Alphabet Blocks
For centuries, parents understanding the connection between play and development have made alphabet blocks standard equipment of the well-stocked toy box. Alphabet blocks appeared as early as 1693, when the philosopher John Locke pointed out that "dice and play-things, with the letters on them to teach children the alphabet by playing" would make learning to read a more enjoyable experience. A century and a quarter later, Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel, a museum curator who pioneered kindergarten, introduced geometric solids carved from wood. Known as Froebel's "gifts," they soon led to alphabet blocks. In 19th century America, these toys found their way into most schools, marketed as tools to help children to recognize shapes of letters before learning to read. Nowadays, virtually all American preschools and many home playrooms store alphabet blocks. Traditionally, homemade blocks prevailed. Currently, Uncle Goose Toys and Old Fashioned Blocks produce and manufacture this vividly colored toy. Parents may understand that these blocks carry educational value, but children like them because their colors delight the eye, their pictures provoke stories, and their numbers, patterns, and symbols look nice piled up.
Barbie®
Watching her daughter Barbara play with paper dolls, Ruth Handler (co-founder of Mattel, Inc.) decided that girls would have more fun with three-dimensional dolls. Baby dolls filled store shelves in the 1950s, but Handler created a grown-up doll with a stunning wardrobe. Thus, welcome Barbie, the teen-age fashion model. Within a year of her introduction in 1959, Barbie became the biggest selling fashion doll of all time. Sales surged with each annual addition of Barbie dolls decked out in the latest styles. Barbie generated criticism too. Feminists charged that her curves set unrealistic standards for physical beauty and her emphasis on fashion set girls' sights on limited options. But the criticisms also brought innovations. Her manufacturer developed a commitment to boosting girl's self-esteem and gave Barbie a cosmopolitan sense and expanded career options. African-American and Hispanic-American Barbies appeared in 1980, an Eskimo Barbie in 1982, a Hawaiian Barbie in 1983, and a Chinese Barbie in 1993. Over the years Barbie changed jobs more than 75 times, becoming a dentist, a paleontologist, an Air Force fighter pilot, a World Cup soccer competitor, a firefighter, and a candidate for President. Even in demanding positions, though, Barbie retained her fashion sense.
Bicycle
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 the First World War, manufactures 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 bike designs inspired by motorcycles and rocket ships, kids ranged widely in the new suburbs. Schwinn's Sting Ray, with its banana seat and elongated strut, buoyed the industry in the 1960s and 1970s. In the latter period, fitness-conscious adults found in biking an aerobic exercise that is easier on the knees but harder on the seat. Bikes for smaller kids remain "gendered" - cute for girls, aggressive for boys. But starting in the 1980s, manufacturers adapted space-age materials to create lighter, faster, and more comfortable racing bikes of similar design for men and women. Retro "comfort bikes" eased the baby boomers' ride into middle age. Recently, companies offered extreme machines for trick riders, off-road enthusiasts, and daring downhill racers.
Cardboard Box
In the 1600s, the Chinese invented cardboard. The English played off that invention and produced the first commercial cardboard box in 1817. Pleated paper, an early form of corrugated board, initially served as lining for men's hats. By the 1870s, corrugated cardboard cushioned delicate glassware during shipment. Stronger lined corrugated cardboard soon followed. American Robert Gair drew on all these developments to create the first really efficient cardboard box in 1879. His die-cut and scored box could be stored flat and then easily folded for use. Refinements followed, enabling cardboard cartons to substitute for labor-intensive, space-consuming, and weighty wooden boxes and crates. Since then, cardboard boxes have been widely appreciated for being strong, light, inexpensive, and recyclable.
