Winter brings romantic holidays and parties with mistletoe and Dean Martin singing “Baby’ It’s Cold Outside.” When the clock strikes twelve on New Year’s Eve, we pucker up. And then a month later, we send sappy confessions of love and heart-shaped boxes of chocolate. Love is a beautiful thing, but I despise all this commercialization. Mistletoe is an overrated garnish. And I can’t justify spending four bucks on a Hallmark greeting (no matter who the recipient is) that reads “I […]
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What’s a Girl to Do?
Kids often use play to explore adult roles, and toy and game makers are only too glad to produce playthings that tap into that behavior. The museum’s collection includes a group of games that provide revealing illustrations of adult perspectives on how kids can or should envision their roles as adults.
In the late 1960s, Selchow & Righter, most famous for Parcheesi and Scrabble, produced board games titled What Shall I Be? in variations tailored to boys and girls. A competitor […]
Final Fantasy Video Game Concert Series
Recently, my husband and I made our way through the crowded hallways of the Sony Center in Toronto to hear Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy. As we took our seats in the mezzanine, musicians on the stage below tuned instruments and briefly practiced music. I sat back in my seat and watched the crowd stream in—women in evening gowns, men in suits, teenage girls in elaborate Gothic Lolita dresses, and others in full video-game-character cosplay outfits. My crowd-watching ceased […]
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Monsters and Marshmallows: The Allure of Breakfast Cereal Characters
I miss my favorite vampire. No, not Edward Cullen or Bill Compton—I’m in Count Chocula withdrawal. Ever since this chocolaty breakfast cereal became a seasonal specialty at my local supermarket, I’ve spent 11 months per year convincing myself not to purchase a 12-pack online. It’s a somewhat irrational love, isn’t it? Count Chocula has never had a TV series of his own. He exists solely to advertise a product in animated commercials. Somehow, though, he enticed me into his dark, […]
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The Squirrel Says “Go Fish”
Some 135 years ago, four squirrels romping merrily through the woods met an unfortunate end. But, fortunately for us, those squirrels found a place in a playful diorama in the museum’s collections. Situated in a well-decorated parlor, the four squirrels are now posed in an eternal game of cards. That made them a perfect illustration for the induction of playing cards into the National Toy Hall of Fame a month ago. But before the diorama could go out on exhibit, […]
Advertising Real-World Products in Video Games
Whether the advertisements we see all around us are the brainchilds of Madison Avenue or of the local lawn care company, we cannot seem to dodge the onslaught. And it extends well beyond traditional product placements in newspaper, radio, and television. Corporations now place their advertisements on escalator steps, sidewalk trash receptacles, and even on restaurant bathroom stalls.
As if all that were not enough, now we increasingly find advertisements embedded into video games. Historically, few companies used product placements in […]
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Sixfinger, Sixfinger, Man Alive! How Did I Ever Get along with Five?
If you’re the right age and you spot Sixfinger among other Cold War spy toys on the museum’s second floor, it will bring back a flood of memories.
I was too old in 1965 to have owned the Sixfinger toy, but not too old to be intrigued by the fantasy behind it. From movies and TV shows like Man from U.N.C.L.E and Secret Agent, we knew that a spy’s kit was always concealed in everyday things, and what could be more […]
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X Marx the Big Spot in the Toy Industry
Some workdays at the Strong really stand out. The best days bring the National Museum of Play new and interesting toys for the collections. Recently, the museum received a donation of about 40 vintage toys (with a promise of more to come!) manufactured in the 20th century by the American toy giant Louis Marx & Company. These toys are a significant addition to the collections even though the museum already had more than 200 Marx toys. So, you ask, “If […]
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The Changing Face of Winning in Video Games
As a child, how often did your parents remind you that how you play a game is more important than winning? I’m betting pretty often. And while that sentiment is true, let’s face it—we wanted to win. It’s human nature. But in the video game world, just beating the game isn’t always the goal. Instead, many gamers chase after that most elusive of prizes: The High Score.
The first video game to track a player’s high score was Sea Wolf, a […]
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