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Archive for the ‘Toys’ Category
Toys have been around about as long as children have been around. A board game that may have been the ancestor to checkers was played in 4000 B.C. in Babylonia. Around 1000 B.C., kites began appearing in China, attracting both children and adults. In the 17th century, doll houses became all the rage, but not for children, but for society ladies with lots of money. It wasn’t until the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th and early 19th centuries that toys for children began to be mass-produced in Britain.
One of the most sought-after toys under the Christmas tree even today is the talking doll. This popular toy was invented in the 1820’s by Johann Maelzel but was improved and popularized by Thomas Edison when he integrated his new phonograph technology with dolls. Today, dolls can speak, sing, laugh, "eat", walk, and even go potty.
For boys, the toy at the top of Christmas wish lists for the past hundred years has been the toy train. In 1901, store owner Joshua Lionel Cowen built a battery-operated train engine to advertise product in his display window. Cowen was surprised when customers began asking to buy the train rather than the product it was advertising. This was the birth of Lionel Trains.
The most famous toy of all time is arguably the teddy bear. This favorite stuffed animal got its start with a political cartoon. President Theodore ("Teddy") Roosevelt had travelled to Mississippi to help settle a border dispute with neighboring Louisiana. His hosts decided to take him bear hunting, but after a day of no success, someone finally captured a bear and offered it to Roosevelt to shoot. Roosevelt declined, refusing to shoot a helpless animal. Cartoonist Clifford Berryman captured the incident in a now-famous cartoon showing Roosevelt and a little bear cub on a leash. In New York, Morris and Rose Michtom designed an upright stuffed bear resembling the Berryman cartoon and placed it in the window of their confectionary store. They called it "Teddy’s Bear". The bear was an immediate hit and the Michtoms founded the first teddy bear manufacturing company in the United States.
The 1940’s and 50’s saw the rise of mega toy companies like Milton Bradley, Parker Brothers and Hasbro. The marketing reach of these companies was unprecedented and the sale of children’s toys went into overdrive. Toys created during that period that are still popular today include Mr. Potato Head, Candy Land, and Silly Putty.
One of the best-selling toys of all time is the Barbie doll, brought to market in 1959 by Elliot and Ruth Handler, the founders of Mattel Toys. The Handlers realized that most dolls at that point in time were representations of babies and children and that there might be a market for adult dolls with occupations and hobbies (and, of course, a very cool travel trailer). Barbie dolls were wildly successful, aided by a strong television advertising campaign. Today, Mattel estimates that over a billion Barbies have been sold worldwide and that a Barbie sells every three seconds.
Toys will continue to be popular as long as there are children and adults with a sense of fun and play. Toys themselves may change, but the themes of imagination and exploration are timeless.