Comments on: Your Very Own Astronaut

By: SteveR

SteveR — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 16:05:55 +0000

I have fond memories of Zosh, an extraterrestrial boy in the “Children’s Friend” of about 1958 who visited earth.

Like everything else, Ardis, space suits evolved. But the earliest designs descended from the space suits of science fiction. The two contenders were suits of armor pitted against inflated fabric:
http://www.sciencefriday.com/videos/watch/10371

By: soleil

soleil — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 00:31:36 +0000

This doll was before my time, but the paper dolls were my favorite thing about the Friend! That, and the drawings with hidden objects in them.

By: Mina

Mina — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 19:23:19 +0000

My printer is broken

By: Steve C.

Steve C. — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 18:26:13 +0000

Girls play with dolls. boys play with Action Figures.

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:51:23 +0000

My brothers had GI Joes in the ’60s when they (the GI Joes,. not the brothers) were about the same size as Barbies, and wore fabric clothing that the boys stored in footlookers (all of which looked very much like the Barbie equipment painted camouflage, but I think I made the mistake only once of referring to them as the boys’ dolls). Anyway, one of them had a rubberized fabric deep sea diving outfit, with a plastic and glass diver’s helmet that looked very much like this space helmet. It was all water tight so you could take GI Joe deep sea diving in the sink or bathtub. Not that my brothers ever let ME do that. Oh, no. But it sure looked like fun.

(The other outfit they had that I thought looked the most fun was the flame thrower, a tank that strapped onto the doll’s back with a long hose and nozzle. Sound effects provided by boy owner, of course. Man, the boys had ALL the fun back then.)

By: Mark B.

Mark B. — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:40:25 +0000

And, of course, there were probably no real-life models of space suits available in summer 1960. I know I didn't have one. By early 1961, when Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space, his space suit looked nothing like the model here, or like the ones that Alan Shepherd or Gus Grissom (or even Gordon Cooper) wore.

By: Mark B.

Mark B. — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:30:22 +0000

If you don’t cut out the faceplate, how will you see his face?

If you’re worried, why not put a piece of cellophane in there. Choose whatever color you like.

By: iguacufalls

iguacufalls — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:41:25 +0000

If you cut out the faceplate, how will Mr. Space Force breathe in his Space Helmet?

By: Researcher

Researcher — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:45:48 +0000

Nice. Straight out of all those Heinlein books I used to read as a teenager.

(They were my dad’s! I’m not that old!)

By: Steve C.

Steve C. — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 14:16:30 +0000

I love the archaic looking space suit.