Jana 7: Home Sweet TTH

[rainbowbabycakes]

16 hours ago, StraightOuttaArkansas said:

I LOVED my tinker toy set. It was the only building toy I was allowed to have (girls play with dolls...blah blah blah and this was in the 80's). I still have the tin and a couple of pieces put away in my memory things. That is how much I adored them. Do they still make them and sell them in Europe? The newest little Outta is totally getting a set if I can get my hands on them!

you can still find them (and knock offs), but be careful, some of the newer ones are all plastic

 

Target sells "classic" versions of toys, I think I've seen them there

[Mama Mia]

On 10/23/2018 at 8:19 AM, SassyPants said:

The Tinker Toy house's configuration was a really bad idea now that the kids are adults. All those kids will never be able to visit and stay overnight for a holiday (not that the odds for them all making any given holiday at the same time are that great), but I guess if the Vuolos come for Christmas do they have to get a hotel? 

I’m such a dork that I once made a very cool sims house that would fit ALL the Duggar’s - with two or three kids to a room for the littles, playroom, school room Etc on the ground floor, with their parents . And all the olders upstairs. With a separate living room, and sharing with 1 sibling, max. I designed a couple of the rooms to work as guest rooms for Josh and kids and Jill and Jessa and any potential kids ( this was right before the whole Josh thing broke ) . I made it the same size as their current home. Their layout is ridiculous,

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

20 hours ago, StraightOuttaArkansas said:

Do they still make them and sell them in Europe? The newest little Outta is totally getting a set if I can get my hands on them!

I found some on Amazon's UK site. I don't know about other parts of Europe. They have some new ones that are made of plastic like these:

Spoiler

They have some some classic/vintage wooden ones, but they're more expensive.

Spoiler

 

[StraightOuttaArkansas]

@rainbowbabycakes and @WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo? Thanks! I hope they swing back around to making them from wood, being a 90's child that was novel to me and from a parent-eye now probably a bit sturdier with how I man-handled those things. I will be keeping my eye out.

[Smoochie]

On 10/23/2018 at 10:35 AM, QuiverDance said:

I know what Tinker Toys are, but I don't understand the reference.  I suppose it's because it's kind of cheaply constructed.  

It would make more sense that TTH is an abbreviation for Tonitown House to me.

Actually I sorta vaguely remember reading about this before.  I have Old Person Brain.

 

 

That's what I thought it was for the longest time!

[QuiverDance]

I wish I had my old tinker toys. I think my brother sold them  on eBay. 

[Snowless]

On 10/22/2018 at 2:41 PM, NoKidsAndCounting said:

Referencing the thread title, I always thought that TTH meant "Tater Tot House" until I looked it up. For real. ? If Jana is courting, I hope she finds someone she really loves who will embrace everything about her - someone who will not "allow" her to do anything but just love everything she represents and who is okay with wherever life takes them, whether that means wearing pants, gardening, fundie-lite, no church at all, a small family, big family or whatever they want...as long as they aren't spewing hate every moment.

You’re not the only one with a weird meaning for the acronym.  I kept thinking it meant “TontiTown House” (as in their hometown).  When I found out it meant “Tinker Toy House”, it did give me a giggle.  I remember playing with those as a kid...who knew you could build a whole house out of them?  ?

[SilverBeach]

If you watched the Duggars back when the big house was being built, you would understand the tinker toy house reference. It's how the house was built, in bits and pieces, in fits and starts, with random workers (including children) and materials. No real plan and certainly no focus on quality. Mortgages are a no-no, so the house was built by any means possible. Junky, hence likening it to a toy with many pieces.

[PreciousPantsofDoom]

I still say TaterTot House in my head when I see TTH. ( Even though I do know better. )

[QuiverFullofBooks]

11 hours ago, SilverBeach said:

If you watched the Duggars back when the big house was being built, you would understand the tinker toy house reference. It's how the house was built, in bits and pieces, in fits and starts, with random workers (including children) and materials. No real plan and certainly no focus on quality. Mortgages are a no-no, so the house was built by any means possible. Junky, hence likening it to a toy with many pieces.

That’s why you feel that it’s appropriate, not why the nickname exists. Jim Bob said in their first book that the prefab steel beams and connectors they purchased for the house looked like an enormous tinker toy kit.

[Rachel333]

And I think a lot of people don't understand the tinker toy reference just because they aren't familiar with tinker toys.

[SilverBeach]

11 hours ago, QuiverFullofBooks said:

That’s why you feel that it’s appropriate, not why the nickname exists. Jim Bob said in their first book that the prefab steel beams and connectors they purchased for the house looked like an enormous tinker toy kit.

I never said my explanation was why the nickname exists. I never spent and will never spend a dollar on any of their books. Yet I always have called it the tinker toy house. So OK, whatever.

[adidas]

I have only ever heard of tinker toys in the babysitters club books so I thought it was Tontitown House. 

[CarrotCake]

I thought for a long time that Tontitown was a nickname for the town, not the real name.

[SapphireSlytherin]

From wiki:

Quote

Led by Catholic priest Pietro Bandini, who eventually became mayor of the city,[4] Italian settlers working on Lakeport Plantation in the Arkansas delta moved to northwest Arkansas and found the climate and terrain similar to their native Northern Italy. Tontitown was settled in 1898 and named for Italian explorer Henri de Tonti.[5] It was incorporated as a city in 1909.[4]

 

[SamuraiKatz]

I found some on Amazon's UK site. I don't know about other parts of Europe. They have some new ones that are made of plastic like these:
Spoiler
They have some some classic/vintage wooden ones, but they're more expensive.
Spoiler
 

I am older. I had the wooden set. I wanted an Erector Set and a Big Jim Camper for Cristmas circa 1971. I got the Barbie Country Camper (lame) and no Erector set because that was considered a boys toy.

[SapphireSlytherin]

22 minutes ago, SamuraiKatz said:

I got the Barbie Country Camper (lame) and no Erector set because that was considered a boys toy.

You and I must be about the same age. I had the Country Camper too, and no Erector set. Also, no chemistry set, no microscope...

And I still managed to major in biology/pre-med. lol

[SassyPants]

28 minutes ago, SamuraiKatz said:

On 10/24/2018 at 10:34 PM, WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo? said:

I found some on Amazon's UK site. I don't know about other parts of Europe. They have some new ones that are made of plastic like these:
Spoiler
They have some some classic/vintage wooden ones, but they're more expensive.
Spoiler
 

Read more  

I am older. I had the wooden set. I wanted an Erector Set and a Big Jim Camper for Cristmas circa 1971. I got the Barbie Country Camper (lame) and no Erector set because that was considered a boys toy.

Ug, my parents were the worst/cheapest. They always found a reason to return our biggest or best gifts. Of course they would still take credit for giving the gift. Yep, Joy sucks for sure.

[Mama Mia]

5 minutes ago, SassyPants said:

Ug, my parents were the worst/cheapest. They always found a reason to return our biggest or best gifts. Of course they would still take credit for giving the gift. Yep, Joy sucks for sure.

They returned your gifts??? Why would someone do that??. That’s horrible

[SassyPants]

Just now, Mama Mia said:

They returned your gifts??? Why would someone do that??. That’s horrible

They were depression era kids, hyperfocused on $$$$$, and not spoiling kids. 

[Mama Mia]

13 minutes ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

You and I must be about the same age. I had the Country Camper too, and no Erector set. Also, no chemistry set, no microscope...

And I still managed to major in biology/pre-med. lol

Uggg... that’s awful. I never wanted an erector set, or chemistry set, but lots of girls my age had them ( I’m roughly your age too ) . And it was damn near obligatory to have a microscope. I just liked my Truly Scrumtious Barbie. Her hat was amazing. 

1 minute ago, SassyPants said:

They were depression era kids, hyperfocused on $$$$$, and not spoiling kids. 

Wow. I can understand not buying your kids expensive gifts yourself - or asking grandparents etc to not spend too much, or to keep it practical, but returning a gift a child has already seen? That’s awful. 

[BachelorToTheRapture]

Reading about gendered toys always makes me mad! I had little siblings I helped care for and I loved cooking in the real kitchen, I never wanted most "girl" toys. My parents would never let me tell people I didn't like their gifts though, that was bad manners, so I had to thank them for the dolls and barbies and say how excited I was to play with them, then next year I'd get more dolls and barbies since I was so happy to get them. My brothers meanwhile got all kinds of cool toys that they didn't even always share. I'm still pretty upset about some of the gender roles my parents pushed on me as a child.

[SapphireSlytherin]

4 minutes ago, Mama Mia said:

They returned your gifts??? Why would someone do that??. That’s horrible

My dad was a teacher/counselor/band director. He saw this happen on a yearly basis:  the parents would buy toys, put them under the Christmas tree, let the kids play with them, and then return them. Every.Damn.Year. These kids didn't understand that other kids actually got to KEEP gifts at Christmas.

[SassyPants]

My ILs were even MORE focused on $$$$ and not spoiling their gaggle of 7 children. They would buy one gift that they all got to share. One bike...one year they did get a drum set. 7 kids in 10 years time. I think most of the sharing happened amongst the oldest 5, all born within 4 years.

[Mama Mia]

5 hours ago, SassyPants said:

My ILs were even MORE focused on $$$$ and not spoiling their gaggle of 7 children. They would buy one gift that they all got to share. One bike...one year they did get a drum set. 7 kids in 10 years time. I think most of the sharing happened amongst the oldest 5, all born within 4 years.

Wow. I just don’t understand that mindset. Maybe if the gift is something like a swing set , or a TV ( if they didn’t have one ) .  But something only one kid at a time can use? Why not just get them each a book, or yo-yo, or a puzzle? It doesn’t need to be expensive, just something that fits each kid’s interests . I don’t get people sometimes.