Note the Fisher Price Mrs Moo Cow partially hidden behind the wagon. We gave our young daughter one of these for Christmas in 1958

It's a Marx train, for sure, but it's running on Lionel O gauge track. One might speculate that Dad has the Lionel rolling stock stashed away somewhere, waiting for the boys to grow up a bit. At their age the smaller, lighter Marx equipment would seem more user friendly.

We had a green couch also. However my mother covered it with rugged clear plastic covers that she bought from the same upholsterer. They only came off only when we had company.

That little train is a Louis Marx train. Although Marx was an inexpensive alternative to Lionel, they do enjoy a small following in the collector's market today. They don't command much money but they are an interesting toy. They were far more diverse and eclectic than Lionel too. Anybody remember the Marx play sets of the '50's and '60's like "Fort Apache", or the "Knights and castle" set?
Oh, and the metal airplane looks like a "Brewster Buffalo" to me. The Buffalo was a short lived fighter at the outbreak of WW2.
I'd take any of these toys. They are a great reminder of how something so simple could keep your imagination going all day. Yesterday my Grand Nieces, all under 7, had brand new tablets under the tree. But still, in the end, they spent a good portion of the day in my back yard playing with an old football. That made me happy.

Is the boy standing wearing pants or an oversized piece of wrapping paper? Perhaps he got excited while unwrapping the toys, that he inadvertently created a new fashion style.

I want the table. Who'd have thought back then that this simple table would be considered "retro heaven" to some of us in 2012?

around the Christmas tree emerging from the hot air duct on the wall.

My mother used to make slipcovers for our upholstered furniture. She had red tones for winter to make the living room look warmer and blue covers for the summers when it was hot. Twice a year she changed them, every year. Don't know if their mother made it, like mine, or if she bought it. But the green couch of 1959 is the same couch as the pink one the year before.