By Adam Nedeff, researcher for the National Archives of Game Show History
Legendary game show host and producer Wink Martindale passed away on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, at the age of 91. The team at the National Archives of Game Show History looks back at his life and amazing career. (Martindale completed an oral history with the Archives in 2023.)
A NAME THAT YOU’D BAT AN EYE AT
When James & Frances Martindale brought a baby boy into the world on December 4, […]
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Fanfare for the Fan
While transferring a few artifacts between storage spaces here at The Strong National Museum of Play, something I had not seen in quite some time caught my eye. Seeing the church fan was like bumping into an old friend. I want to share a few fond memories about its playful properties.
When I was knee-high to a grasshopper, the hours spent listening to old men sing long meter hymns off-key, followed by even older men yelling prayers, interspersed with an A […]
Brownies: From Folklore to Kodak Cameras
While cataloging some older books found within the museum’s collection, I kept coming across ones that had “Brownie” in the title. These books were written and illustrated by Palmer Cox, and the artwork within had whimsical characters (almost resembling Elf on the Shelf) travelling and causing mischief. Curious about who these characters were and the story behind them, I started doing some research and uncovered some surprising connections between them and some Rochester New York history!
As someone who indulges in […]
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Why Celebrities Like Game Shows
By Adam Nedeff, researcher for the National Archives of Game Show History
“What’s in it for THEM?”
Have you ever watched Password, The $100,000 Pyramid, Match Game, or any other celebrity game shows and wondered why the celebrities are there? They can’t win the car, the cash, nor the washer/dryer combo, and with the workload involved for the TV shows on which they’re already appearing regularly as cast members, being on a game show is costing them a precious day off. A […]
Toyetic Oppression: Black Toys and Black People
In my position as Research Specialist for Black Play and Culture, I am often asked to provide a metric for determining Black playthings. Is it Black because it was produced by Black people? Is it Black by virtue of it bearing the image of a Black person? Is it Black because Black people are the intended audience? As a result of a recent cataloguing excursion into The Strong’s collections, I now wonder if any of these questions are sufficient for […]
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Design Matters to Play Matters to Design
Design Play
While play foreshadows culture, design shapes culture. Both have the potential to transform society. For the Dutch historian Johan Huizinga (1949), play amplifies life. Hence play is necessary to individuals as a life function and to societies as a cultural function, by virtue of its meaning, expressive value, and its spiritual and social associations. Conversely, for other scholars such as American design historian Victor Margolin, designs acquire meaning by shaping the social environments (i.e., habits, practices, lifestyles) where they […]
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You’ll Be Sorry!
By Adam Nedeff, researcher for the National Archives of Game Show History
Have you ever teased a friend who was about to make a bad decision by saying “You’ll be sorry”? And you probably didn’t just say it. You probably said it with an odd, sing-song inflection. “You’lllllll be soooooooo-rrrrrrrryyyyyy!”
It was probably just something you picked up. You’ve heard friends say it. You’ve heard characters say it in movies and TV shows. But when you said “You’llllllll be sooooooooo-rrrrrrrrryyyyy” in that […]
48 Hours that Changed the Game Show Landscape (40 Years Later)
By Adam Nedeff, researcher for the National Archives of Game Show History
Last month, our National Archives of Game Show History blog post shared excitement about the release of our oral history interview about Jack Barry & Dan Enright Productions. Because of that, we didn’t get a chance to acknowledge an important milestone in the month of September. It may already be getting into the next month, but we want to revisit September 18 and 19, 1983. In hindsight, they were […]
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Game Show Legends: Bernard and Claire Boiko
We’ve all heard the quotation, “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” Often misattributed to artist Andy Warhol (when in fact it was devised by two Swedish museum professionals preparing for a Warhol exhibition), the notion of “15 minutes of fame” has permeated popular culture for more than half a century. These days, just about anyone can be famous, even for a little while. So, how would the average person go about achieving their “15 minutes?” You […]
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