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I’ve reached the age where pangs of nostalgia hit me when anyone mentions pop culture references from the 1980s. (DuckTales. Rainbow Brite. Trips to the mall with a pit stop at Orange Julius.) I’m not alone in this; compilation stories reminiscing about my generation’s “good old days” proliferate on the internet.
I recently conducted an informal poll with some of my friends, and one childhood toy we all remembered fondly was Teddy Ruxpin. This talking bear first appeared in 1985 and […]

Continue Reading about Toys That Talk: Blathering Bears of the 1980s Published on:
August 6, 2013

Summer weather has again brought an influx of motorcycles onto roads and highways. Seeing men and women enjoying a ride on everything from a small scooter to a big Harley V-Twin inspired me to think about when I graduated from my old Columbia to something with more oomph. Growing up in the 1960s, when motorcycle films enjoyed a peak in popularity, it seemed a very natural thing for some of us to move on to motorcycles after we outgrew our […]

Continue Reading about Transitional Objects of Play: A Man and his Motorcycle Published on:
July 30, 2013

A local movie theater recently hosted an “Indoor Drive-in” series to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the original drive-in theaters. First opened by Richard Hollingshead in 1933, drive-ins became family destinations. People paid a minimal fee to enter a gated parking lot with a huge movie screen located at one end of the grounds. Hollingshead intended for guests to watch the movie from the comfort of their own automobiles. When technology permitted, guests rolled the window part-way down and attached […]

Continue Reading about B-movies: From the Silver Screen to the Video Game Screen Published on:
July 25, 2013

Nobody puts Bubbie in a corner. (Oy.)

I think of the movie Dirty Dancing (1987) whenever I see this poolside photo of my grandparents at Grossinger’s resort in the Catskill Mountains in 1964. They look sophisticated, fun loving, and reminiscent of Baby’s parents, Dr. and Mrs. Houseman, New Yorkers who visited the fictional Kellerman’s Mountain House with their daughters to relax and socialize in the summer of 1963. For their own vacation, my grandparents left their young girls (my mother and […]

Continue Reading about Dirty Dancing in the Borscht Belt Published on:
July 23, 2013

Imagine you’re lost in a wilderness. You must ford rivers, traverse swamps, scale mountains, and acquire enough water and food to survive and eventually reach your destination. Every day there’s a chance you will encounter a wild beast of some kind. Avalon Hill’s 1972 strategy game Outdoor Survival simulates the act of surviving the wilderness. The game had a crucial, though underappreciated, impact on the way we play video games today. Outdoor Survival also demonstrates how the genealogy of games […]

Continue Reading about From Outdoor Survival to RuneScape Published on:
July 19, 2013

What catches a collector’s attention and prompts the impulse to accumulate? Depending on the individual, it might be a melody, a clever cartoon, a poem, an unfolding drama, or a special object that stirs the imagination. The response is personal, even though it may be shared by a multitude. It may be sparked by a childhood memory, a wish that may or may not have been granted, something entirely new, or a sudden comprehension. For a child, it might be […]

Continue Reading about Selective Attention and Collecting Published on:
July 16, 2013

Over the years, Barbie has had countless competitors, including Jem and the Holograms, the Disney Princesses, and even Spectra, the chic pink-haired gal from outer space with metallic limbs and eye makeup rivaling the likes of David Bowie. Among the many contenders, none have challenged Barbie quite like the Heart Family, who—ironically—appeared to be the complete opposite of all that Barbie represented. Odder still, the Heart Family was manufactured by Mattel Incorporated, the very same company responsible for the Barbie […]

Continue Reading about The Heart of the Issue: Mattel’s Forgotten Family Published on:
July 9, 2013

The Strong recently acquired a custom-built Fix-It Felix Jr. arcade video game at the center of Disney Animation Studios’ 2012 film Wreck-It Ralph. This summer, visitors to The Strong’s Boardwalk Arcade exhibit have the opportunity to play this rare game. Fix-It Felix Jr. allows players to take on the role of the game’s hero, Felix, a soft-spoken window fixer. Players move Felix from one windowsill to another while fixing shattered glass and dodging a bevy of bricks hurled […]

Continue Reading about Wreck-It Ralph and Video Game Villainy Published on:
July 3, 2013

When I think of the 4th of July (what my calendar more formally calls Independence Day), I conjure up images of parades featuring plenty of red, white, and blue crepe paper. I smell the aroma of burgers on the grill. And I envision fireworks exploding into colorful sprays of light across an inky nighttime sky. But I don’t often think of toys and other playful products for the holiday. Still, it didn’t take much time for my investigation of The […]

Continue Reading about Patriotic Play Published on:
July 2, 2013