One of the great toys of my youth was a Fort Apache Playset. My parents, or Santa Claus, I don’t remember which, gave me my first Fort Apache when I was 7 or 8. I spent hours and hours in my room positioning cavalry soldiers along the fort’s walls to defend against the attacking Indians.
The set came in a tin box with sections of the fort wall along with cavalry men, horses, Indians, tepees, cannons, bows, arrows, ladders, a campfire and rifles. There were three lookout stations positioned on the corners of the fort and, of course, a gate. Marx Bros. introduced the Fort Apache Stockades in 1951. Millions of sets have since been sold since.
In the 1950’s and 60’s, westerns dominated the movie scene, when stars like John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Randolph Scott and other bandana-ed stars fought the savages and ended up with the red headed starlets.
There was an actual Battle of Fort Apache between a cavalry garrison and a band of raiding Apache warriors in the Arizona Territory in 1891. It didn’t go well for the Indians as the cavalry held their ground until reinforcements arrived and sent the Apaches into retreat.
For years, a Fort Apache Playset was a required gift at some point in a young man’s life. I don’t recall any of the neighborhood girls with these nifty forts. They preferred dolls and stuff.
I chuckle sometimes to think how a modern child would react to find a Fort Apache under the tree on Christmas morning.
“Where are the batteries? Do the Indians explode? Use my imagination? How boring.”
I recently saw a Fort Apache set listed on E-bay for $75, mint condition. I thought about buying it, assembling it on the floor of my living room and teaching those savage Indians a thing or two, but I decided against it. Anybody but a fellow Boomer would think I was nuts.