Cinderella has a long history of influencing popular culture and playthings. You might even say that she’s left a big footprint. The popular princess and her glass slipper came to my attention recently as I read an article about the upcoming Broadway revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical Cinderella. The article focused on the creation of glass slippers—actually polyvinyl-chloride pumps bedecked with 10,000 Swarovski crystals—for the show. Stuart Weitzman, the shoemaker responsible for Cinderella’s footwear, said, “Who is the first […]
And the Winner Is…
Watching the Emmy Awards recently turned my thoughts to the upcoming 2012 induction of new toys into the National Toy Hall of Fame on November 15. Although our induction ceremony doesn’t boast television stars, glittery evening gowns, or tearful acceptance speeches, it nevertheless offers suspense leading up to bestowing a significant honor on two (or sometimes three) deserving winners. No one goes away with an impressive trophy for their mantel, but classic toys receive their moment in the spotlight.
This year’s […]
Time for Lunch Boxes
Back-to-school shopping lists can include all sorts of practical gear—pencils, crayons, binders, and paper—as well as the backpack to tote them in. But none of those purchases bears the weight of conveying a school kid’s identity the way that a lunch box can.
Lunch boxes didn’t start out to be billboards for your personality. They were just practical ways to carry a midday meal. Looking back at the second half of the 1800s, adults used functional metal lunch boxes at the […]
The Scoop on Ice Cream Makers
What could be more fun than playing with your food? How about playing to make your food? The ball-shaped Play & Freeze Ice Cream Maker recently acquired by the National Museum of Play at The Strong promotes itself as the entertaining way to produce homemade ice cream wherever you are—in a campground, aboard a boat, or on a picnic. However, if you’re visualizing using the Play & Freeze as the ball in a soccer or volleyball game that concludes with […]
I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream!
According to my mom, I cried when I finished devouring my first ice cream cone. I wailed for the duration of our bike ride home from the local ice cream shop. In response to this humbling story, I tell my mom, “Who doesn’t scream for an ice cream?” The frozen treat exemplifies advances in technology and explains food as a social commodity. Plus, eating ice cream is fun.
Chefs originally dished out ice cream, consisting of costly white sugar and exotic […]
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Sandcastles
Summer seemed endless when I was a kid. After school let out, the days passed slowly and the month of September felt like a long, long distance away. Now, as an adult, summer days feel short and precious, slipping through my fingers like sand until suddenly it’s autumn. And the sands of time aren’t the only things slipping out of my grasp. As a curator at the National Museum of Play at The Strong, sometimes it’s actual sand that slips […]
Romney, Etch A Sketch, and the National Toy Hall of Fame
I’m always interested when one of the classic toys in the National Toy Hall of Fame earns its share of media attention, and this time Etch A Sketch had its moment in the spotlight. When one of Mitt Romney’s aides recently compared the fall presidential campaign to the timeless drawing toy, my ears perked up. Eric Fehrnstrom was quoted as saying, “It’s almost like an Etch A Sketch. You can kind of shake it up, and we start all over […]
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In Honor of Jan Berenstain
I didn’t grow up with the Berenstain Bears—having been born just a little too early—but I more than made up for that omission in my adult years thanks to an opportunity to spend time with Jan Berenstain, author and illustrator for the hundreds of Bears books. Over their long and productive careers, Jan and her late husband, Stan, had saved a collection of almost every drawing they ever made, every story they ever wrote, and every Berenstain Bears product ever […]
Remembering Oz
Is The Wizard of Oz imprinted on your memory? I had a fresh realization of all the ways the classic 1939 movie is ingrained in my own mind when I recently explored The Wizard of Oz exhibit at The Strong’s National Museum of Play.
Growing up in the 1960s, I eagerly anticipated the annual showing of The Wizard of Oz on CBS. Running on a Sunday night from 6 to 8 p.m., the movie made a perfect backdrop for my family’s […]
