From 1935 until 1949 I lived on Fulton Street in the Bedford Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn above my parents grocery store. I was very independent and started go on my own to explore “the city” (Manhattan)when I was 10. In August 1947 I discovered the original F.A.O. Schwartz toy store just off Fifth Avenue on 58th Street. It was a child’s paradise with wondrous toys and games I had never seen before in a serene and opulent atmosphere I had never experienced before. I wandered for an hour until my attention focused on an electric football game on which the players moved on a vibrating field. A sales person told me it cost $10, an unbelievable amount. But I was determined to have it. For five months I “saved” pennies, nickles and dimes I “earned” working in the grocery store evenings and weekends. By Christmas-time 1947 I had the $10 and went to FAO’s to get it. I must have presented a strange figure. I was truly a ragamuffin with a tattered jacket amidst the opulent surroundings and rather well dressed customers, but the sales person brought the and I handed her the money. She looked at me and said I was 50 cents short–there was tax I was unaware of and had only another 5 cents for the subway ride back home. I was devastated and must have looked it. Standing behind me was a lady in a full length fur coat who took pity on this poor soul(or was smitten with Christmas spirit) and reached into her purse and put two quarters on the counter and walked away. I was overjoyed and spent many pleasurable hours playing with the game.

The story doesn’t end there, however. In 1979 I was married with three children living in Rockville, MD. My second child, a boy, was about to turn 12. I asked him what he would like for his birthday. I was astounded when he replied that had seen an vibrating electric football game in a toy store that he especially wanted. I had never mentioned that I had once had the game and couldn’t believe it was still around. It was an astonishing coincidence I will never forget.