Andrew was two when he got hooked on Batman. Since he didn’t understand the character names on the packages, we’d make up our own descriptions, such as “Wrinkly Batman” or “Brown Batman”.   But he was never without a plastic figure in hand.

Andrew made Batman a lifestyle.   He wore his acrylic pajamas day and night, complete with cape.   When the Velcro tags would wear off, I’d make temporary capes out of kitchen towels and masking tape. When his cousins or friends would come to play, I would be pressed into service to make the home-made capes for everyone.

When the pajamas needed to be washed, they were done by hand in the kitchen sink and hurriedly put in the dryer.   Everything else was removed from the cycle – to speed up the process and reduce the tears.   Andrew would stand in the laundry room and look despairingly at the dryer as it spun.   And of course the pajamas were never completely dry when they were pulled out.

Using old tee shirts and sharpies, we'd make customized Batman clothing.   And we’d sketch and draw and paint Batman characters by the hundreds, some of which are boxed up in Andrew’s closet even today.

One Batman, named "Purple and Black" was by far the most famous.   In a classic contest on the living room rug, he beat an evil Ninja Turtle character named Shredder and rescued “Shield Horse”, an invincible stallion stolen by Shredder the previous day.   We both remember the exact moment that Purple and Black earned his fame that night.   We didn’t realize at the time that those moments would last forever – but they did.

Purple and Black was lost to the backyard one winter but then miraculously found in the bushes the following spring.   By the time Purple and Black was put in storage for good, his joints were hanging and loose and his coloring was worn off in places.

In 1965, I was really into GI Joe figures. I had a foot locker in my room filled with GI Joes - their clothes, weapons, and assorted gear, like guns, knives and pineapple grenades. Their clothes were almost impossible to put on them (without baby powder) and they would only agree to hold their plastic guns using tape or rubber bands (and then in very odd poses).

That year, Hasbro released Deep Sea Diver GI Joe. He had a diving bell helmet, wet suit, knives and weighted boots. I begged my dad to get it for me, and he relented with the requirement that I save for it.

A few weeks later, parent-donated money in hand, my dad took me one evening to the dime store on 103rd street, East of Longwood.   It was fun just to look at Deep Sea Diver there in his box, with the painted and unrealistic diving scenes on the packaging.

But when the cashier rang up the box, I didn't have enough money.   My dad took out his wallet and paid the difference.   Yeah, I know that's perfectly normal, but for some reason I didn't expect it at the time.   He probably knew the suit wasn’t really waterproof and the boots were plastic, but the kid couldn't live without it.

And that's how I remember Deep Sea Diver.   Not the GI Joe character (now available on EBay for 129.00) but the fact that my dad was there when we bought him.

I hope that when Andrew thinks about good ole Purple and Black, he thinks about more than just Batman.    I know I do.

#imaginative play

Batman and Deep Sea Diver