The Guess Who Show Was a Local Favorite

This was the set up for the Guess Who show, which aired on WAVE-TV. The young contestants would watch Fireman Bill draw a cartoon character and as soon as they could identify the character, the child would  press the buzzer on their bike and the light would  go on.  They would then identify the character and accumulate points to win the prizes shown behind them.

A real person dressed up as Thorny the Monkey would pop out of the Thornbury's version of a "jack in the box". That's Fireman Bill with Uncle Ed Kallay who helped emcee the Guess Who show.

Uncle Jim is getting the contestants ready.

Popular Toys at Thornbury's

By the time Thornbury's Toys opened in 1954, Lionel trains had been around for 54 years, Tinker Toys for 40 years, Raggedy Ann for 39, Lincoln Logs for 38, Fisher-Price toys for 24, Monopoly for 21, View-Master for 15, Slinky for nine, Tonka vehicles for seven, Scrabble for six, Clue and Legos for five, and Matchbox cars and Mr. Potato Head for 2 years. Of course, all of these toys and games were still popular when Thornbury's opened its doors and they remained so for many years.

What were some of the most popular toys and games to follow? New arrivals on Thornbury's shelves included Play-Doh in 1955, Yahtzee in 1956, Hula Hoops in 1958, Barbie in 1959, Etch A Sketch in 1960, G.I. Joe in 1964, Twister in 1966, Hot Wheels in 1968, Nerf balls in 1969, Pong in 1974, Star Wars action figures in 1977, and Simon, one of the first electronic games, in 1978. The most popular toys and games Thornbury's stocked thereafter included Pac-Man, Rubik's Cube, Strawberry Shortcake, Masters of the Universe, Trivial Pursuit, Cabbage Patch Kids, and Game Boys.

Source: Kovels' American Collectibles 1900-2000 (2007)

Image sources: Lego, Barbie, Hot Wheels

Queen of Toys

Here is the Queen of Toys!  She is one of many characters that appear on Thorny Bucks. Do you remember them? If you spent $1.00 at Thornbury's Toys, you would receive 2 Thorny Bucks.  You could save them up and then buy a toy of your choice.  The store also would feature "Thorny Buck Specials" so your Thorny dollar would buy more.

Trigger Tom's Favorite Thorny Toys

Trigger Tom is shown in this excerpt from "1964 Thorny Club Official Members Book containing Home-viewers Games on Guess Who! and Toys Sold by Thornbury's Toys"

Rare Video of Thorny

Above is a short --and rare-- video of Thorny. It was uploaded in 2009 to Youtube by "snackcake68" and titled "Thorny the Chimp 1970" and captioned "Birthday party for Thorny the Chimp at the Louisville Zoo, 1970. Thorny was the mascot for Thornberry's Toy Store." Some of the comments posted thus far on Youtube in response to the video are below:

Loney John Hutchins 4 years ago

Hi..... I've been trying to find ANY pictures or video of any mall that had a Thornberriys. So many early childhood memories. A photo of a Barrel of Fun would be amazing as well.

Campbell Evans 3 years ago in reply to Loney John Hutchins

Absolutely. Most of my childhood toys came from Thornberry's in the Turfland Mall, Lexington, KY. You know there must be lots of photos taken of places like that but they haven't been sorted on the internet yet. I wonder if they ever will.

mrsniallhoran628 2 years ago

My great grandpa is actually the owner and founder of Thornburys Toys, we have lots of pictures.

coldbowlofchili 2 years agoin reply to mrsniallhoran628

WOW! I have a friend, Don Noe, who tells us the stories where he dressed up as thorny! could you possibly send some photos of him to me! that would be GREAT! His Uncle owned the store???

coldbowlofchili 2 years ago

WOW! Don Noe our friend used to dress up as thorny! begging for photos or video!

Thornbury's Toys Begins Selling Schwinn Bicycles in 1956

Jerry Thornbury, son of Uncle Jim Thornbury proudly displays a new Schwinn Bicycle.

According to the Schwinn Reporter, January 1958, Thornbury's sold 499 Schwinn bicycles (their first year of selling Schwinn bikes) and substantially more the next year.

Looking For A Model Kit?

Jack Handel as the hobby expert back in the day.

High Fashion

Uncle Jim models the" Thornbury's Toys Tot Tested"  high fashion blazer. (early 60's)

Do You Know The Secret Sign?

T stands for Thornbury's and Thornbury's stands for toys

Looks like that young man knows the secret sign.

Uncle Jim Talking With The Little Ones

Murray bicycles got Thornbury's started

Surprises for everyone on their birthday at Thornbury's Birthday Chest but you had to have a key!  Do you believe that over 10,000 children a year would receive a birthday card from Thornbury's?

Uncle Jim with Thorny, Captain Campbell and Fireman Bill

Uncle Jim feeds Thorny the Monkey at  Thornbury's Toys.

Captain Campbell is poised to help the contestants on the Guess Who show. (late 60's)

Can you guess who Fireman Bill is drawing for the kids on the Guess Who show?

Original location on Breckinridge Lane

Thornbury's Toys original location 117 Breckinridge. (1954)  

Busy Christmas shopping day

Uncle Jim Thornbury and son Thom Thornbury writing things to do list on a busy Christmas shopping day. (Early 60's)   

Opening of First Thornbury's Toys Store in 1954

The Thornbury's Bicycle Shop opens.



Promoter Jim Thornbury gives balloons and toys to all the children.



Grand opening includes giving away a bicycle.

This is the original team, Uncle Jim, his wife Mary and Bob Noe.