A Craze is a Craze!

Isn't it funny how a 'craze' begins? And how it turns full circle as time goes by?

I remember when I was teaching, one day somebody would arrive at school with marbles, or a skipping rope, or a spinning top, or a length of elastic and the next day every child would be skipping or huddling in marble games (or picking them up off the floor before a teacher stood on them), or standing with elastic wound round their ankles while others hopped and jumped over it.

And then, as suddenly as it began, it was on to the next craze! Goodbye marbles, hello Mammals!

I clearly remember the Mammal card craze as it involved us mums too! The cards were sold in packs of five from Toy Shops and Newsagents, and there was an album that went with them. I cannot remember how much the cards cost, or the album for that matter, but it wasn't a lot. Of course, after you bought a few packs and it was all very exciting, you ended up with a lot of duplicates. And the obvious place to swap them was school! Break saw groups of intent card-swapping children all searching for the same card, while the teachers on duty made sure that the older children didn't cheat the younger ones by taking ten cards for a 'rare find'.

One of the Toy Shops in our local shopping centre had a 'Swap Box' where you could take your duplicates and look for the ones that were needed to complete the collection. The children would gather on a Saturday morning and then it was the turn of the mums from Monday to Friday! We would regularly meet in the shop, with our lists of up-dated numbers, hoping to find a few and cross those numbers off the list! Cries of  'Yes I have forty-seven, do you have ninety-three?' punctuated the general chat every now and then. It was a social event! We sat on the floor and chatted and swapped and of course bought a few packs of cards as well! My sister was visiting at the height of the craze and she was involved in buying and swapping too!


Then we would go and relax over coffee until it was time to fetch the children from school! Eventually the album was full and the fun was over!

And now, guess what I am doing 40 years later?

The Collector's Album!

I am collecting animal cards for my grandchildren! But they don't know yet!

Our local chain of supermarkets, affectionately known as 'Pickers', is 'giving' four special animal cards for every R150 that is spent! But, along with this is an album for R20, and a special 'sound box' thing that is necessary to listen to the sound that is somehow encrypted in the card. That costs R50. Then you can also buy a special tin for R15 to keep your swaps safe! I pushed the boat out and bought the album! But all in a good cause......

One of the fact-filled fun inside pages!

'The EWT is proud to be a beneficiary of this fun-filled campaign. For every Super Animals Activity Collection Album sold, Pick n Pay donates R1 to a fund that is distributed evenly to their partner wildlife organisations, of which the EWT is one. So be sure to collect them all and hear them roar!'

The cards. 

So, going shopping now revolves around what I can get at Pickers and how many cards I can earn! On Wednesday (pensioner day and double points on our Smart Shopper cards), we stood next to one of our chatting acquaintances who lives along the route we walk daily with Alfie, so we got talking as one does in a queue! I asked him what he does with his animal cards and he said he just throws them away! Horrified I asked him to please keep them as I am trying to gather as many as I can before I fly off next Friday! (I can see myself posting cards and swaps off to Spain soon!) No problem, he said I could have them and that he would deliver them to my door! But, even easier than that, he told the lady on the till that he would be spending a lot of money and just to give me at least 10!

So she did!

And my sister is sending some from Pietermaritzburg.

This will be a universal collection!

And there is a feeling of deja vue in the air!