G.I. Joe of the 60's

The real G.I. Joe craze hit me in the summer of 1965 with the "Deep Sea Diver" set that a neighbor kid had. I don't know what the allure was, but right down to the diving bell helmet, the whole deep sea diving outfit was awesome. It didn't take long before G.I. Joe started becoming my favorite thing.

The way I saw it was, Joe wasn't really a doll. Even though we all knew he was a doll for guys, it wasn't like the whole doll culture. With G.I. Joe it was a matter of putting on accessories like ammo belts, field packs, flame throwers, and helmets to make him ready for action.

Secretly I knew that all of this added up to one word: doll. No more could I laugh at girls and their Barbies. There was absolutely no distinction between Barbie's mix n' match outfits and Joe's camo fatigues or scuba suit. Dolls were dolls. The best way to think about Joe was like one of my models, and the rest is history.

The G.I. Joe Action Pilot brings back wonderful memories. Maybe it's because it was the last in the Joe series that I got. The colors of the box are absolute memory triggers for me, and conjure up The Beatles' "Day Tripper" and Mountain Dew

In my order of G.I. Joe operations, I began with the action soldier, then the marine, and finally the sailor. When I had the money, I got the action pilot. I think I liked collecting the various accessories more than anything else. There was a store called Bazaar on 82nd and Division Street where I bought my first G.I. Joe. He cost $2.95. The larger accessory box-packs were $2.00 and the smaller packs were a dollar.

The "Bivouac" set that came with the green sleeping bag, mess kit, ammo belt, and rifle was my first set. After that came the poncho, field phone, tent, etc. I just started picking up stuff little by little. I had so many of these accessory packs camo, and non-camo . Still, my favorites were always the water related gear like the " "Deep Sea Diver" and the "Sea Sled."

The "Sea Sled" was my favorite Joe accessory. However, the thing wouldn't work! I had to return it twice to the store. The second time, they were "out of stock" and would have to re-order, so I just kept it. My thinking was, that the third one would probably be bad too. Also, it was too big to use in the tub My last "Big Set" adventure was with the "Space Capsule" . I don't have too many memories of this one except that it was pretty darned cool.

I acquaint a lot of my memories of G.I. Joe with the "Batman" series that came to TV in 1966. I remember being totally fascinated and equally revolted with the show. It was all tongue-in-cheek during a time when I had no idea what tongue-in-cheek was.

I wanted my Batman to be serious. Still, we all watched it, but mostly made fun of it in school. Secretly, my favorite part about Batman was his car, the Bat cave, and Batgirl.

We lived in this house on S.E. 75th between Powell and Division. Some of my strongest 5th grade memories are on this page.

During this period, I went to James Youngson school in 5th grade. In the picture below, the row of windows (the ones with the shades pulled down) by the basketball hoops were my classroom.