SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (ABC4) — ‘Tis the season for shoppers to crowd stores in hopes of finding the perfect holiday gifts. For children as far back as the 1950s and 1960s, there were all varieties of delightful toys to unwrap under the Christmas tree, from the Slinky to Silly Putty.

Many parents over the decades decidedly put holiday toys into two different categories — those they feared would blow up the house and those they warned would put an eye out.

Reliving the endless snow across Utah in 1994

What are among the most timeless toys for children over the generations? The trucks from Tonka Toys. As recited in their catchy jingle, “There are Tonka Toys to push and drive, and Tonka Toys that dig… To make your playtime come alive, here’s a terrific rig.”

ABC4’s Craig Wirth was one of those Tonka fans, driving a frozen can of orange juice from his “Minute Maid” truck into the kitchen every morning. Years later, the truck was brandished with a Channel 4 sticker when he joined the team over 52 years ago.

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Baseball offered even more great gift ideas for parents through the years, including the Action Baseball game and, of course, the ever-popular baseball glove — often complete with a young player’s name and phone number for true authenticity.

Other kids made the most of the holiday toys that could create, like the Etch-A-Sketch — a toy that was destined to “write like magic.”

As we grow older, and our gifts turn more humble, we can always look back fondly on the toys that made our earliest seasons merry and bright.

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