A short article in today’s newspaper with the Strong National Museum of Play’s new “inductees” into the National Toy Hall of Fame is a welcome diversion from other more pressing and urgent news events.
I don’t know about you but I was not waiting with bated breath for the list of honorees. Maybe it’s because, unlike the Academy Awards or Emmy Awards, there was never mention of this year’s nominees to build interest and drama.
But, there are three newly enshrined toys to announce today. The Big Wheel. The Game Boy. And, hold your breath on this folks, the BALL! They join 41 other toys which have previously been enshrined.
What amazes me is that it took so long for the ball to find its rightful place. It probably should have been the second thing enshrined. That would be after “the stick” which is already in the Toy Hall of Fame. I mean are you trying to tell me that the Easy Bake Oven, View-Master, hula-hoop or even the cardboard box (all of which are enshrined) are more worthy that the Ball? Seems to me that there’s got to be some “payola” in there somewhere.
The stick! Sure, it’s been a toy since humanoids figured out that they could whomp critters and each other with sticks. That’s got to be the king of toys except for one small problem. Kids don’t play outside anymore. They have virtually no access to sticks. They have no conception of “sticks and stones may break my bones”.
And speaking of which, shouldn’t stones be in there ahead of balls? They were the early prototypes of balls until people evolved enough to figure out that soccer with an inflated animal innard was more fun than kicking the hell out of a rock.
But it still seems to me that there are some gaps to this Hall of Fame. What about “Pick-Up Sitcks”? And, as a child of the 50’s who grew up on such shows as “Davy Crocket” and “The Rifleman” and “Wagon Train” and “Rawhide”, what about the toy pistol? There are no toys like that in the Hall of Fame—except for the stick. Man, I was the happiest kid alive when I got my Matell “Fanner 50” cap pistol with spring loaded plastic bullets for Christmas. Until then, I had always had to use a stick. (Kind of sounds like Ralphie with his Red Ryder BB Gun doesn’t it?) We'd use the Fanner 50 to shoot our Army Men from across the room (and Hey! How come Army Men aren't in the Hall of Fame?).
And you know, life might be more fun if Big Wheels had stuck around longer. I used to love the sound of them as the little hooligans we called our kids would roar up and down the alley behind the house on their Big Wheels for hours on end. It’s just too bad that there were never adult sized Big Wheels—just imagine a 40 year old riding a Big Wheel down the street, or a whole gang of them (take that Sons of Anarchy).
But let’s return to the ball. Think of all the balls in the world. My brother and I would use a baseball until the cover came off and then keep on using it until all the thread eventually unwound. Growing up there were footballs, basketballs, soccer balls, volleyballs, tennis balls, etc.
OK, so now I’m going to make known my official “nominee” for the 2010 class at the Strong National Toy Hall of Fame. It’s a toy the is used by fully 50% of the population of the world from birth to death. Each of that 50% of us checks it multiple times each day to make sure that it’s still there. It’s as comforting to us as a stuffed toy is to a toddler.
Here’s a picture of Al Bundy checking his on national TV (something for which he became famous). Its name, to quote JD on “Scrubs” is “Mr. Peeps”.
And here’s a list of all the toys which have been enshrined in the National Toy Hall of Fame:
Inducted Toys in the National Toy Hall of Fame
To date, the following 44 toys have made it into the National Toy Hall of Fame: Alphabet Blocks
Atari® 2600 Game System
Baby Doll
The Ball
Barbie®
Bicycle
Big Wheel®
Candy Land®
Cardboard Box
Checkers
Crayola® Crayons
Duncan® Yo-Yo
Easy Bake® Oven
Erector® Set
Etch A Sketch®
Frisbee®
G.I. Joe®
Hula Hoop®
Jack-in-the-Box
Jacks
Jigsaw Puzzle
Jump Rope
Kite
LEGO®
Lincoln Logs®
Lionel® Trains
Marbles
Monopoly®
Mr. Potato Head®
Nintendo Game Boy®
Play-Doh®
Radio Flyer® Wagon
Raggedy Ann and Andy™
Rocking Horse
Roller Skates
SCRABBLE®
Silly Putty®
Skateboard
Slinky®
Stick
Teddy Bear
Tinkertoy®
Tonka® Trucks
View-Master®
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thatdamnbob
Squeakin' By
Jeff Brawer
older/exasperated
Chicago Guy
RanchWife
Salon.com
Comments
~rated
R
On the toy guns, I didn't have a fanner 50, but I did have a really cool little snubbie with the 6 shot plastic cap ring.
loved the list
candyland has always been an emotional thing for me, believe it or not. only a few years ago, when I played it again with my grandkids did I see that it was such a silly simple game, but all my life I remembered it differently. you see, as a child I associated it with laurel and hardy's march of the wooden soldiers. candyland and toyland. for a 5 yr old girl, it was like playing in a magic land.
toys. I hope kids still "get" them. I don't know. I don't see my grandkids with the same possessiveness as I had, but then again, I'm not a kid anymore so it's as if the magic door is closed now. only kids can enter. :)
FUN piece!
as for me, i can guarantee that if they made adult big wheels, and adult sit and spins, and adult hoppity hops, i would have one of each. but esPECially the big wheel. there is no greater fun than the big wheel donut.
Nini--thanks for stoping by and commenting
Scanner--as we have discovered, the nerds have inherited the earth.
Andy--slinkies were cool science cleverly disguised as a toy. And those cap guns--I used to love sniffing that whiff of "gun powder" after they popped.
Traveller--sounds like you had a sense for learning how things work. I don't know how to do anything other than break stuff
Bob--the cajones have it!
Lunchlady--I thought the sound of big wheels rumbling would never leave my conscious or sub-conscious mind. It was one of those sounds I associated with "everything is right with the world" when my kids were little. Beware when the rumbling stops--they're up to something.
Nofrills--pick up sticks can be so damn exasperating--but fun. One of the problems with kids and toys today is that virtually everything requires a battery even toys for infants and toddlers which we steadfastly refuse to buy--yet!--for my granddaughter.
Chicago--Man, just thinking about the slinky gets that damn jingle going through my head! "everyone knows it's slinky"
Jane--who says that kids should get all the fun from toys. I think adult sized versions of a lot of those would be a hoot.
R
Jane--I think you're right. FP has so many things but not many of the absolute basics. They tend to take those basics and build something with multiple stimuli and add to the whole experience. I was always pretty partial to Little Tykes with my kids.
Michael--I didn't know about it either until I read a story in today's newspaper. Thanks.
Mary--None of us "play" enough. I would love to have an opportunity to take ball and glove and just go out and throw with soomeone for a half hour or so. I'd love to get down on the floor and build something out of Lincoln Logs and then set up little toy cowboys and horses and cows which I once had by the dozens into a scene from "The Virginian".
Well, there were so many in our childhood it would take days to remember them all.
Monte