Toys Timeline

Toys mean more than just having something to keep you busy during your childhood. The right toy can educate a child, help them read, introduce them so to societal norms, or be an escape into a world of imagination. In 1995, society was exposed to numerous toys that forever changed previously held expectations of toys. Read the full story

1988 was an odd year for parents buying toys, as a new sensation was sweeping the nation up in a frenzy, the likes of which had not been seen for quite some time. It was in this year, 1988, that the Nintendo Entertainment System, most commonly referred to as the NES, experienced one of its highest moments and NES consoles and games sold out in record numbers.

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1942 was not the best of years for the United States, or the rest of the world. World War II had already been waging on for two whole years, and the U.S. was becoming more involved as the days went on. As a result, most of the manufacturing effort in the United States started switching over to producing goods for the War, taking away precious materials for toy production like rubber, plastics, and steel.

In fact, the lack of toy production was becoming such a big issue for the children that in 1942 the U.S. Department of Labor produced a publication titled, “Toys in Wartime”, which gave helpful advice to parents on making their own toys for their children, or even how to get the children to start making the toys. Read the full story

In 8,000 years of civilization, playing has never been such an in-grained part of life for people, adults and children.  Life was so focused upon domestic work, agricultural work, and military endeavors, that adults and kids never had the time or the energy for play.

But, with the industrial revolution, people have more free time and wealth than any generation and history.  And in an effort to find ways to fill that time, we’ve created many toys and games that are more imaginative than ever. Read the full story

The growing urbanization after the dark ages meant more free time for the masses.  Adults and kids both now had time to think, play, drink, and have fun, like no other generation before them.  The toys, however, stayed pretty similar to the kinds of toys that were found in prior eras.  However, the quality and quantity of these toys grew.  In fact, this period would mark the beginning of the toy industry. Read the full story