Tonka Memories

My wife and I were out on a recent Saturday, and she wanted to make a quick pit stop at Target. I can’t even tell you now what we were shopping for, dog food perhaps? Maybe toilet paper? Whatever it was, it wasn’t the sexiest of products. I gave my wife a questioning look, but she promised that we would be quick. 

I asked if I had the word “gullible” plastered on my forehead?

Where’d we go five minutes later? Of course, Target. When we got inside the store, I reminded her what we were there to buy. She promised me again that the trip would be a quick one, “Oh chill Brian, it won’t be long.” 

Of course, we weren’t in the store two minutes, and she wanted to look at a blouse we passed in the women’s section and then some boots. I tapped my watch giving her a subtle reminder, but I knew I had lost the discussion.

Oh, we have to buy one!

When our kids were little, we used to read to them a picture book called The Poky Little Puppy. I’d like to claim that she continued to be the slowpoke between the two of us, but, well, I can’t. The poky puppy on this trip was me. We were walking past the toy section and out in the middle of the aisle the store had a large display of Tonka Front Loaders.

My wife was twenty yards ahead of me and I was still oohing and awing over the Tonkas. When I was a kid, Tonka’s were the best. I had a Tonka Mighty Dump Truck and there was little that the truck couldn’t handle. They still have the best slogan: “Made with Steel. Build Tonka Tough.” Now that’s a cool toy.

As a young kid, I was certain of two things: My mom loved me to the moon and back and my Tonka could survive anything and was going to be there until the end of time. Cold War Soviet nuclear bombs could destroy my little town and, most definitely, my elementary school, but my Tonka would still survive. 

The trucks were made of sturdy steel and looked like the real deal. The Tonka bed moved up and own and was guaranteed for life. I played with it everywhere. I would haul my Army men, my baseball cards, anything I had. I would play with the truck inside or out, it didn’t matter. 

My brother had the exact same model and sometimes he’d let me play with his too. I loved playing with both, because then I could really act like I was clearing out the dirt in the yard. 

Uh-oh, what have I done?

While I loved my truck, it was also the cause of one of my biggest worries as a kid. I was playing one afternoon after school and had both trucks, pushing them down our small hill. I had been at it for a while, playing first by myself and then later with a neighbor. The neighbor kid was playing a little aggressive with the trucks. I worried about him breaking something, but this was Tonka, this wasn’t any run of the mill toy, what could he destroy?

When it came time to clean up and go inside, I noticed the unbelievable. The window on my brother’s truck was cracked. My heart felt to the ground. My mom noticed me crying and asked what was wrong. I knew she’d be fine, but my middle brother was going to have a fit. I had broken his truck.

I needn’t have been upset. My brother took one look and reminded me that the Tonka with the red scratch in the rear load and now a broken window was mine, not his. I realize now that he had long moved past playing with trucks. If the truck had been his, I doubt he would have cared. 

Of course, I didn’t know that then. 

One tough toy

I still consider my Tonka, broken window or not, to be the most durable toy I ever owned. I put my truck through everything, and the thing survived. My wife did eventually return and watch me oogling the Tonka Front Loader. After a few jokes about me being a kid and still playing with toys, we eventually moved on, but I thought about my old truck the rest of the day. 

I’m not sure whatever happened to it. I suspect my mom gave it to neighbors or sold it off years later when she auctioned off most of the things from our old house. Wherever it is, I’m certain it’s still in relatively good shape today. 

Timex used to advertise itself with the slogan: “it takes a licking and keeps on ticking.” Tonka was cut from the same cloth, it most certainly kept on ticking.