Vintage Ads

I'm from a different country and when I was growing up behind the Iron curtain, there seemed to be slightly less of the gender division when it came to toys, perhaps because everybody had to work and women were encouraged to do the same jobs as men (not that it resulted in salary/promotion equality, but that's a different story). Also, when we were getting Christmas presents in the kindergarten, all kids got the same toys (a rubber doll and a toy car, I think). In any case, my oldest sister preferred dolls and toy makeup and all girly stuff, while my older sister and I liked boy toys better (though I actually had a really wonderful Sindy doll which I adored), and mother and father just heeded our wishes. I think father was even glad I was eager to ride bike with him and wrestle. Strangely enough, today he is a tiny bit perplexed when my oldest sister's son plays with a doll. :)