Up until the 20th century, children's play was not a subject that
demanded much attention. While objects that entertained children
have been present from ancient history, it was only with industrial
mass production-and a developing urban middle class-that toys
appeared more frequently. As playthings began to display a robust
economic performance, an industry rose to provide this new market
with the objects of their desire. European manufacturers dominated
the toy market, with Germany, in particular, supplying the American
market with the bulk of both singular and mass-produced products.
World War I ended its dominance, and by the 1920s, bolstered by
American ingenuity and an ever-growing consumer culture supported
by the media empires of newspapers, radio, and television, American
toys became ubiquitous in the consumer market. Ranging from the
simple to the complex, children were inundated with a commodity to
be wished for and sold to by the millions. From frilly dolls to
science sets, children were marketed to with gusto, first through
magazines and comic books and later through television. Toys fell
along familiar gender lines all while being developed with the
unspoken subtext of stimulating developing minds and being vehicles
of problem solving with educational value. If the first part of the
20th century represented the rise of toys in America, the postwar
period signaled a market unleashed by the baby boom. That one event
gained traction for the toy industry and propelled it to its
current state. Unforeseen was the next chapter in the industry-the
advancement of the technical revolution-which would create another
dimension of toy products that would captivate both children and
adults as one century blended into the next. In the world of toy
production, the multimillion dollar industry took the advertising
of its product seriously, and toy manufacturers inundated customers
with their latest product via trade journals. In New York City, the
hub of the toy industry for most of the 20th century, annual trade
shows introduced a deluge of new playthings to the buying public.
Frisbees, board games, baseball mitts, Hula-Hoops, air rifles,
video games, dolls, and miniature trains were all served up to
generations of children, cementing forever the memories of
playtime. Filled with a Santa's sack full of surprises, Toys. 100
Years of All-American Toy Ads takes us down the aisles of America's
toy stores delivering the favorites and forgotten memories of toys
that were hugged and hoarded, saved and disposed of, and now
finally brought back in their pristine glory. Once again it's
Christmas, your birthday, and a reward for a job well-done.
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