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I’m always interested when one of the classic toys in the National Toy Hall of Fame earns its share of media attention, and this time Etch A Sketch had its moment in the spotlight. When one of Mitt Romney’s aides recently compared the fall presidential campaign to the timeless drawing toy, my ears perked up. Eric Fehrnstrom was quoted as saying, “It’s almost like an Etch A Sketch. You can kind of shake it up, and we start all over […]

Continue Reading about Romney, Etch A Sketch, and the National Toy Hall of Fame Published on:
March 23, 2012

With free-agent superstar quarterback Peyton Manning headed to Denver and Tim Tebow to New York, I’m left wondering at the residue that fleeting celebrity leaves behind and how kids at play take in fame and make of it something of their own. And here I turn to my sister-in-law Lynn, who puts the “fanatic” in Broncos fandom. She lives in Boulder and teaches in grade school there, where she’s well-positioned to follow and observe kindergarten kids playing at recess. Last […]

Continue Reading about Tebow Tag: Reverse Football Published on:
March 23, 2012

With more than 10 million subscribers and a Guinness World Record for most popular MMORPG, Blizzard’s World of Warcraft (WoW) ushered in a new generation of online gaming. Last year, Blizzard auctioned approximately 2,000 original WoW server blades (stripped-down server computer) to benefit St. Jude’s Research Hospital, and ICHEG was pleased to add one to our collections. Our WoW server blade represents the North American Barthilas Realm, in use from June 9, 2006, until June 9, 2010. Although no longer […]

Continue Reading about WoW Server Blade and the History of Role-Playing Video Games Published on:
March 22, 2012

Do you marvel at the toys and dolls on display at The Strong? Ever wonder how they came to the National Museum of Play? As curator of games—board games, card games, and many more—I’m responsible for acquiring historic playthings and popular new examples. But how exactly do we do it?
One way is through donation. And some of my favorite donations include stories about who played the game and what that experience involved. For example, the museum received a Monopoly game […]

Continue Reading about Monopoly and More: How The Strong Builds Collections Published on:
March 20, 2012

Alas, the letter with the little red complimentary AARP membership card comes to us all in good time. I tore mine up because it seemed the quickest and most expressive way to deny the passage of time. But denial didn’t keep me from perusing the instructive AARP website, or from spending a half hour with the Brain Health tab and the useful games it offers.
I say “useful” because the games promised to exercise and train recall, to improve ability to […]

Continue Reading about Playing with Words and Other Brain Games Published on:
March 16, 2012

When you live in a Little House on the Prairie, every day offers a fresh challenge. Who knows what challenges you’ll be confronted with next? Will Pa need to race against time to extinguish a blazing fire? Will Mary and Laura come face-to-face with a pack of wolves? Will Ma and Carrie find a good crop to harvest? Yes, I’m referring to the Ingalls family, who lived on the banks of Plum Creek near the small town of Walnut Grove, […]

Continue Reading about The OTHER Video Games: Board Games Based on 70s and 80s Television Shows Published on:
March 13, 2012

Here is a list of cliché complaints that you likely hear on a daily basis:

I was so worried about such and such, I couldn’t sleep.
I got so bored running on the treadmill, I just wanted to slide off the back of it at full speed.
I should not have ordered that ______ (fill in the blank) last night.

For most of my adult life, I have said at least one of these each week. However, I have found a few fun, innovative […]

Continue Reading about Video Games for Your Health Published on:
March 9, 2012

On a sunny, stormy Sunday in late February we took ourselves and our goldendoodle, The Dood, to the broad beach at the mouth of the Genesee to watch the spindrift and to chase castaway flip flops. The Dood can run down the flotsam we toss, but being only 50% retriever, he hasn’t yet mastered the trick of bringing it back. In any case, with no bathers to bother, it’s an ideal spot for a full throttle chase. A place with […]

Continue Reading about The Icemen Swimmeth Published on:
March 9, 2012

A beautiful collie stands in a meadow of blue and yellow flowers. His brown and white fur blows in the wind. He looks well tempered and loyal. I affectionately call him Sammy, but when I roll him over to rub his belly, I am confronted with an advertisement for Butter-Krust Bread. What gives? Sammy’s more than just a dog; he’s an advertising toy, just one of hundreds of similar toys distributed by businesses as advertisements between 1895 and 1920.

Over […]

Continue Reading about Playing with Advertising Published on:
March 6, 2012