My current book project looks at Orientalism in American toy culture at the turn from the late 19th to the early 20th centuries. Its primary objects of analysis are Japanese dolls, imports from Japan that were often imagined as Japanese American immigrants by the children who played with them. However, in researching this topic, I soon came upon another, much stranger artifact of interest: a toy called the Billiken doll. At first, this doll struck me as profoundly bizarre. It […]
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The Laserdisc Playland: Atari’s Lost Arcade Game
By Andrew Borman
When Ars Technica journalist Matt Paprocki discovered a lost Atari laserdisc title Playland, I decided to dive into the Atari Coin-Op Division corporate records at The Strong to see if we could learn more about the game, and who worked on it.
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Randomly Generated Artifact: 106.387
I usually write blogs because I’m interested in a subject. Perhaps it’s a new collection that came into The Strong museum, such as when we preserved the Skylanders collection or a new group of materials arrived from the estate of Ralph Baer. Or sometimes it’s a subject that piques my interest because it’s in the news but I also think that there’s a larger historical context that is being missed—that’s why I wrote about how violence is an inherent part […]
Pinball Playfields: A Flippin’ Good Time
Pinball is a game that dates back nearly a century, with many companies in the industry rising and falling and designers creating icons of the ever-evolving superstar of non-digital gaming. The Strong museum’s Pinball Playfields exhibit showcases some of the finest machines that the industry has ever seen and, while this is by no means a complete collection, there’s no doubt that these machines are icons in their own right.
Dancing Dolls
Take a step back in time to the oft romanticized […]
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Build, Connect, Play
Recently, I had an opportunity to design a case layout for High Score, one of two new exhibition galleries in ESL Federal Credit Union Digital Worlds at The Strong museum. High Score will allow guests to explore the histories behind the video game industry and how video games have become historical artifacts with their own stories. Guests will be able to enjoy the expansion gallery firsthand in the summer of 2023. Until then, I wanted to share one of the […]
A Vote for Barbie
Dressed in her inaugural gown of red, blue, and silver, Barbie made her political debut with a presidential run in 1992. In 2000, Barbie’s bid for president was part of the White House Project, a non-profit organization seeking to increase female representation in American institutions. In the 2004 presidential race, she donned a red power suit. In 2008, she added another run as presidential candidate to her storied resume. In 2012, Barbie sought to inspire girls. In 2016, […]
Intern Experience: Processing Dime Store and Action Figures
For three months during the summer of 2021, I had the privilege to work as an intern for the Collections team at The Strong museum. My primary project focused on researching and cataloging action and toy figures ranging from the 1970s to the 2000s. At the start of my internship, I also cataloged a collection consisting of 1940s cast iron lead figures from manufacturers such as Barclay, Auburn Rubber Company, and Manoil Mfg, Company. Highlights included The Happy Farm […]
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Quack. Moo. Oink. Play.
All animals are funny, but some animals are funnier than others.
Aside from being a somewhat obvious riff (a polite way of saying “rip-off”) on George Orwell’s famously cynical line from Animal Farm, I do think there’s some truth to this statement.
In recent years, for example, there have been plenty of video games that have used animals as characters. Often, like in Sonic the Hedgehog or Animal Crossing, they’re somewhat anthropomorphized—animal characters doing typical human things like farming or running and […]
Liberty’s Lighter Side
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 […]