It's a good week for ... gifts
It’s that time of year when the must-have Christmas toys emerge to taunt parents and tantalise children. This year, the top 10 list includes the usual mix of high-tech (you're never too young for My First Drone), cute (FurReal Roarin’ Tyler the tiger) and scatalogical (Toilet Trouble, a board game only a child could find fun).
Back from the 1970s is Stretch Armstrong. Filled with gel, Stretch’s main attraction – in fact, his raison d’etre – was that he, well, stretched. Magnificently. From 15 inches to four or five feet. Hours of fun … until he burst and his gel innards started to leak.
This being the 1970s, when make do and mend was a common mantra, Stretch came with a special adhesive bandage and instructions on how to heal his injuries.
Sadly, Stretch fell from grace in 1980. No-one knows why. Some say he fell out with his agent over plans to computerise him. Others hint at a doping scandal.
Now out of retirement, Stretch is still in good shape, a blond beefcake in impossibly small trunks. Would it have been too much to expect the toy makers to allow old Stretch to evolve a little from the white, male, muscle-bound stereotype of 40 years ago? Must he still mince about in his budgie smugglers while flexing his latex pecs? Seriously – would a modern makeover have been too much of a stretch?
It's been a bad week for ... gifts
The jeweller Tiffany and Co has some trinkets for the adults on your present list. The glitzy company’s new Everyday Objects range features knick-knacks themed on life’s more mundane items. There's a new line of imitation paper cups, fashioned from solid silver, for a mere £438. A ball of silver yarn is a snip at £6,460 and a sterling silver and vermeil “tin” can is yours for a modest £760. Just the job to keep your spare change in.
If you're a real sucker, there's a curly drinking straw for £266 and a smashing paper plate “reimagined” in sterling silver and “infused with modern wit”.
Yes, they certainly are having a laugh. The perfect range for silk stocking fillers.
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