Blog

Record low temperatures and un-melting piles of snow kept parents scrambling to entertain house-bound children in the winter of 2015. This winter hasn’t been quite as cold or snowy in Rochester but, just in case the snows return, I’m ready with some practical advice drawn from The Strong’s Brian Sutton-Smith Library and Archives of Play, a research repository devoted to the history of play. Its resources include books that document some of the ways families survived long winters more than […]

Continue Reading about Old Timey Cures for Cabin Fever: Feathers, Forfeits, and Fortune Telling Published on:
March 7, 2016

It is no question that candy and toys are among many children’s favorite things. So when the two are paired together, the result is bound to be a success. Coined “the candy with a playmate,” PEZ dispensers prove what a great combination candy and a toy can be.
In 1927, Eduard Haas III of Austria introduced what some argue to be first breath mint. He called his mints PEZ, an abbreviation of the German word pfefferminz, the peppermint flavoring he used […]

Continue Reading about PEZ—the Candy with a Playmate Published on:
February 22, 2016

Plunging temperatures likely make us all a bit more grateful for the comfort of a warm home, sheltering us from blustery winds and swirling snowflakes. We know that shelter is a necessity of life, but I recently began thinking about the significance of homes for playthings. Not so very long ago, a toy chest was considered the home for most toys, dolls, blocks, and countless other playthings. However, it seems that in today’s toy market where a toy “lives” is […]

Continue Reading about Thinking Outside of the Toy Chest: Where Playthings Live Published on:
February 11, 2016

The Strong launched the World Video Game Hall of Fame in 2015 to recognize individual electronic games of all types—arcade, console, computer, handheld, and mobile—that achieved iconic-status, longevity, influence, and geographical reach. Of the six games chosen for the inaugural class of 2015, perhaps no game has journeyed the globe more than the simple puzzle game Tetris. New materials from The Tetris Company now on display at The Strong demonstrate the game’s universal appeal.

Continue Reading about New Display Highlights the Worldwide Reach of Tetris Published on:
February 4, 2016

As an “everything” intern at The Strong, I had the privilege of working with different teams within the museum on multiple projects that relate to my education as a history major. Through my work with the Brian Sutton-Smith Library and Archives of Play, I became acquainted with the story of the woman behind the museum by examining photographs, diary entries, newspaper articles, and correspondences from different points in her life. Highlights of Margaret Woodbury Strong’s remarkable story can be found […]

Continue Reading about Margaret Woodbury Strong: Collector and Philanthropist Published on:
January 29, 2016

Margaret Strong obviously loved shells and crafts made from shells, judging from the quantity of those items in her collection. In fact, Margaret’s shell collection drew me all the way from my home in Australia to Rochester, New York. While researching The Strong museum’s collection of Victorian shellwork during my research fellowship, I stumbled across a diminutive pair of shell-covered baby booties. The decorative cardboard booties—edged with red velvet fabric and ornamented with shells and shell grit—bear a striking resemblance […]

Continue Reading about Colonial Shell Souvenirs in The Strong: An Australian Connection? Published on:
January 27, 2016

Here’s a surprise: blogging can become a kind of high-order play. I rediscover this every time readers send me witty ripostes; I learn a lot from these comebacks too.

Continue Reading about Badminton May Be Savage, but Croquet Is Wicket Published on:
January 8, 2016

Do you ever wish you had a magic robot to clean your house for you? Do your homework? Or just be around to talk with? You may not be the only one. In some ways, advancing technology makes our lives more convenient or efficient. In other ways, it keeps us connected through social media and networking. But what if you could be friends with technology? Technology like a robot?

The idea of robot companionship is nothing new. In the early 1960s, […]

Continue Reading about Your New Best Friend–A Robot! Published on:
January 7, 2016

The wait is finally over. After three years of patient anticipation since the film was announced, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is finally upon us. Expectations were high, and fans who felt disappointed with the last trilogy were afraid that they will be disappointed again. You see, for many Star Wars fans, it is more than a movie—it is way of life, a philosophy, nearly a religion. Although that sounds like hyperbole, the movies had profound effects on our childhood […]

Continue Reading about To a Galaxy Far, Far Away Published on:
December 29, 2015