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What’s under the tree? Toys have brought different kinds of fun over the decades

7 min read
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Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

For decades, children have been delighted to wake up on Christmas morning to find Fisher Price toys under the tree. Here is a Fisher Price Family Play Village, circa 1970s.

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Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

For decades, Fisher Price has been making toys that have delighted children on Christmas morning. Here is a Fisher Price Play Family Village, circa 1970s.

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Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

Ringamajigs is a stackable toy that children in the 1960s found under their tree.

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Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

Ringamajigs is a circa 1960s stackable toy that children once found under the Christmas tree.

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Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

American Girl Doll was inducted this year into the National Toy Hall of Fame at the Strong National Museum of Play. Samantha Covington was one of three original dolls representing an era of America’s past. Each doll included a book, and was dressed in clothing and accessories that depicted a time in American history.

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Courtesy of Kathy McCullough-Cameron

Kathy McCullough-Cameron was delighted with a blue wagon she received for Christmas. Cameron also enjoyed the pink kitchen playset Santa left under the tree.

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Courtesy of Debbie Kehn Betters

For Christmas one year during the 1950s, Debbie Kehn Betters of Hickory, right, and her sister, Joy Kehn DallaPiazza, were happy to receive Fancee dolls.

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Courtesy of Laural Ziemba

Laural Ziemba received a Cabbage Patch Kid for Christmas in 1983. Each doll came with adoption papers, and Cabbage Patch Kids were the hottest toy of the year.

One Christmas morning in the 1960s, Kathy McCullough-Cameron woke up to discover a pink cardboard kitchen play set under the Christmas tree.

But her favorite gift that year was a blue wagon.

“The blue wagon was what I remember the most, and the gift I used the most. My brother and I both got one, and I have many memories of us riding our wagons down Orchard Terrace (in Washington), and we had to crash or dump it before we hit the road,” recalled McCullough-Cameron.

Cameron’s blue wagon is decidedly low-tech compared to the advanced, high-tech playthings that are at the top of children’s Christmas wish lists today.

But Shane Rhinewald, senior director of public relations for the Strong National Museum of Play, which houses the National Toy Hall of Fame, notes that amid the trendy toys under the Christmas tree this year will be old-school toys like Legos, Play-Doh and Barbie dolls.

“There are toys that are a hit for one or two years, that briefly dominate the landscape at Christmas, and then there are the classics like Clue, Monopoly, and Lego that, more than 50 years later, are still going strong,” said Rhinewald. “They’re the top sellers, the perennial favorites that have had decades of staying power.”

With Christmas around the corner, here’s a look at some of the most popular toys over the last century that have found their way under the Christmas tree, into the hearts of children – and, in many cases, into the National Toy Hall of Fame.

In the 1920s, yo-yos became quite the rage. Pedro Flores, a Filipino immigrant working as a bellhop at a California hotel, delighted guests with his skills on the yo-yo – which means “come come” in his native language. Yo-yos went mainstream when Donald F. Duncan, founder of the Good Humor ice cream bar franchise, launched a nationwide marketing campaign that featured yo-yo demonstrations and competitions.

In 1934, Pennsylvanian Charles Darrow modified a board game called The Landlord’s Game into Monopoly, the most popular board game in history. The inventor of The Landlord’s Game, game designer Lizzie Magie, only received $500 for her version. In 1935, the Parker Brothers bought the rights to Monopoly, after Milton Bradley initially rejected the game.

Another toy that launched in the 1930s was the Red Ryder BB gun, whose popularity was further heightened by the classic film “A Christmas Story.”

In the knick of time for Christmas in 1945, mechanical engineer Richard James introduced the world to the Slinky. James created the toy after he accidentally knocked over ship springs he was a working on, and they “walked.”

James held demonstrations at Gimbels Department Store in Philadelphia during the Christmas season, and the first 400 Slinkys sold within minutes. It’s harder to get a Slinky to walk down the steps than it looks, but more than 300 million have been sold over the decades.

In 1949, Danish carpenter Ole Christiansen created a set of interlocking red-and-white bricks called Lego – “leg godt” means “play well” in Danish.

“Lego is so universal, it’s such a great toy,” said Rhinewald of the toy that has been named Toy of the Century. “At the time, it was innovative, but there’s also something so simple and so basic about it. It just works, and kids have loved to build Legos generation after generation.”

Each piece is compatible with all other pieces, so a Lego brick from 1949 will interlock with a brick from 2021.

And, fun fact, there are actually enough Lego bricks to stack from the Earth to the moon at least 10 times.

The 1950s might be considered the Golden Age of toys, as Barbie, Mr. Potato Head, Play-Doh – originally a putty used to clean off wallpaper – and hula hoops were introduced.

“Barbie, especially, continues to reinvent herself,” said Rhinewald.

Indeed, over the years, Barbie has held more than 75 jobs, including a dentist, a paleontologist, a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot and a World Cup soccer athlete.

The 1960s were highlighted by the G.I. Joe, Etch-a-Sketch, and Easy Bake Oven.

In the 1970s, Star Wars action figures were the most coveted toy.

“I don’t think anyone anticipated how hugely successful “Star Wars” the movie was going to be,” said Rhinewald, noting that by Christmas of 1977, toy company, Kenner, hadn’t even begun to produce the movie-related action figures, so children got vouchers under the tree that they could redeem for the action figures.

In 1983, Cabbage Patch mania swept the nation.

Laural Ziemba of Cecil Township recalls waking up on Christmas morning to find a Cabbage Patch doll named, Lynette, under the tree.

“She was the most enchanting thing I’d ever seen. Her head smelled like baby powder and she arrived in a delicate pink terry cloth onesie, and I just couldn’t get enough of her,” said Ziemba. “She was the most magical toy I’d ever received, and I’ll remember that morning always.”

So does her mother, Barbara Gibbs, who frantically searched everywhere for a Cabbage Patch doll before she finally bought one, two days before Christmas, from a woman who had purchased a few from a Children’s Palace store and was selling them.

“It felt like a covert operation,” said Gibbs, who met the seller off of an exit near Century 3 Mall. “It got down to the deadline, and there was great pressure to get one. Laural loved her doll.”

Other notable toys launched in the 1980s were the Rubik’s cube and Koosh balls.

Among the popular toys of the 1990s were Tickle Me Elmo and Beanie Babies.

Much like the craze caused by Cabbage Patch Kids, the search for Tickle Me Elmo – who giggled and said, “Oh boy, that tickles!” when squeezed – resulted in mayhem in stores.

“People were literally fighting in stores, camping out overnight or in long lines to get a Tickle Me Elmo,” said Rhinewald. “That’s what happens when dolls are perceived to be scarce, when there appears to be less supply and more demand. It’s one of the factors in what makes something the ‘hot toy.'”

Other toys introduced in the 1990s were Furby and Nintendo Gameboy, the handheld gaming system that, Rhinewald said, was a game changer because it made gaming portable – and gave kids something to do in the back seat of the car.

The 2000s saw the invention of the Nintendo Wii, and brought us Razor scooters, Bratz dolls and Webkinz, while the 2010s introduced kids to LeapPad Explorers and Hatchimals.

Dean Helfer Jr., owner of Channel Craft, a Charleroi company that manufactures wooden toys, puzzles and games, said there is room for technology, but simple, well-crafted toys and games will endure.

Games and toys provide opportunities for families and friends to connect and make memories, Helfer said.

“Interactive means having a social experience. It means engaging with family and friends, that’s why games and toys are important,” he said. “Time is valuable, and everybody wants to spend the best quality time with family and friends, that’s what it’s all about. Good toys and games let you do that.”

Ninety-seven-year-old Ed Higinbotham of Georges Township, Fayette County, recently made and donated more than 450 wooden trucks and tractors for children for Christmas – something he’s done for nearly three decades – and his daughter, Sherrie Higinbotham-Butchko, said children and adults are delighted by the simple wooden vehicles, which spark creativity and imagination.

“You don’t have to be a computer programmer to know how to play with a truck,” she said. “There is no age limit. Everyone can enjoy them.”

McCullough-Cameron said she kept her children’s toys – matchboxes, Ninja turtles, Legos – after they were grown, and her husband still his some of his childhood toys. Their seven grandchildren enjoy playing with those toys.

“My 11-year-old grandson plays a lot of video games, but we like to play Scrabble together. We can play for an hour or two, and it’s a game we both enjoy,” said McCullough-Cameron. “There’s something appealing about a low-tech game.”

And, no batteries, or charging, are required.

For more information on the National Toy Hall of Fame and the 77 toys and games inducted, visit the website at www.museumofplay.org.

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