My mother’s notation says that the occasion was Joanne’s Adult Birthday Party in July of 1968. It must have been hot, because the birthday girl looks a little sweaty. The detail not to be missed, however, is the pins that both my sisters are wearing. I’m pretty sure I made them, with what was one of my favorite (and most toxic) childhood toys—a Mattel Thingmaker. These pins came from the “Fun Flowers” set, although we also had the “Creepy Crawler” version. It was essentially an open heating unit with a set of metal molds (think burns), into which you poured a liquid plastic molding substance called “Goop” (think toxic fumes). Then you would bake them until they congealed into various little rubbery doodads. There were two parts of the process that were remarkably satisfying—mixing colors (I still like to play with color that way) and that moment when you got to use a little wire tool to pull them out of the die-cast molds. Almost as satisfying as pulling dried Elmer’s glue off of the palm of your hand.
Fun Flowers, 1968
