In 1961 Deluxe Reading followed their 'Man in Space' toy set from the year before with the Deluxe 'Playmobile', a battery-operated** car dashboard affair, complete with turn key, engine sound, working horn and wipers, turn signals, a push and slide button console, adjustable visors and mirror, et cetera. All the play item required then was a passenger or two.
That's where my sister Angie came in...
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| Deluxe Reading Playmobile |
"Watch out for that tree," she cried! "You're taking the turn too tightly! Slow down! We're all gonna die!!" How Angie relished playing the part of my front seat passenger, a nervous Nellie, hysterically grabbing and clinging to me for her life's sake, impeding my ability to drive! I hadn't even turned on the ignition, before she began strangling me, much less shifting the gear out of "park"!
"Oh no, there's a chicken crossing the road!"
My mom well remembers how beset this luckless driver was by my over-the-top, overwrought sib! It was one of her favorite recollections, especially my ending up having to call out for rescue from Angie. Who knew, how terrifying a drive could be, having never even left the kitchen table!
*Though I later realized the unintended connection, the title of this post is not referring to the lyrics of the ‘George, of the Jungle’ cartoon theme. For my panicked passenger and I, it could just as easily have been a signpost or a telephone pole we were in danger of hitting.
**It took six D cells to power the device!
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