Toy Town

In November 1980, Relief Society Homemaking featured a project that I really got into. It was a Toy Town--a canvas floor covering that was painted with streets and town fixtures for Matchbox-sized cars to roll around on. It took forever to make with the fabric paints of the day, called "liquid embroidery", which were like tube-paints you had to squeeze out of a tip the size of a standard ballpoint. Yuk! But eventually I finished the toy town. Then I drycleaned it too soon, which took off most of the color. So David stepped in and saved the day by painting it with acrylics, which added dimension and color on an unprecedented scale.

The toy town was a huge hit with Gordon. It included locations such as stores, schools, and houses, a hospital with a helipad, a fire department, and an airport. He played with it for many years.

But not before leaving his own mark. In March of 1981, just a few months after getting the toy town, the kids got into the vegetable oil, and doused themselves and the toy town. Despire our valiant efforts, it never fully recovered, and remains oil-stained to this day.