Inducted Year: 2000
“Cinderella, dressed in yellow, went up stairs to kiss a fellow….” For generations, American girls have spent their childhoods jumping rope. But it really began as a boy’s activity in the 17th century among Dutch settlers. Girls grabbed the rope handles in the 1800s even though most advice books cautioned against too much exertion. As leisure time increased over the course of the 19th century, girls took to jumping rope in increasing numbers. By the early 1900s, girls’ […]
Jacks
Inducted Year: 2000
Whether called Iguni, Abhadho, Cincos Marias, or Huripapa, jacks is one of the oldest and most widespread games in the world. All jacks games share a strategy: toss a ball in the air and scoop up pieces before the ball bounces. In this game of skill, almost any collection of small objects will work—beans, rocks, stones, and even bones. Throughout history, kids in virtually every culture on the globe have sat cross-legged and played some version of the […]
Bicycle
Inducted Year: 2000
Part kids’ toy, part adult athletic equipment, and part basic transportation, bicycles first gained popularity at the end of the 19th century. In the 1890s, as the “safety” bicycle replaced the perilous, giant-wheeled “ordinary,” men and women reveled in a new freedom to roam. Automobiles soon offered stiff competition, but after World War I, manufacturers bounced back with kids’ bikes. Schwinn’s balloon-tired Excelsior “cruiser” of 1933 dominated the bike industry for thirty years. After World War II, on […]
Slinky
Inducted Year: 2000
Mechanical engineer Richard James invented the Slinky by accident. In 1943, he was working to devise springs that could keep sensitive ship equipment steady at sea. After accidentally knocking some samples off a shelf, he watched in amazement as they gracefully “walked” down instead of falling. Along with his wife Betty, James developed a plan to turn his invention into the next big novelty toy. Betty combed the dictionary for an appropriate name and came up with “Slinky.” […]
Mr. Potato Head
Inducted Year: 2000
Kids play with the food they don’t want to eat. George Lerner, an inventor who figured that vegetables with a little personality might have a better chance, created a set of silly face parts as bonuses for cereal box promotions. Hassenfeld brothers (later Hasbro, Inc.) acquired his creation in 1952. The original package included eyes, nose, mouth, ears—28 different plastic facial features in all—along with a Styrofoam head for kids to practice making wacky expressions. The Mr. Potato […]
