This might be one of the most heartwarming things I have seen in a while. A “grandma stand” is set up in McKinney, Texas, during the holiday season and has turned into a huge hit over the years. I mean, what is not to love about this concept?
Meet Grandma Nancy from McKinney, Texas.
@cbsnewstexasThis holiday season, the City of McKinney is offering something a little different from the usual lights and festivities. The Grandma Stand began in 2012 on the streets of New York City, created by Mike Matthews and inspired by his 95-year-old grandmother, Eileen. Matthews continues the tradition memory of Eileen, incorporating her favorite color, purple, and expanding the stand to new cities.♬ original sound – CBS News Texas
According to localprofile.com, the idea started in New York back in 2012 and evolved across the United States, including McKinney, Texas. The article points out that a simple interaction with “grandma” can change to whole tone and direction of an entire day.
Someone should start a ‘grandma stand’ in Victoria.
@cbseveningnews This holiday season, the city of McKinney, Texas is offering a pop-up “Grandma Stand” staffed by one of three rotating “McKinney Grandmas” to offer free wisdom, empathy and hugs to visitors. #grandma#grandmasoftiktok#texas#hopecore#love♬ original sound – CBSEveningNews
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KEEP READING: Check out these totally awesome ’80s toys
Speak & Spell
The handheld Texas Instrument toy Speak & Spell came with learning cartridges, including Homonym Heroes, Noun Endings, Magnificent Modifiers, and Vowel Ventures. Sister toy to Speak & Read, and Speak & Math, the educational game focused solely on the English subject. The learning aid was the first to use digital signal processing, which converted analog sound information into speech capable of teaching kids both the proper spelling and pronunciation of a word.
Strawberry Shortcake
Strawberry Shortcake and her sweet-smelling, dessert-themed friends like Lemon Meringue and Blueberry Muffin were all the rage for little girls in the ’80s. An animated television series, Atari video game, and memorabilia including pajamas and bedding, accompanied the craze of tiny plastic figurines, which according to character artist Muriel Fahrion may have made a billion dollars in franchise profits. But the frumpy-hat and freckled Strawberry Shortcake was more than just a toy, with Fahrion sharing on the 40th anniversary of the doll that she’s heard playing with the character created an escape for some youth who had family struggles.
Atari
Coin-operated arcade amusement took a severe hit when Atari released the first home-gaming console, which was created by the founders of the famous arcade game Pong. Atari 2600 came equipped with two joysticks, paddle controllers, a wood-panel printed console, and game cartridges, including “Space Invaders,” “Pac Man,” and “Asteroids” sold separately. The gaming system, with normal and hard difficulty settings, sold millions, making the three, red-lined Atari brand a staple in many ’80s living rooms.
Masters of the Universe
By the power of Grayskull, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe action figures were on many Christmas lists when Mattel debuted the line in 1982. Following the exploits of He-Man and his fight against Skeletor, Masters of the Universe’s 70 original action figures spawned comic books, television shows, movies, a She-Ra spin-off, and eight video games. Mattel finally answered calls from fans of the ’80s hit and announced it would release a new Masters of the Universe Origins collection, beginning in 2020 with He-Man and Skeletor.
Care Bears
The 10 original Care Bears, which wear belly badges to denote their personalities, were intended to be American Greetings card characters in 1981 until they became plush, stuffed Parker Brothers dolls by 1983. Cheer, Bedtime, Birthday, Wish, Tender Heart, Good Luck, Love-a-lot, Friend, Funshine, and Grumpy Bears were turned into a television series by 1985, and by the late 1980s also starred in three major Canadian-American movies. Though relaunched a handful of times throughout the years with new names, books, and films, the soft and furry fad slowly faded by the turn of the century.
Pound Puppies
Pound Puppies were the perfect compromise between children begging for a family dog and parents that didn’t want to pick up after a dog. They came in a cardboard rescue crate for “adoption” with adorable eyes and big floppy ears for $30 (an additional $3.50 for name tag). Inventor Mike Bowling, who showed the product to 14 companies before one bit, estimated in 2016 that there were three times as many Pound Puppies in the U.S. than actual dogs.
Teddy Ruxpin
Teddy Ruxpin captured the attention of boys and girls everywhere, as his ability to talk and move both his eyes and mouth were revolutionary at the time. Teddy would read stories to kids thanks to a cassette tape inserted in his back, and was so popular, Worlds of Wonder had to charter jets from China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan stuffed with Teddy Ruxpins to try to meet demand. While the original Teddy Ruxpin is a collector’s item, new versions, with LCD eyes and a slew of new stories to tell, hit the shelves in 2017.
Smurfs
It was almost impossible to ignore the Smurfs in the 1980s, as what began as a 1960s Belgian comic evolved into action figures, a popular television show, video games, countless stuffed animals, and even a macabre UNICEF commercial. There were dozens and dozens of action figures to collect, from Papa Smurf to the peace-loving Smurfs’ nemesis, Gargamel, some of which can fetch over $100 today. Two major motion pictures in the past decade have helped bring a resurgence for the Smurfs in the U.S., while steady interest in Belgium has helped lead to over 400 figurines in the collection.
Monchhichi
The catchy jingle that went along with Monchhichi helped draw kids to these monkey/teddy bear stuffed animals, despite not knowing exactly what the doll was, or why there was an extra H. Japanese company Sekiguchi released the doll, which could suck its thumb, in 1974, and it reached the U.S. in 1980 under a licensing deal with Mattel. The dolls spawned a Saturday morning cartoon series from Hanna-Barbera in 1983, before the fad began to wear off and Mattel dropped the line in 1985, which Sekiguchi re-released in 2004.
Simon
Milton Bradley inspired a phenomenon when it launched the deceptively simple Simon console at New York’s Studio 54 in 1978. Simon, which sold for the equivalent of $96, was a single or multi-player memory game that required users to press four colored buttons while repeating an increasingly longer sequence of lights and sounds. The simplicity of the original Simon inspired multiple generations of the game, including the Simon Optix, a wearable headset that flashes lights before the user’s eyes.
Star Wars Figurines
Kenner released the first “Star Wars” figures in 1978: Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, and R2D2. They continued to release figures until 1985—it wasn’t until 10 years later that new figures were released, when Hasbro began to manufacture the toy series. The demand for vintage “Star Wars” figures hasn’t faltered much: In 2017 a rare Star Wars Jawa action figure sold for £21,600 (equivalent to $28,000). And in 1980s prototype for Bib Fortuna (from “Return of the Jedi”) was purchased for £36,000 (equivalent to more than $46,000) in 2019.
Cabbage Patch Kids Doll
Cabbage Patch Kids Dolls were one of the most popular toys in the 1980s, generating nearly $2 billion in sales during the decade. The huggable dolls, of which no two were alike, came with a birth certificate, and were so sought after that consumers rioted across the country when supplies ran out before Christmas of 1983. The original Cabbage Patch Kids Dolls weren’t made for consumers, but were the creation of Kentucky artist Martha Nelson Thomas, who would adopt them out to her friends, before her idea was stolen.
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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The Italian Renaissance-named reptilians Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, and Leonardo are as hot now as they were in 1983, when two artists first sketched them on a piece of paper, which sold for more than $70,000 in 2012. What began as a comic book series, turned into a pop-culture craze, beginning with the 1987 Saturday morning cartoon series featuring the pizza-loving martial-arts experts that was picked up by Nickelodeon in 2012. Merchandise depicting the four evil-fighting brothers totaled more than $1.1 billion in the first four years of “Turtlemania.”
Little People Family House
Fisher Price’s Little People line stretches back more than 50 years with multiple different playsets, but the Family House was a staple of 1980s toy boxes. The four windows and door gave a glimpse into the lives of the Little People, while the House opened in the middle so kids could move them throughout the house. It doubled as a carrying case, meaning kids could cram their Little People inside and take them anywhere.
Pogo Ball
The Pogo Ball is a Saturn-looking jumping device manufactured by Hasbro and cousin to the Pogo Stick, which is now an official extreme sport. Unlike gaining gravity with a steel coil and footpads, the inflatable ball placed in the center of a sturdy plastic circle helped kids catch air in the ’80s. After the fad’s popularity began to deflate, the use of the toy remained, with physical-education teachers using it teach balance to students and adults using it as an exercise ball.
Space Legos
To capitalize on the back of the success of George Lucas’ smash-hit “Star Wars,” The Lego Group, which manufactures plastic toy bricks, released up to 200 separate sets of astronauts and spaceships in the ’80s including mini-figures with visor-less helmets and wheeled vehicles. It wasn’t until 1999 that the toy manufacturer would issue its first intellectual property license to “Star Wars,” bringing Lego and Lucas together for real. The toy’s cultural impact remains today, with the most recent Lego Star Wars sets released to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the merger.
Rubik’s Cub
Lining up nine squares on the six-sided, primary-colored 3D puzzle had kids competing against themselves when the Rubik’s Cube debuted in 1980. Originally named the Magic Cube, the toy’s popularity made finishing fast a sport, with the first speedcubing Rubik’s World Championships in Budapest in 1982. After mid-90s anniversary relaunches, including a diamond-studded cube, Rubik’s remains popular today, enjoying its most successful year in 2017, with over $250 million in sales.
Glo Worm
Glo Worms bridged the gap between stuffed animal and night-light when Hasbro’s Playskool released the toy in 1982. A soft squeeze would light up the toy’s vinyl head, gaining so much popularity that Hasbro released Musical Glo Worm in 1983, which could play a lullaby or tell a bedtime story. “They’re all your goodnight friends,” was the catchy jingle that played over commercials of little girls and boys getting ready for bed with their Glo Worms hugged tightly.
Lite-Brite Magic Screen
A gridded, 25-watt light bulb box and translucent-colored plastic pegs had kids creating all kinds of pictures in the ’80s. Illuminated pictures would slowly appear simply by placing the pegs into a panel through pre-patterned or free-form black opaque paper. Though the Hasbro toy manufacturer provided a plethora of refillable pictures with the original toy, it would eventually add My Little Pony, Scooby-Doo, Darth Vader, and Mr. Potato Head sketches.
Roller Racer
The Roller Racer, a human-powered toy consisting of rams horn-shaped handlebars connected to wheels atop a tractor seat, had kids racing down streets and scientists studying its physics in the ’80s. The side-to-side thrust vector concept, inspired by a retired Boeing engineer as a present for his grandson, was sold by the brand WHAM-O, which also produced other pop-culture classics like Hacky Sack and Slip ‘N Slide. Decades later, Roller Racers remain a hit with physical-education teachers using the toy in relay races, obstacle courses, and roller tag.
Koosh Ball
Fashion Plates
The concept of Fashion Plates has existed since the 18th century, but the toy version released by Tomy Toys in 1977 really caught on in the 1980s. Young girls could easily play fashion designer by snapping a wide array of outfit pieces into a base, and using a black crayon to trace the outline onto a piece of paper. Colored pencils and fabric patterns were then used to bring life to Fashion Plates, which were resurrected in 2014 by the toy company Kahootz…