Fix-It Felix

By Génia Abbey, 2025 Collections and Conservation Intern
How many people can say they’ve had the opportunity to work somewhere they used to love as a child? This summer, I have been lucky enough to return to a place that holds cherished childhood memories for me, The Strong National Museum of Play. Over the course of my summer internship, I have not only had the chance to discover what happens behind the scenes at a large museum and to learn more […]

Continue Reading about Growing Up with The Strong: Revisiting Childhood Play Published on:
October 31, 2025

By Adam Nedeff, researcher for the National Archives of Game Show History
At the museum’s recent Play Ball fundraiser, the silent auction featured treasures from all realms of play, including game shows. Among the goodies that went on the block were actual show-used card decks from the game show Card Sharks—blue card decks measuring 12”x18”, and gold decks measuring 17”x24”. That raises a reasonable question…
How do you shuffle cards that big?
Whether it was Jim Perry, Bob Eubanks, Bill Rafferty, Pat […]

Continue Reading about The Card Sharks Shuffle Published on:
October 30, 2025

With thanks to a generous museum donor, Robin H. Wyatt, I was able to join more than 850 collectors who came together at the 2025 National Barbie Doll Collectors Convention held in Louisville, Kentucky. The theme for the event was ICON Barbie: A Fashion Original. While at the convention, I presented on The Strong’s Barbie collection. My presentation highlighted Barbie dolls from the 1960s through the 1990s who reflect the criteria of National Toy Hall of Fame inductees: icon-status, longevity, […]

Continue Reading about Piled-up Poufs, Backcombing, and Crimping: Barbie’s Hair Published on:
October 24, 2025

Rain hits against the windowpane, lending an almost rhythmic comfort as the gloomy grey sky refuses to give way to the sun. For some, this inclement atmosphere might lower their mood but, for others, these are their favorite kind of day—the type of weather that makes them want to put on a comfortable sweater, get a mug of tea, wrap up in a blanket, and sit down to play a cozy video game. When I say “cozy games,” that probably […]

Continue Reading about Finding Comfort in the Spooky: Cozy Horror Video Games Published on:
October 19, 2025

By: Kristin Fitzsimmons, 2025 Valentine-Cosman Research Fellow at The Strong National Museum of Play
In her 2011 book Alone Together, Sherry Turkle wrote that “in the half-light of virtual community, we may feel utterly alone. As we distribute ourselves, we may abandon ourselves.” Turkle’s concern 14 years ago that anthropomorphized machines and digital networks might counterintuitively alienate us from each other now seems almost quaint post-Covid 19 as many of us grapple with the impact of generative AI. I came to […]

Continue Reading about Game Changers: Women Who Built Community Through Play Published on:
October 10, 2025

Have you ever played The Game of Travel? I’m willing to bet you haven’t. It was published in 1894 by Parker Brothers, perhaps most famous for manufacturing Monopoly. How about Hendrik Van Loon’s Wide World Game? That Parkers Brothers game is from 1933. For 2025’s International Day of Play, I teamed up with members of our collections and public programs teams to offer guests the opportunity to play these rare games. Let’s talk about why I chose these games and […]

Continue Reading about Recreating 100-Year-Old Games for International Day of Play Published on:
October 3, 2025

By Adam Nedeff, researcher for the National Archives of Game Show History, and Howard Blumenthal, co-founder of the National Archives of Game Show History
On September 16, film lovers mourned the loss Robert Redford, star of The Sting, Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, All the President’s Men, and many other popular movies. For game show fans, the name Robert Redford is connected with one film where he never stepped in front of the camera: he directed 1994’s Quiz Show, […]

Continue Reading about Robert Redford…and Quiz Show Published on:
September 29, 2025

Once adult playthings, dollhouses originally showcased finely crafted furnishings made of exotic materials and served as symbols of wealth. But miniatures fascinated children as much as adults, and toymakers began producing variations of these houses for kids to enjoy. And dollhouses remain a favorite plaything today, as well as an inductee to the National Toy Hall of Fame.
Margaret Woodbury Strong, the museum’s founder, was an avid collector of dollhouses. A ticket from 1958 invited guests to the “First Public Showing […]

Continue Reading about Dollhouses Unveiled: An Exhibit Celebrating Dollhouses and Miniatures Published on:
September 28, 2025

I arrived at The Strong National Museum of Play hoping to uncover more about the history of music in early video games—especially those released before 1985, the year the Nintendo Entertainment System launched in North America. I was particularly interested in games created by Atari in the 1970s and early ’80s. Many accounts of video game music history follow a familiar narrative: sound moves from silence to fully integrated musical scores, evolving in lockstep with technological advances. It’s an appealing […]

Continue Reading about Rethinking the Sound of Early Video Games Published on:
September 21, 2025