You’ve been through good times and bad. You’ve laughed till you cried, surviving Cooties, squeezing into tiny plastic shoes and taking occasional trips directly to jail . . . denied even the chance to pass GO!
But you have endured, and so have the games and toys you’ve known since childhood.
Parcheesi dates back to 1867. Lincoln Logs made their debut in 1916, Lego Building Blocks 14 years later. Monopoly hit the market in 1935. Slinky arrived in 1945, Cootie in 1948. Barbie was born, swimsuit and all, in 1959.
“What makes a classic game is the same as what makes a classic anything,” notes Burt Hochberg, senior editor of Games magazine. “It cuts across classes, ages, gender, time periods and just seems to remain popular among all different kinds of people.”
The same can be said for timeless toys. While we grow up, the best of our toys stay behind for children to come.
“These are items that have play value,” says Diane Cardinale of the Toy Manufacturers of America, a trade association for the $20.7 billion toy industry. “Every time you sit down and play, it’s a different game. It has an appeal that’s good for all generations.”
Advertising and social trends do play a part in the industry, as evidenced by the mad scramble over the latest toys each holiday season. But even mall squabbles over Cabbage Patch Kids in the ’80s, Power Rangers and Tickle Me Elmo do not secure a place in a toy and game Hall of Fame.
Instead, Hochberg and Cardinale agree, lasting fun helps crown classics. “It’s almost like a form of art, where it’s very hard to define,” Hochberg says. “What is it that music or art actually communicates? It’s something that provides a form of entertainment that is not available in any other form.”
Time will only tell about the classics to come. But in the meantime, revisit some old friends. You just may learn something new about something old:
Flexible Flyer (1889)–Fed up with losing workers during the off-season, a Pennsylvania farm equipment manufacturer needed a new product to keep his factory busy during the summer and fall months. His solution, the Flexible Flyer sled, remains a snowy day favorite.
Lego (1930)–A Danish carpenter turned toymaker named his new business Lego for the words “leg godt,” meaning “play well.” In the late 1940s, after the advent of plastic, the company began production of the familiar plastic blocks.
Monopoly (1935)–A stalwart among games, Monopoly was initially rejected because it promoted buying and selling real estate while trying to push opponents into bankruptcy, a less-than-amusing concept during the Depression.
Play-Doh (1956)–Originally a wallpaper-cleaning compound, Play-Doh became a pliable, and playable, material. At first, Play-Doh was sold only in an off-white color. Color was added in 1957, as was Play-Doh’s unique scent.
Frisbee (1957)–After eating pies from Frisbie’s, the local bakery, Yale University students tossed their empty, saucer-shaped pie tins. The first plastic version was called the Pluto Platter. Later, Wham-O renamed the game Frisbee.
Barbie (1959)–When a California mother noticed that her daughter, Barbie, preferred stylish, adult paper dolls over the baby dolls of the era, a new chapter in toys was born. Today the average 3- to 11-year-old American girl owns eight Barbie dolls; worldwide, two Barbie dolls are sold every second.
Trivial Pursuit (1982)–The success of Trivial Pursuit caught the game industry off-guard. Insiders considered it too difficult and too expensive, costing twice as much as other board games at the time. Today the game has found its way into 50 percent of all U.S. homes.
READERS’ SURVEY: TOYS AND GAMES THAT STAND THE TEST OF TIME
Looking for a Clue about which toys and games Go to the Head of the Class? We’ve gone through Chutes and Ladders to tally our recent reader surveys regarding favorite games and toys of all time. Now we can Lego of the results. Here’s the Toy Story, listing the top three vote getters in each category:
Children’s board game: 1. Candy Land 2. Chutes and Ladders 3. Clue
Adults’ board game: 1. Monopoly 2. Scrabble 3. Reel Schpeel
Children’s CD-ROM game: 1. Oregon Trail 2. Sim City & related games 3. Toy Story Animated Storybook
Adults’ CD-ROM game: 1. Mortal Kombat games 2. Doom 3. Myst
Video Game System: 1. Nintendo 64 2. Sony PlayStation 3. Super NES
Video game: 1. Mario Brothers games 2. Mortal Kombat games 3. Sonic games
Doll/action figure: 1. Barbie 2. G.I. Joe 3. Beanie Babies
Toy: 1. Lego 2. Virtual pets 3. Mr. Potato Head
