The childhood tryst being a maker: Then and now
Of late, Facebook has been flooded with nostalgia posts for us, the 80s and 90s kids, the ones who lived through the black and white TV and lack of internet era. Though most of us may find them distinctly annoying, a pang goes off somewhere in the cockles of our hearts remembering the past. A trip down memory lane is always enjoyable and even more so when our childhood arts and crafts collection bubble to the surface.
Looking back, a kaleidoscope of memories plays in my mind, propelling me towards the desk to grab a piece of paper. What do I do with it? Well, try to make an origami duck to see if I still can! So while I struggle with it, other images flash by; coloring books full of favorite cartoons, Sunday newspaper games like the Maze and Connect the Dots; pasting photographs in scrapbooks lined with glitter and cutting pictures out of newspapers to create collages. My friends and I would even try and glue matchsticks together to create human figures for our little make believe township. The creative possibilities explored with a little glue, some colored paper and a few sketch pens were endless and kept us kids busy and out of our parents’ hair for the length of an afternoon at least!
Technology was just bursting over the horizon and played an important part, mostly with the introduction of remote control video games along with MS DOS computer games like Dave and Prince. For a while, every computer center in our area would have a queue of preteens waiting impatiently for their turn to “level up”! There were also those of us who spent hours drawing with MS Paint, trying out the mind boggling range of shapes and colors and effects! Creating something (making) played a defining role in our childhoods then, be it making endless wax crayon drawings, lovingly taped to the refrigerator door or carefully boxed arts and crafts projects throughout primary school. Almost all these activities led us to believe in the importance of DIY. It was a simpler time when it came to entertainment. The one TV set permanently set to the news channel; we had to rely on our own imagination and made up playthings. Nothing was too shabby for us as cardboard boxes turned into time machines and old ropes were fashioned into swings.