Tog Ratings Explained

The nostalgia and recollections of my generation are fuelling an economic boom.

This is attributable, according to commentators, to our new found levels of disposable income being directed towards buying the things that we had in our developing years.

You could argue that surely, if the toys, games and pastimes of our yesteryear were so special to us then why do we not still possess them?

Well, I would say that it is because they were played with so much that they simply disintegrated or went missing at the back of the garage or attic or were misplaced in successive house moves or lifestyle changes.

It is also important to remember that many of the original items will have been made from unstable or hazardous materials such as lead or toxic metals. The early forms of plastics had no durability as well as now being seen as potentially carcinogenic sources. "Made in Hong Kong" was a fascinating and exotic origin but now seems rather ominous for its health implications.

A few of my generation, with great foresight or just a rather obsessive tendency may have preserved things like model cars and action figures in their original packaging, as in they were never played and which now fetch many, many times their original face value Their customers are people like myself who simply enjoyed the imaginative and creative play that they offered, ultimately to the point of their destruction.

I was personally guilty of the vandalism, abuse and mistreatment of toys and games from an early age.

The active seeking of replacements through internet buying sites must be a form of therapy and assuaging of that horrible guilty feeling.

I am certainly not alone in taking the same route towards absolution as there must be tens or even hundreds of thousands in a similar penitent mood giving the disturbing impression that we must have been a very, very troubled generation.

At least we have sought to live our lives to the best of our abilities even with this dark knowledge just behind the scenes.

From time to time something crops up to bring these raw emotions to the forefront.

Just last week I went to a gallery exhibition celebrating the animation and broadcasting of Oliver Postgate, he of stop-frame animation fame and creator of such children's classics as Noggin the Nog, Bagpuss, Ivor the Engine and The Clangers.

The exhibits, including the actual original animation models and props included a set of characters that I had actually forgotten about from my own childhood.

Forgotten?........... or blanked out intentionally more like?

The programme in question was Pogles Wood.

It was produced by Postgate from 1965 to 1967 and was first broadcast on BBC Television from 1965 to 1968 with numerous repeat showings into the 1970's.

That was certainly the era of my formative years, my own birth year being 1963.

The principal characters were the rather dowdy and frumpy Mr and Mrs Pogle who lived in a reality woodland bearing their family name along with a little boy called Pippin and a creature/thing/entity called Tog.

I have only just learned , from reading the text accompanying the exhibition , that Pippin was an adopted son. That was, to my knowledge, never mentioned at the time but then again it would not really have been of any interest or concern to me and my young mind.

The gallery exhibition contained the revelation by Postgate that he was not quite sure what sort of creature/thing/entity Tog actually was.

I recall that Tog was not a cute or loveable character.  I found his coal black and rather dead stare eyes just a little bit frightening.

I seem to think that he was also a silent character but then again if he was an animal he would not be expected to have the power or gift of speech even in that magical wooded realm.

I recently found a few wonderful colour stills from some of the 32 episodes of Pogles Wood that were aired.

See what you think about Tog from these.

He has quite an awkward stance in this action scene of fishing with Pippin as though the material used for his stuffing is rigid and unable to move with any fluency or poise.

Postgate is understandably vague about Tog's pedigree as there are elements of rabbit ears, cat like head, squirrel tail and even kangaroo hind legs.

Although not clearly visible from the angle of this picture those cold, lifeless eyes are chilling.

Pippin, is a happy chappy in contrast which may indicate that he does not yet know he is adopted although there is no doubting that Mr and Mrs Pogle are loving and diligent parents to him.

This next still photo shows Tog as having the claws of a big cat, a little bit oversized to his body.

As for the colouration and arrangement of his fur that is quite unique, unlike any other wild animal I can think of. Tog is a bit like everyone's least favourite soft toy but kept in our imaginary play for some horror value.

I can recommend the exhibition to everyone of my generation.

It is an opportunity to be even more nostalgic although I did, upon returning home afterwards, have to sleep with the bedroom light on for a couple of nights until that stark and scary image of Tog had softened in my imagination.