One of the great things about kids’ imaginations is their capacity to magically turn one thing into another as part of their play. A big empty cardboard box becomes a spaceship. A group of dolls and stuffed animals becomes the students in a classroom. A cluster of marbles rolling across the carpet becomes a herd of horses, evading the cowpuncher who wants to round them up and train them. In a child’s mind, anything is possible, and transformations can happen […]

Continue Reading about It’s Transformational: Transformers Enter the National Toy Hall of Fame Published on:
November 14, 2024

Among the treasures in The Strong Museum’s National Archives of Game Show History is the original flip-dot display used on Family Feud when it made its debut in 1976. So what’s the story behind the sign?

It all starts with Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, the undisputed kings of TV game shows. Their success started in 1946 with programs including What’s My Line?  and their influence continues on television today. One of their shows, Match Game, enjoyed a successful run from […]

Continue Reading about Reviving the Family Feud Sign Published on:
September 6, 2024

I was born into a game-playing family. While we spent plenty of evenings watching television, to truly socialize with family members, we turned to tabletop games. Whether our choice was a card game, a board game, or something in the broader games category—Boggle, Stadium Checkers, or Cootie, as examples—games made a favorite way to be entertained and engage with one another.
Whether it was genetic or environmental, playing games went beyond my parents to their parents as well. (I never thought […]

Continue Reading about Let’s Play!—From Rook to D&D Published on:
June 13, 2023

One of the highlights for me in the summer of 2022 involved traveling to Los Angeles on behalf of the National Archives of Game Show History, The Strong’s initiative to preserve the story of that significant piece of American popular culture. Through the incredible connections of Bob Boden, one of the co-founders of the archives, while I was in L.A. I had the opportunity to attend the filming of an episode of The Price Is Right. While I didn’t get […]

Continue Reading about The Price Is Definitely Right Published on:
November 22, 2022

On November 10, 2022, the top was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame along with Lite-Brite and Masters of the Universe. In the runup to the induction, the primary comment I heard about the top ran along the lines of, “What?! You mean the top isn’t already in the Hall of Fame?” That reaction underscores just how universal and timeless the top feels even to people in our highly technological era. It’s definitely a toy with a lengthy […]

Continue Reading about The Top of Its Class Published on:
November 11, 2022

Every year, The Strong receives thousands of nominations for toys that people believe—or, more accurately, KNOW—should be inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame. Most years, the number of nominations hovers in the 4,000–6,000 range. But in 2021, more than 55,000 nominations poured into the museum. Was it just that people working from home with fewer outlets for their attention found themselves with more time to advocate for their favorite toys and games? Maybe. But ever since The Strong […]

Continue Reading about Let Me In! Published on:
February 24, 2022

Sand may not be running through my veins, but it’s definitely been a significant part of my life for decades. One of my earliest childhood memories involves playing in the backyard sandbox that my dad built. The sandbox wasn’t huge and its wooden construction wasn’t anything fancy, but I spent hours playing in it. Being a kid who loved toy cars, my Tootsie Toy and Matchbox vehicles regularly maneuvered through that miniature sandy landscape and probably spent more than a […]

Continue Reading about True Grit Published on:
November 11, 2021

When it comes to important symbols of the United States that encapsulate our national aspirations to stand for values such as democracy, freedom, and inclusion, the Statue of Liberty might be at the top of the list. Ever since her inauguration in 1886, she has lifted her torch above New York Harbor, serving as a beacon for countless immigrants. Movingly, Emma Lazarus’s poem “The New Colossus” evokes the sense of welcome that the Statue of Liberty represents and concludes, “Send […]

Continue Reading about Liberty’s Lighter Side Published on:
July 8, 2021

When I was growing up and my sister and I got together with our favorite cousins, there was hardly anything we liked better than putting on a show for the grown-ups. As I recall, the five of us kids would descend to our basement rec room where we’d cook up a script, cast the parts, devise costumes from the dress-up box, and practice our dramatic extravaganza. Meanwhile, I suspect our parents were upstairs rolling their eyes and bracing […]

Continue Reading about Let’s Put on a Show! Published on:
December 3, 2020