People at Play Archive

“Everything comes back into style if you wait long enough.”
The first time I heard this phrase was in my early teens from my mother. At the time, I was obsessed with flared jeans, a trend directly inspired by bell bottoms of the 1960s. Upon hearing my mom’s words, I—like most teens—was absolutely certain she had no idea what she was talking about but kept that thought to myself. Now as an adult, I’ve come to that startling realization many of […]

Continue Reading about Out with the Old and in with the… Older? Published on:
July 15, 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

By 1980, Jerry Lawson was ready for a change. The 40-year-old electrical engineer had spent most of the 1970s working for Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation in Silicon Valley. In 1976, he led a team of talented engineers who took an Alpex Computer Corporation prototype and developed it into the Fairchild Channel F, the first home video game console to use interchangeable game cartridges. Although revolutionary in concept, the Channel F was quickly eclipsed by another cartridge-based console […]

Continue Reading about Jerry Lawson, Video Soft, and the History of the First Black-Owned Video Game Development Company Published on:
June 24, 2021

One of the great challenges for play scholars or anyone thinking seriously about play is discerning when something is playful and when it is not. As circumstances change, boundaries shift, or meanings alter, the same action may be playful or not be playful, the same object may be a plaything or not a plaything. Play can be an elusive quarry, just when we think we have it pinned down it escapes our grasp, and when we may not even […]

Continue Reading about Play Adores a Vacuum Published on:
June 17, 2021

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 […]

Continue Reading about Aww, That’s So Cute Published on:
June 10, 2021

Krystal Starke
2021 G. Rollie Adams Research Fellow 
PhD Student at The State University of New York at Buffalo
I came to The Strong with an open-ended mission: to soak up everything I could surrounding my research interests in early childhood autism and play as part of my dissertation research. Fortunately, The Strong’s Brian Sutton-Smith Library and Archives of Play is filled with rich secondary materials that provided a lens to understand the primary sources within the museum’s collections in a new way.
I […]

Continue Reading about Little People, Big Hopes: Exploring a Potential Play Intervention for Early Childhood Autism Published on:
June 3, 2021

Recent home repair and renovation has made me wonder: is demolition play? On the surface it may not be terribly playful but, if we use our metaphorical sledgehammers to break through the surface and dig a little deeper, we might think about the concept a bit differently.
Most folks associate the word demolition with destruction and damage. What they may not consider is the enthusiasm and excitement that spectators or participants often experience during the process. For instance, demolition […]

Continue Reading about Demo Day Play? Published on:
May 27, 2021

StarCraft (1998)
Released in March 1998, StarCraft was more than just “World of Warcraft in space.” The game added a new twist to a real-time strategy formula while leading a revolution in multiplayer gaming. Set in the 25th century, StarCraft’s campaign follows the Terrans, humans who have been exiled from Earth, as they colonize the far reaches of the Milky Way galaxy. StarCraft utilized Blizzard’s online service Battle.net, one of the first online services to connect players across different […]

Continue Reading about Where in the World Is… StarCraft?: The Final Two Members of the World Video Game Hall of Fame Class of 2021 Published on:
May 20, 2021

Welcome two new inductees into The Strong’s World Video Game Hall of Fame: Animal Crossing and Microsoft Flight Simulator. We recognize individual electronic games of all types—arcade, console, computer, handheld, and mobile—that enjoy popularity over a sustained period and exert influence on the video game industry or on popular culture and society. These two games join Starcraft and Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? to complete our 2021 class.
On the surface, Animal Crossing and Microsoft Flight Simulator […]

Continue Reading about 2021 World Video Game Hall of Fame Spotlight: Animal Crossing and Microsoft Flight Simulator Published on:
May 13, 2021