During the war years form the time of Harry's party until the summer of '46, when I was next able to get my hands on some rubber balloons, I enhanced my self stimulation by recalling all the balloon play fun on Friday nights with my father as well as the few birthday parties I had attended where there had been balloon fun and games. As I later found out, things were not going well between my parents, and my dad and mom had started going out Saturday nights on a regular basis; I guess to try to patch over their problems. I was 11 at the time and mother insisted that I should have a baby sitter. The high school girl that had the job was a doll and was really great at drawing, playing games (no not that kind), and keeping me entertained.

In early July the fireman in the neighboring town were having their fund raising carnival and the baby sitter called and asked mom if it would be all right if she took me to the carnival if we didn't stay too late. She showed up at the usual time along with her dad who was providing the transportation. We didn't get to the carnival until about 9 o'clock at which time it was about half over for the night. Her dad disappeared leaving her with instructions we were to meet him at 10:30 in the parking area. The two of us made a quick pass around the carnival to see what games, concessions, entertainment they had. And then I saw it. A concession stand where a guy was selling all sorts of gee gaws, kewpy dolls, and BALLOONS! He had both balloons on a stick as well as Helium balloons on strings. Mom had given me a dollar to spend for refreshments and I quickly saw that I wouldn't be getting too many balloons because his prices were outrageous; $.25 for stick balloons and $.35 for the Helium. This might not seem like much, but in today's money that's roughly equivalent to $2.50 and $3.50 respectively.

It didn't take long to discover why she wanted to take me to the carnival. Within five minutes we ran into her boyfriend, and I was essentially left on my own. Since I didn't really feel like paying inflated prices for the concessionaires inflated toys, I blew $.40 on a big juicy hamburger and a large box of fries. As I wandered around the carnival grounds I couldn't keep my eyes off those balloons. I also noticed he wasn't selling very many.

After what seemed an age, my baby sitter caught up with me and said it was time to leave. Since I still had $.60 left I said, "Wait a minute, I want to get a couple of balloons."

When I got to his stand I was surprised that he only had two yellow stick balloons left. I'm sure the guy had seen me hanging around and eyeing up his stand for the past hour and a half because he acted as if he was expecting me. I don't know why, unless it was because I couldn't believe his posted price, but I asked him how much he wanted for the stick balloons. He replied, "Look kid, I'll give you a deal; $.25 for both of them."

Such a bargain. So I arrived home with two fairly soft balloons that had obviously been inflated for several hours in the evening air. They both exhibited that luscious latex smell and just their fragrance after nearly four years absence from my life was enough to get me aroused as I rode in the car. I stuck the balloon sticks in an empty Coke bottle and put them on the windowsill of my room.

The next morning mother asked me about the balloons and how the carnival was. I told her what a good deal I had gotten; two for one. Then she said, "I hope you are not going to be silly with your balloons. If you are I will take them away from you and destroy them. I don't want you sleeping or playing with them in your bed. Do you understand."

I indicated there would be no problem; and I went out to play. Just knowing there were balloons in my room and the faint sweet smell of the rubber would provide plenty of added stimulation for my bedtime post tuck-in exercise.

Mother was aware that the Friday night balloon play I had had with my father before the war had caused me to get sexually aroused. The fact that I was always wearing short pants, as a proper six year old should, enhanced his encouragement that I engage in a good deal of rubber skin contact in the process of busting my playthings. On occasions he actually popped balloons on my bare upturned knees when I was lying on the floor in front of him.

The next day I was at a friend's house all afternoon and although I was having fun I couldn't keep my mind off those sweet smelling yellow balloons in my room. I got home a little before the dinner hour and raced to my room. Horrors, one of the balloons was gone. I quickly found that it had burst. The stick with a nub of yellow rubber was still in the bottle and two large pieces of torn rubber were lying on the floor. It must have popped by itself. If mom had busted it she would have gotten rid of both of them and wouldn't have left the rubber, that she knew I liked to smell, lying around.

As we were finishing up dinner we heard a muffled poof from the direction of my room. Dad and I went in to check it out thinking our cat may have knocked something onto the floor. As I entered the room I saw that the second balloon was gone. It had popped also. I was heartbroken; I hadn't really had any chance to enjoy my rubber toys. I asked dad why balloons would just break all by themselves because I had only ever been around balloons that burst when they were deliberately destroyed or abused by rough play. Dad indicated he thought the sunlight streaming through the window had deteriorated the rubber and that was what caused them to break. I know now that he was right, and since that time I am always careful to keep both inflated as well as uninflated balloons away from direct sunlight.

It was obvious balloons had become available again since the end of the war so I started checking our local five and dime store's toy department on a regular basis. For some reason, although they carried a lot of inexpensive toys, I never found any balloons for sale there until several years later. It would be another year until after my parents split and dad and I moved out to the country before I would find available balloons to buy.   Revision Date 9/02
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