Chicago is full of places to bring out your inner youngster.
There are kickball leagues, bakeries that specialize in frosted cupcakes, bars that sponsor spelling bees, electronics stores that rent out deluxe gaming suites and toy stores that cater to adults who collect vinyl or plush playthings.
Two years ago Kirby Kerr and his wife, Whitney, opened their East Village toy store Rotofugi, which specializes in collectible toys designed by various artists. Their average customer is thirtysomething–old enough to have the money to spend between $6 and $60 on their toys, young enough to appreciate that toys can be considered art, said Kerr, 34.
“There’s a cool factor,” said Kerr, who had been a toy and lunchbox collector with his wife before they opened the store. “It’s a mass-produced product, but it makes an artistic work affordable.”
Kerr observes a sense of wonder and play in the adults who come into Rotofugi, especially the ones who get the store’s concept right away. Several weeks ago, the store had a trading party for a new series of Dunny toys, rabbit-shaped figurines that come in radically different designs. About 30 people, a mix of adults and young boys, attended the event.
“Anytime you’re 30 or 35 years old and buying toys, there’s got to be an element of childlike glee,” Kerr said. “It’s a young at heart kind of thing.”
Rotofugi’s customers fit author Christopher Noxon’s definition of rejuveniles, adults who “cultivate tastes and mind-sets traditionally associated with those younger than themselves.” They’re professionals with grown-up careers who like kids’ stuff too. Noxon writes about the trend in his new book, “Rejuvenile: Kickball, Cartoons, Cupcakes, and the Reinvention of the American Grown-Up.”
“People all over are refusing to act their age,” Noxon says in the book. The book is full of anecdotes about middle-aged “Little Mermaid” addicts, twentysomethings who attend overnight pajama parties and men who spend $300 on high-tech pogo sticks. He makes the case that from Cirque du Soleil to comic-book movies to the popularity of graphic novels, kid culture has invaded adult pursuits in a big way. Consider some of Noxon’s stats:
– Thirty-eight percent of single Americans 20 to 34 live with their parents.
– The Cartoon Network outranks any cable news network in ratings among 18- to 34-year-olds.
– The No. 1 vacation destination for adults is Disney World. Half of its visitors are adults unaccompanied by children.
– The average age of video-game players is now 29, up from 18 in 1990.
In Chicago, adults who prefer interactive rejuvenile play can hang out at a boutique gaming store in Lincoln Park called Escape. The store, which is owned by Best Buy, has exposed brick walls and looks more like a loft than a typical electronics store. There are comfy seats, plasma-screen TVs and gaming “pods” with surround-sound stereo, Xbox 360s, PS2s and wireless controllers gamers can rent for $10 an hour.
Looking for a cheaper childhood fix? Bakeries serving brightly colored cupcakes are popping up around the city (and more are on the way–Beverly Hills cupcakerie Sprinkes says it’s coming to Chicago). The paper-wrapped cakes put an adult twist on the treats you brought to school on your birthday–gourmet flavors, buttercream icing and a price tag between $2 to $3 a pop.
Cupcakes, a tiny store in Lakeview , says it offers 60 flavors of cupcakes and changes its offerings weekly. Recent choices included spumoni (pistachio cake with cherry icing), banana split and mint chocolate chip. In the past, the store had baked green tea- and wasabi-flavored cakes, said owner Adam Gould.
The store, which sells several hundred of the treats a day, caters more to adults than kids and makes special cupcake arrangements for weddings, bridal showers and grown-up birthdays.
“The adults like them more than the children,” Gould said. “They want the cupcake they remember–the chocolate cake, the classic yellow.”
Last week, 30-year-old Heather Cosman and 27-year-old Henry Proesel stopped by Cupcakes to try the treats. The pair, who live in Lincoln Park, had toyed with the idea of opening a cupcake store themselves, going as far as to check out bakeries known for cupcakes in New York, such as Magnolia Bakery, made famous by its appearance in “Sex and the City.”
“It’s the whole novelty effect,” Cosman said. “It’s something that would be fun and innocent.”
Cupcakes aren’t the only kidlike things Cosman and Proesel enjoy.
This summer, Proesel played kickball on a team with his 25-year-old sister. “That really brings you back to when you were little,” he said. “When’s the last time you played kickball?”
Cosman drives a scooter, a white Vespa she calls Betsy 2 (the original Betsy was stolen from outside her apartment). She briefly considered whether she was too old for a scooter before buying it, and decided she was not. “I see men in business suits riding them,” she said.
The two just bought a Ms. Pac-Man game at Target. It’s meant for Cosman’s teenage cousin who’s coming to visit this summer, but they’ve already played it.
“Me and my grandfather used to play it all the time,” Cosman said. “Forget the cupcakes–that takes me back to being a kid. That’s completely about the memories.”
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KMASTERSON@TRIBUNE.COM
[ FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM CONTRIBUTED. ]Just kickin’ it
Christopher Noxon (left) says rejuvenile regression is not necessarily a bad thing. After all, he met his wife, Jenji Kohan, playing kickball when they were in their 20s. Kohan is the executive producer of Showtime’s “Weeds,” which may explain why his book showed up in Monday’s Season 2 premiere.
[ ft. worth star-telegram, redeye ]Do you need to grow up?
Answer yes or no to each of the following questions, and then check your score.
Have you, in the last week:
1. Played a video game?
2. Read a graphic novel?
3. Ordered a frappuccino flavored with something other than coffee, such as strawberry?
4. Ordered a chocolate martini or some other sweet martini?
5. Watched a superhero movie based on a comic book without being accompanied by a child?
6. Attended an adults-only board-game night?
How you scored:
If you answered yes to all 6 questions give yourself a half-hour timeout.
5 yeses: You can always bite your lip, stamp your foot, let your eyes water up and say you’re doing it because keeping up with pop culture is important.
4 yeses: You’re in touch with your inner child, who’s waiting for your inner adult to come and pick him or her up from school.
3 yeses: You’re not quite grown up yet, but at least your voice has changed.
2 yeses: You’re mature, but you haven’t lost your sense of wonder at baristas who always have to say “blended creme” or “blended coffee drink”
1 yes: You’re kind of a dud. We’re finding someone else to play with.
Zero yeses: There’s being too childlike, and then there’s being the person who yells at kids.
[ ft. worth star-telegram ]‘REJUVENILE’ ICONS
Here are some “Rejuvenile” examples from the music and movie worlds.
Tommy Lee
Former Motley Crue drummer and ex of Pam Anderson showed he wasn’t even mature enough to fit in with college students during his reality TV show “Tommy Lee Goes to College.” He currently can be seen trying to (literally) charm the pants off the female contestants on CBS’ “Rock Star: Supernova.”
Will Ferrell
In most of his comedy hits Ferrell has not strayed far from variations on the same juvenile character. For example, rowdy frat brother Frank the Tank in “Old School,” swelled-headed newscaster in “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” NASCAR daredevil Ricky Bobby in “Talladega Nights.”
Jack Black
Another star “child,” in movies such as “Nacho Libre,” “The School of Rock,” “Orange County” and “Shallow Hal.”
Pee-wee Herman
Paul Reubens was in his 30s when he starred as his alter-ego Pee-wee, who loses “the best bike in the whole world.” Now his “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” is on Cartoon Network’s late-night Adult Swim, aimed at overgrown kids.
“The 40-Year-Old Virgin”
It wasn’t just that Steve Carell’s character had never come of age. He also dressed like he was getting ready for his 3rd-grade photo. His chest hair, however–was grown-up.
Mark Cuban
Likes basketball so much, he bought a team. Gets mad when he loses. Takes the ball and goes home. To a really, really nice home.
[ ft. worth star-telegram, redeye ]Childish things …
Many grown-up products, like cars and computers, are now designed to look like sandbox toys done large, with a high “cute factor” and a childlike, smiley-face aesthetic. Here are a few:
The Hummer: In the popular school-bus yellow, it looks like something made by Tonka.
The Volkswagen Beetle: Introduced in the late ’90s, the practical car wasn’t just a retro hippie icon. It was even cuter than the original, as author Christopher Noxon points out, with a flower vase preinstalled on the dashboard and a front end that looks even more like a smiley face.
Mini Cooper: A Matchbox car big enough for a human to fit in–but just barely.
Michael Graves teakettle: With its clean lines and its spout that seems to be waving “hi” at you, the kettle looks like Graves designed it while humming “I’m a Little Teapot.”
Cell phones: They’re really walkie-talkies, but you have to push more buttons. And you can push buttons that allow you to pass notes (text-messaging), decorate and personalize them to be annoyingly cute (ring tones).
[source: christopher noxon’s “rejuvenile” BOOK ]
