Oh baby!

I was looking for a glass jug at Goodwill the other day when I came across this blast from the past. A quintessential infant toy of the 1970's, these things were everywhere when I was growing up! The one I found doesn't appear to have been played with or even taken out of the box very often. Figuring the nostalgic value was greater than the 75¢ price tag, I couldn't pass it up!

By today's standards, this toy doesn't have a lot to offer. None of the purported "10 activities for babies" are too terribly exciting. In lieu of flashing lights or battery powered sound effects, each station has raised words nearby to help facilitate the fun. "TURN KNOB" appears below the blue knob in the upper left hand corner, "TURN CRANK" above a blue handle, "SLIDE DOOR" next to a door on the lower left, "SPIN WHEEL" under a red and blue wheel and "DRIVE THE CAR" under a blue car that slides back and forth. The ALL CAPS presentation of these instructions make them read more like commands rather than helpful suggestions. Perhaps this was an effort to discourage any "thinking outside" the busy box.

Other words included are "THE MOUSE RAN UP THE CLOCK" inside the outline of a clock, "OLD DUTCH MILL" under red windmill blades, "HELLO DADDY" in the center of the blue telephone dial, "SEE THE BABY" under a mirror on the lower right side and perhaps most mystifying of all, the words "FUNNY DRAWER" appear under a small red drawer that doesn't seem to do much of anything. Sort of odd that they'd use so many words on a toy made for babies, since presumably no one in the target audience would know how to read.

Looking at this toy in 2007 one of the funniest things about this toy, apart from the name, is that the packaging recommends it for children ages 6 months to 3 years old. Can you imagine giving one of these to a modern-day toddler? While a few of the spinning features and clicking sounds might command the attention of a baby up to about 18 months, I doubt a 3 year-old would even take the time to throw it across the room at you before logging onto the internet to search for new words to accurately express their disdain at your poor choice in toys.

Find photos of the Busy Box here: