I got Little Champ a set of alphabet magnets today.
Sounds innocent enough, right? Wrong. First of all, it’s not just letters—it’s pictures, too. And they look really familiar to me, at least the barn/farm, as though I played with them as a child.
There are 26 letters and 26 pictures. I tried to match up the 26 pictures to the 26 letters.
FAIL.
Okay, I must be missing something here, because some of these make no sense. I need your creative help to figure it out!
Here are the ones that I figure are fairly self-explanatory:
Apple, Cow (bovine? heifer?), Dog, Elephant
Ice Cream, Kite, Lion
Octopus (cephalopod? mollusk?), Queen (monarch? royalty?), Robot
Tree (oak? deciduous?), Umbrella, Violin (instrument?)
Whale, Xylophone, Yo-yo, Zebra
(I’ve never been so grateful for the end of an alphabet)
So that leaves me with these letters:
And somehow those are supposed to match up with these images (I assume):
From top, starting at the left.
- Boy, right, run, walk, child, adolescent, male, saunter
- Girl, left, walk, run, skip, female
- Goldfish, fish, sea life
- Bunny, rabbit, hare
- Jet, plane
- Truck, dump truck, vehicle, transportation, garbage truck
- Farm, barn
- Pig, hog, swine
- Car, vehicle, automobile, sedan
Now, if I assume my previous pairings were correct, that leaves the following options:
Boy, right, run, walk, child, adolescent,male,saunter- Girl,
left, walk, run, skip, female - Goldfish, fish, sea life
- Bunny,
rabbit, hare - Jet, plane
Truck, dump truck, vehicle, transportation,garbage truck- Farm, barn
- Pig, hog, swine
Car, vehicle, automobile,sedan
So here’s one possible solution:
- B=Barn
- F=Female
- G=Garbage Truck
- H=Hare
- J=Jet
- M=Male
- N=fish???
- P=Pig
- S=Sedan
Seriously, Sedan? Male and Female? What on earth are these people thinking? Or else, WHAT IS WRONG WITH MY BRAIN. I feel like this shouldn’t be as complicated as it is. Should I not assume that these 26 images correspond to the 26 letters of the alphabet? Because what random set of magnets has a queen, xylophone, whale, and yo-yo?
Please help.
P.S. In case you were wondering, Google has failed me. I can’t find a single set similar to this one. I searched the magnets themselves for a brand name but couldn’t find one. Searched Google and Etsy and Ebay for vintage alphabet magnets, but none show any sets with these plastic images.
I’m guessing they are 1980s based on the car image, and the fact that the barn/farm looks familiar to me.
P.P.S. WHAT THE HECK STARTS WITH N??? I see no nest here, or newt.
diary of a bewildered mother 
Here is the current “solution” with insights from Captain husband:
Apple, BOY, Cow, Dog, Elephant, FARM, GIRL, HARE, Ice cream, JET, Kite, Lion, MAPLE, NISSAN, Octopus, PIG, Queen, Robot, SEA LIFE, TRUCK, Umbrella, Violin, Whale, Xylophone, Yo-yo, Zebra
Yeah, I’m stumped. Is it possible that they are just random pictures that kids would recognize, and aren’t supposed to match with the letters? Just a thought.
It’s definitely possible, but why 26? Nobody in their right mind would make a set of 26. I have to assume there was originally 30 or 32 or something, and we are missing a few, like a nest and a few more cars.
Uggh, too complicated!!
I agree with most of the Captain’s answers (even Nissan!). There wasn’t one picture that started with ‘N’. My only differences were Brother, Sister, and Goldfish. My other version was this: apple, brother, car, dump truck, elephant, farm, goldfish, hog, ice cream, jet, kite, lion, moo, n(somehow for the rabbit?), octopus, puppy, queen, robot, sister, tree, umbrella, violin, whale, xylophone, yo-yo, zebra. Whaddaya think?
Maybe the Robot is really a Nanobot?
I got a kick out of my friend’s thought:
“I seriously just spent ten minutes and am clueless. Some illiterate American idiot designed this thing, and they sent it to be manufactured in China where the workers didn’t know any better. There is no rational solution. And that’s my professional opinion as an educator. ;)”
definitely bewildering! i have no clue!!!