It was a sunny August day when the Strong curators rolled into the little town of Arcola, Illinois. Dominated by its towering grain elevator and surrounded by endless fields of corn and soy beans, Arcola is the birthplace of Johnny Gruelle, the artist and author best known for creating Raggedy Ann & Raggedy Andy. Our destination? The Raggedy Ann & Andy Museum, of course.
Founded a decade ago by Johnny Gruelle’s granddaughter Joni and her husband, Tom Wannamaker, the Raggedy Ann […]
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Play’s the Thing—Really
Some years ago, I watched Maggie Jane, my four-year-old niece, play with a few of her toys. She was seated on the living room floor, surrounded by talking adults who occasionally directed questions to Maggie about things like her preschool and her swimming lessons. Maggie respectfully answered their questions, but she was clearly engrossed in playing with her Barbie dolls and the plastic giraffes from a zoo play set. She had paired them—one doll with one giraffe—and made up stories […]
So Many Careers, So Little Time
Since March marks both Women’s History Month and Barbie’s official 50th birthday, it seemed like the perfect time to combine the two and talk about Barbie’s many careers.
It’s a common assumption among people who follow societal trends that the average person has about five career changes in a lifetime. Barbie, however, definitely skews the data. Although she was originally designed and marketed as a teenage fashion model, Barbie has moved far beyond the catwalk. In the wake of the women’s movement of the 1960s and 1970s, Mattel began […]
Calling all Barbie Play Sets!
Feeling nostalgic for your old Barbie dolls? Well, 2009 is the year for you because Barbie is turning 50! Barbie sure doesn’t show her age (we should all be so lucky), even though she’ll be old enough to qualify for an AARP card. And Barbie certainly hasn’t lost her taste for fun over the years. There’ll be Barbie fashions and Barbie reissues in 2009, just for a start. And, of course, Strong National Museum of Play is planning an exhibit and celebratory programming in her honor. After all, […]