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In the context of toy and sports history, skateboards and skateboarding have had a relatively short existence. Skateboarding might be the phoenix of the sports world: rising, dying out, and rising again. The sport has endured a fair share of highs and lows over the last 60-plus years.
However, before skateboards there were scooters, sometimes known as kick scooters and push scooters. Varied forms of scooters have been traced back to the early 1900s, most of them made from wood, metal, or […]

Continue Reading about Sidewalk Surfing: The Gnarly History of Skateboarding Part I (1940s to 1972) Published on:
June 7, 2018

 
 

I had the privilege of digging through the archives at The Strong museum during the last week before Labor Day 2017. The collection had a great deal to offer my research interests, which center on game studies generally and competitive gaming (esports) specifically. The research project I had proposed focused on investigating the prehistory of esports. Today, a class of competitive players earn a living by excelling in tournaments for games such as League of Legends and Super Smash Bros. Melee, […]

Continue Reading about Tournaments, Contests, and International Scoreboards: A Prehistory of Esports in the 1980s Arcade Published on:
June 1, 2018

How do you tell the history of video games?
For more than a decade, The Strong has been collecting, preserving, and interpreting the history of video games. Over that time our collection has grown to more than 60,000 video games and related artifacts, as well as hundreds of thousands of video game-related items in our archives. We’ve showcased them in exhibits, featured them in online content like our timeline of the history of video games, and made them available to scholars […]

Continue Reading about A History of Video Games in 64 Objects Published on:
May 22, 2018

“I love songs!”
This short phrase is something I’ve been known to say (or occasionally shout) with great enthusiasm. Yes, I could simply say I love music, but that wouldn’t encompass all of those catchy little improvised (and largely a cappella) ditties made up with friends or family while driving, working, cooking, or whenever else inspiration may strike. The word “songs” seems more fitting given the broader creative terrain it covers. Not to mention, most people chuckle or at least crack […]

Continue Reading about Play It Again: Enjoying Music Through the Ages Published on:
May 15, 2018

 “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!”
Well, almost. Christmas still wins out for me, but this is a close second. And not just because May brings with it Star Wars Day (May the Fourth be with you!) but because it’s time for the World Video Game Hall of Game inductions!
This is our fourth year honoring the best the gaming industry has to offer, based on criteria that includes icon-status, longevity, geographic reach, and cultural influence. This year, four new […]

Continue Reading about Game Changers: The 2018 World Video Game Hall of Fame Published on:
May 3, 2018

 Fans of The Bachelorette and romance novels might be interested to know that The Coquette and her Suitors recently joined The Strong’s collections. This 1858 game features some of the most detailed design and lithography available at that time and undoubtedly drew its title from one of the most popular novels of that era, first published anonymously in 1797. The Coquette: or, The History of Eliza Wharton was still a best-seller some 50 years later and was not credited to […]

Continue Reading about From a Coquette to a Mystery Date? Published on:
April 27, 2018

Plastic was invented in the late 19th century, but not until after World War II did advances in chemical technology make it malleable and affordable enough to meet the demands of toy manufacturers. The first plastic toys seemed crude—some toy companies combined plastic heads or hands with cloth or wooden bodies, while others made attempts at translating new concepts into tangible plastic toys. Soon plastic toys of all kinds—Mickey Mouse figures, moon men, ray guns, model kits, and Astro Boy […]

Continue Reading about Art + Toys = Art-Toys? Published on:
April 17, 2018

As the curator for The Strong’s new Imagination Destination exhibit, I had a great time revisiting elements of my childhood and coming up with key artifacts related to pretend play. In my memory, pretending and telling stories with my toy cars, construction sets, and other kid gear formed a big part of the way I played. I could narrate a story and simultaneously cast myself as a ​character in the tale. I could leave off a story one day and […]

Continue Reading about Just Pretend Published on:
April 6, 2018

Recently, as I was conducting dissertation research at The Strong museum on the role of board games in the Victorian parlor, I stumbled across a group of Parker Brothers’ games on the Spanish-American War and the Filipino Insurrection. Reflecting ideas of growth, progress, and material gain, I realized that these games provide perfect illustrations of the ways in which game designers and manufacturers infused their products with the geopolitical conflicts of the day as they fostered new family rituals in […]

Continue Reading about A Plethora of Games for a Splendid Little War: Parker Brothers Invades the Parlor Published on:
March 29, 2018