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Strollerderby
Toys’ Pasts – Sordid and Not – Revealed
Any chance you know Barbie’s real name? The original company who sold LEGOs in the U.S.?
To find out you used to have to go a-googling. Or drive up to Rochester, NY to visit the National Toy Hall of Fame at the Strong Museum of Play. But a new coffee table book is putting it all at your fingertips.
No surprise – it comes from the hall of fame. Covering a decade of entries into the museum it was released before this year’s picks became official, so it only includes through 2008. But there’s no shortage of interesting factoids in this walk down memory lane.
Remember the Erector Set? The Lincoln Logs?
The stuff we had as children and have since bought for our kids get the full treatment from author Scott Eberle in Classic Toys from the National Toy Hall of Fame. Eberle doesn’t shy away from the controversies (Barbie, we’re looking at your hips honey) in this sweet holiday treat.
Get it for you, then share the stories with the kids. By the way – the answers to questions at the beginning of this post: Barbie is short for Barbara, middle name Millicent. And if you said Samsonite, you weren’t way off – you were spot on.
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