Up until the 20th century, children's play was not a subject that
demanded much attention. While objects that entertained children have
been present from ancient history, it was only with industrial mass
production--and a developing urban middle class--that toys appeared more
frequently. As playthings began to display a robust economic
performance, an industry rose to provide this new market with the
objects of their desire. European manufacturers dominated the toy
market, with Germany, in particular, supplying the American market with
the bulk of both singular and mass-produced products. World War I ended
its dominance, and by the 1920s, bolstered by American ingenuity and an
ever-growing consumer culture supported by the media empires of
newspapers, radio, and television, American toys became ubiquitous in
the consumer market.
Ranging from the simple to the complex, children were inundated with a
commodity to be wished for and sold to by the millions. From frilly
dolls to science sets, children were marketed to with gusto, first
through magazines and comic books and later through television. Toys
fell along familiar gender lines all while being developed with the
unspoken subtext of stimulating developing minds and being vehicles of
problem solving with educational value.
If the first part of the 20th century represented the rise of toys in
America, the postwar period signaled a market unleashed by the baby
boom. That one event gained traction for the toy industry and propelled
it to its current state. Unforeseen was the next chapter in the
industry--the advancement of the technical revolution--which would
create another dimension of toy products that would captivate both
children and adults as one century blended into the next.
In the world of toy production, the multimillion dollar industry took
the advertising of its product seriously, and toy manufacturers
inundated customers with their latest product via trade journals. In New
York City, the hub of the toy industry for most of the 20th century,
annual trade shows introduced a deluge of new playthings to the buying
public. Frisbees, board games, baseball mitts, Hula-Hoops, air rifles,
video games, dolls, and miniature trains were all served up to
generations of children, cementing forever the memories of playtime.
Filled with a Santa's sack full of surprises, Toys. 100 Years of
All-American Toy Ads takes us down the aisles of America's toy stores
delivering the favorites and forgotten memories of toys that were hugged
and hoarded, saved and disposed of, and now finally brought back in
their pristine glory. Once again it's Christmas, your birthday, and a
reward for a job well-done.
