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Subject: worm toy on a string?
Hello - does anyone remember a little worm toy from the seventies? It was orange or yellow and had wiggly eyes and was attached to clear string...you could 'magically' move it around and it kinda snaked around your arm or whatever...what was this thing called? ???
Subject: Re: worm toy on a string?
Was it part of the Slinky family of toys? That's the one that had the wound wire that expanded and contracted.
Subject: Re: worm toy on a string?
Is this it? It's called Willie the Worm
http://www.ez2love.com/toys1/22.jpg
Subject: Re: worm toy on a string?
No, thats not it. I remember that thing andit would curl up your arm like magic. It was a very inexpensive toy but i just can't remember the name.
Subject: Re: worm toy on a string?
Quoting:
Hello - does anyone remember a little worm toy from the seventies? It was orange or yellow and had wiggly eyes and was attached to clear string...you could 'magically' move it around and it kinda snaked around your arm or whatever...what was this thing called? ???
End Quote
I don't remember the name, and there were tons of knock-offs of this item.
I remember it well, because I owned several of them over the years. Here is what I remember of it:
I think it came out around 1973-74. It was a piece of fuzz, about 3-4 inches long, and it did look like a worm. The color of the original was a kind of soft orange, but they came in all colors of the rainbow. There was a piece of fishing line that you tied to the nose, and then you wrapped the other end around a button (button down shirts were big in this time, especially plaid ones).
With practice, you could make it "squirm" through your fingers, and by running your hands out away from you, you would give the illusion it was running forward through your hands. It was based off of an old magician's trick. THis was a fad with kids for about 3-4 years, then it kinda died out.
I hope this answers your question, and helps others to remember this, because I sure forgot until I read this. :)
Subject: Re: worm toy on a string?
I know what you're talking about, and Mr 80's gave a great description, even using the word "squirm"...they're called Squirmels.
Here's a link...I hope it works!!
http://www.feelingretro.com/view_toy.cfm?id=78
Subject: Re: worm toy on a string?
Wow,I remember Squirmles! It was fun to play with them! ;D
Howard
Subject: Re: worm toy on a string?
There we go!
I knew I could not be the only one that remembered this.
I first became attracted to them because at the time I was a fairly good magician (yet another fad of the 1970's, thanks do Doug Henning reviving the water torture and Bill Bixby in the TV show The Magician).
There was another version that they sold on TV, it came with this little disk that you could attach to a cigarette, and make it pop out of a pack of cigarettes. I still remember the TV commercial, which would not be banned because of the cigarettes.
The original "Squirmles" were that orange from the photo on that site, and it had these google type eyes.
THe knockoffs came in all colors of the rainbow, and often had these cheep paper stick-on eyes. I also remember seeing them as prizes in gumball machines. I even remember seeing one as recently as 2 years ago, and I forever kicked myself for not getting one.
Here is a site that actually has them for sale!
http://www.funforalltoys.com/products/magic/magic_worm/magic_worm.html
Subject: Re: worm toy on a string?
I remember having one (I think my parents put it in my Christmas sock). I remember getting it to move and having fun with it for a little while, but the novelty wore off fairly quickly.