I receive a lot of strange looks whenever I tell people that I look forward to the end of summer. Perhaps your face has morphed into such an expression after reading that. But there is logic behind my claim.
It seems to me that the opportunity for play during the autumn and winter months is a bit underrated when compared to the long, bright summer days here in the Northeast. Don’t get me wrong, I agree that the transition to shorter, […]
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Rolling Out the First Driving Game
I’ve admired The Strong’s vintage Drive-Mobile arcade game since the first time I stood in front of it with Martin Reinhardt, the museum’s arcade game conservation technician. It was exciting to see how the first arcade driving game—a popular and enduring genre—actually worked. Martin opened the back of the game for me and demonstrated the mutoscope drum design in action. Early mutoscope machines contained a revolving flipbook on a spindle to create the illusion of a moving image when a […]
“True Hollywood” Toy Stories: Tales of the Games and Toys We Love
When I was an undergraduate, I was obsessed with the television program E! True Hollywood Story. Each week, I took a salacious rollercoaster ride through the ups and downs of a celebrity’s life. Right before each commercial break, the narrator assured me that either the star was about to be saved from his downward spiral or that her glory days were going to come to a screeching halt. I loved the drama and the “truth is stranger than fiction” element […]
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“Down at Fraggle Rock!”
While pursuing my undergraduate degree, I worked as a DJ for the college radio station. One spring semester, I had a timeslot of 2 to 4 p.m. on Friday afternoons. I remember the sun often shining, and everyone being in a good mood as they prepared for the weekend. That’s when I started a tradition of always ending my slot with the theme to the television show Fraggle Rock. The lyrics begin with “Dance your cares away, worries for another […]
Fun at the Drive-In
My favorite artifact in America at Play, an exhibit that opened on The Strong’s second floor in December 2016, isn’t the oldest, the biggest, or the showiest. But it’s one that transports me to another place and time. Which artifact has such magical powers? It’s the Remco Movieland Drive-In Theater play set from 1959. Today, drive-in movie theaters are almost unheard of, but the few that remain are considered a treasure. However, they weren’t always rare and exceptional.
In the 1960s, […]
But We Play It Like This: House Rules for Games
Here’s a fun experiment: suggest playing a game of Monopoly and predict the responses you’ll receive. More often than not, you’ll be hit with an audible groan and the familiar refrain of “Has anyone ever actually finished a game of Monopoly?” Admittedly, I used to be anti-Monopoly myself. (During high school, my friend Meg and I maintained an in-progress game of Monopoly in her mom’s basement for more than two years before finally giving up.) Then, while processing the Philip […]
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Have You Hugged a Troll Doll Lately?
I first encountered troll dolls in the mid-1970s. My younger sister had one that she loved greatly and played with all the time. In fact, she played with her troll doll (named “Sloppy Joe Head”) so much that eventually all of his hair fell out and his felt clothes were torn to shreds. When we moved to a larger house in 1976, somehow Sloppy Joe Head was lost forever. Forty years later, my sister still mourns his loss. But when […]
Rare! Weird! Collectible! A Great Donation of Board Games
The Strong’s board game collection is unique in all the world. Unlike specialized collectors, the museum thinks broadly about what it acquires, striving to represent both ancient and modern examples, simple games and complex ones, and extremely typical editions and rare versions for the varieties of play they represent, as well as the cultures that inspired them. So I was delighted earlier this year when Don Lyon of Binghamton, New York, offered the museum the opportunity to select from his […]
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From Tall to Small: The Lure of Exotic Animals
Having grown up with dogs, cats, a rabbit, and the occasional fish or two, naturally I consider myself an animal lover. Like many folks who fall into this category, my love of creatures is not limited to domestic varieties, but extends well beyond to animals of sea, sky, and land, particularly exotic animals such as giraffes and elephants. When I planned my outdoor wedding, I mused how fabulous it would be to have a giraffe meandering about the large, wooded […]
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