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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

One of the best aspects of working at The Strong is the endless opportunity for nostalgia. Last year, I wrote about my family’s tradition of treating Black Friday shopping like a game. Shortly after writing that post, I was reminded of another cherished holiday tradition when staff at the Brian Sutton-Smith Library and Archives of Play included a post about the  J. C. Penney holiday catalog on their Tumblr page. Throughout my childhood, the J. C. Penney Big Book was […]

Continue Reading about The Big Book of Christmas Past Published on:
December 18, 2015

The Strong has acquired a collection of more than 2,000 drawings, photographs, mock-ups, proofs, and other materials related to the design and production of Atari home and handheld game packaging and user manuals from 1976–1984. The Cort and Barbara Allen Atari Packaging Design Collection, 1976–1984, documents how the company’s artists, designers, and writers developed and created the distinctive packages and manuals for some of the earliest and most popular home video game titles of the  later 20th century.

Continue Reading about Atari Packaging Design Collection Documents the Art of Selling Video Games Published on:
December 17, 2015

By Emily Aguilo-Perez, 2015 Strong Research Fellow
In August 2015, I received a research fellowship from The Strong that provided funds for me to come to the museum to study artifacts and printed materials from its vast collection. My dissertation work focuses on studying interactions with Barbie among Puerto Rican females, making The Strong the ideal destination to build my understanding of Barbie dolls and other Barbie items. Beyond my scholarly work, I have a long personal history with Barbie. For […]

Continue Reading about Venturing into Barbie’s World Published on:
December 7, 2015

When Twister’s three developers brought the concept to game publisher Milton Bradley in 1966, the firm agreed, initially, to manufacture the game. All it took was a demonstration of the play and they were persuaded. Twister’s play was simple and innovative. It had few rules, and never before had a boxed game’s players served as the playing pieces. But the public, at first, seemed tentative about the game. We know, today, that every game of Twister can cause peals of […]

Continue Reading about Seeing Is Believing: Play Twister! Published on:
November 24, 2015

Maybe you read a blog I wrote about four years ago proclaiming (politely, of course) that the puppet belonged in the National Toy Hall of Fame. That year, 2011, the dollhouse and Hot Wheels cars took their places among the classic toys in the hall—which may suggest that my talents at prognostication are somewhat wanting. On November 5, 2015, though, The Strong announced that the puppet, along with the game Twister and the Super Soaker, was inducted into the hall […]

Continue Reading about Puppets Stage a Big Showing in the National Toy Hall of Fame Published on:
November 18, 2015