozen treat without being subjected to a wooden stick. I can't be the only one who doesn't like those things!

Show 'n Tell

I had this really cool toy called a Show 'n Tell. It looked like a combination of a record player and television. It was small and box-shaped like a TV, with a screen in the front. On the top, it had a fully functioning record player. Also on the top, there was a thin, deep slot.

The Show 'n Tell played records, but its main purpose was to tell stories. To use this educational toy to its full potential, you had to buy the appropriate accessories. These were the '70s equivalent of educational videos and came in the form of a combination record/slide strip.

When you wanted to play one of the stories, you put the record on the turntable and started playing it, simultaneously inserting the slide strip into the slot, as far as it would go. As the story progressed, the strip would automatically rise, so that the next image would show on the screen.

I'm not sure how many stories I had, but I remember two of them. One was based on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, by Washington Irving. It was where I first learned about the Headless Horseman, Brom Bones, and Ichabod Crane. I played this one a lot.

The other was a cool lesson in Spanish. It featured a song with several verses that changed according to which family member was going shopping and what that person was buying. I still remember the tune and some of the lyrics.

The Show 'n Tell was pretty high-tech for its time.