The Japanese culture of kawaii—loosely meaning cute—emerged in the 1970s when teenage girls with extra money began to favor adorable accoutrements inspired by artists like Moto Hagio and Keiko Takemiya. More recently, Americans have also embraced the style. Kids collect figures like Totoro and Gudetama the Lazy Egg, play with doe-eyed fashion dolls, and use whimsical school supplies like Keroppi pencil cases. While these peachy keen aesthetics are pleasing to the eye, some argue that understanding Kawaii is not as […]
Madame Alexander: Feminism in the Doll Industry
Born in 1895, Bertha (Beatrice) Alexander Behrman grew up living above her stepfather’s doll hospital at 405 Grand Street on New York’s Lower East Side. Dolls at that time were made of china and broke easily, so her family kept busy repairing dolls for wealthy clients. Beatrice worked in the shop and, at the age of 11, realized that she wanted to live like their customers. Reflecting later on that determination, she noted, “I wanted to have a […]
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Revved Up and Ready to Roll: Manual-Powered Ride-On Toys
Ride-on toys, or kiddie cars, first appeared on the paved sidewalks and driveways of America in the early 20th century. Over the years, ride-ons have included cars, trucks, tractors, grasshoppers, worms, sneakers, you name it. Whatever their era or style, ride-on vehicles provide kids with a sense of independence and adventure, while also cultivating physical and mental skills.
The earliest ride-ons depicted animals such as swans and horses. The examples made around World War I often reflected the patriotism […]
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Charles Harrison: The Black Industrial Designer Who Revamped View-Master
Born in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1931, Charles Harrison spent his childhood playing with model airplanes and Erector sets. His father taught industrial arts and his mother decorated the home with a keen eye for design. Inspired by his parents, Harrison built different structures and mechanisms to make his toys move and lift. In an interview with Smithsonian Magazine, Harrison recalled, “I built a boat once—took it out to the pond, put it in there and it sank with […]
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Baby Nancy Inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame
It all began following the 1965 Watts Riots in Los Angeles, California. Louis S. Smith, II and Robert Hall worked with civil rights activists and community members to form Operation Bootstrap, a cooperative that sought to rebuild the community and provide jobs for its residents. Operation Bootstrap’s neighbor, Mattel, was impressed by its success. In 1968, Smith and Hall met with Mattel leadership. The makers of Barbie wanted to support Bootstrap’s initiative and offered to back a toy […]
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Extra, Extra: Read All About Newspapers and Play
For more than a century, the newspaper trade has had to determine creative ways to prevent a decrease in circulation and to find new subscribers. In the late 1800s, the Sunday edition of newspapers began to carry art supplements, which included parlor prints and toys for kids to cut out and assemble. Art supplements proved an innovative way to build an audience—each week parents read about the next must-have paper toys in the following week’s newspaper.
Some companies used […]
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Skater Girls: A Brief History of Female Skateboarders
In 1959, Roller Derby Skate Company released its Roller Derby Skateboard, the first mass-produced skateboard to hit the marketplace. Skateboarders found it easy to recreate the design at home—they used cut-out sheets of plywood and attached repurposed wheels. Hermosa, California saw the first skateboarding contest in 1963 and the sport quickly emerged as a popular activity. Stories of the origins of skateboarding often center around teenage boys in Southern California, while many of the female pioneers are overlooked. […]
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Fabrics and Findings
Today, with the plethora of home improvement shows and lifestyle blogs, many of us want to create stylish rooms, but we do not always have the necessary resources to revamp our living spaces. While many of us are still practicing the art of social distancing, it might be fun to pull old catalogs from the bin, collect some scraps of fabric or textured paper, and grab an old notebook to make into scrapbook doll house.
At the end of the 19th […]
Life in Plastic: It’s Not Just Barbie
Like many Americans, I have been home with my children 24/7 for nearly six weeks. The experience has become an independent study for my job as a curator responsible for toys and dolls. I see how my kids interact with their toys and dolls and reflect on what these playthings teach my children. Adding to the mix, my mom has also started to drop off boxes of my childhood playthings, including a bin of Barbie dolls.
Barbie has generated criticism since […]
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