As a museum of play, one of the largest segments of The Strong’s collection is toys. Of our more than 300,000 museum objects (not including the additional 235,000 items in our library and archives), approximately 178,000 objects are either toys, games, miniatures, electronic games, or dolls. Play itself is an activity or experience, not an object, so when collecting around play, playthings are often the most directly related physical manifestation of play. That being said, not all play involves a toy, game product, or even any physical material at all. Some play improvises with everyday objects, some is entirely in the imagination, some involves physical activity, and some is conjured up by the players. For preservers of play, this challenges us to employ collecting strategies that reach beyond toys and games to preserve these other play experiences.
One sub-section of the collection that plays a vital role in preserving play is our photograph collection. A photograph can not only document many kinds of play, but it also documents the context of the play in a way that an object cannot always do. Take for example this photo of Palestinian children playing in the El Baqa-a refugee camp at Amman, Jordan in 1981. You can see children running in a circle at play, smiles on several faces. A play experience like this doesn’t involve a toy or object that could be collected, but the photo gives us an opportunity to preserve that type of play. Another great example is this photo of a child making a snow angel in 2004. Something as ephemeral as a snow angel is a common form of play but leaves no physical evidence behind once the snow melts. A photograph makes the perfect medium for capturing a moment like this. Another photo from the 1930s captures a game of ring-around-the-rosy, a common game with no physical artifact.
Our collection of ephemera also plays an important role in documenting play. This poster for New Games Festival, likely from 1978, advertised a California gathering promoting play among people in the community and featured a variety of group games. The poster details the type of play and the philosophy of the event in a way that wouldn’t be evident through just the toys used. Another example is this promotional sticker that records the existence of the Madison, WI chapter of Belles & Chimes, a pinball club for women with branches throughout the world. Yet another is this ticket, an artifact of the concert-going experience. Each of these provides documentary information that helps tell a story of play: a play gathering, a group of players, and a playful experience.
There are times when play doesn’t leave behind tangible evidence in any way, even in photographs or ephemera. This is when preserving oral histories can play an important role in our work. Oral histories are recorded interviews that are intended to preserve the information and stories held by the interviewee. Some such oral histories can be found in our digital archives. A great example of an oral history that preserves play beyond physical materials is Play Memories with Stephen Desroches. In this interview, he shares stories about his experiences, “I had all this open space, and I would just create these worlds that I was playing in and—like lots of kids do. You know you imagine that’s a dragon or this is—this is that or what have you.” He also contextualizes artifacts he’s contributed to the museum’s collection, providing a first-person perspective on their role in his life. He discusses his creation of the Four Stars Atlas around 1985, which contains maps and information about a fictional world he created. In his oral history, he explains the influence of his family’s experience with pageants on the existence of a Miss America type competition between islands in his created world.
Sometimes the first-person documentation and storytelling we preserve is not as deliberate as an oral history. In the museum’s archives is the Zella Hale Webster diary, The Girls of Camp-Nameless, which tells the story of a fun-filled vacation of ten teenage girls in 1913. The pages contain daily accounts written in prose and illustrated with drawings and photographs. Also in the archives are the Minnie Allen diaries from 1874–1878, which contain accounts of the hobbies and activities of a teen in the U.S. in the late 19th century. Writings like these serve as windows into specific and individual moments of play, while also allowing for understanding that play in the greater context of its setting.
While playthings are certainly an important part of The Strong National Museum of Play, enough so that I sometimes hear us referred to as the “toy museum” or the “doll museum,” they aren’t the only material we collect in preserving play. Equally important are the materials that document play where playthings cannot do so or that contextualize the playthings in the collection. With a broad collecting strategy, we are able to better serve our mission and ensure that not only are the playthings preserved for the future, but also the greater picture of play in all its many dimensions is documented.