Toy Time:
From Hula Hoops to He-Man to Hungry Hungry Hippos: A look Back At the Most-Beloved Toys of Decades Past
by Christopher Byrne.
GV1218.5 .B96 2013
New Arrivals, 2nd floor
This tiny tome neatly encapsulates the essence of American childhood from the 1940s to the 1980s — at least for those kids brought up in mainstream culture. Even today’s college students can identify with many of the featured toys and games: Tonka Trucks (1947), Play-Doh (1956), Frisbee (1957), LEGO (arrived in US in 1961), NERF Ball (1969), UNO (1971) and Care Bears (1983), to name a few.
Toy industry expert, Christopher Byrne, takes a trip down memory lane to find out why these toys became popular and what became of them. Many of the toys are still in production and have burned their way into cultural memory. But some, like Thimble City and Crazy Clock (both introduced in 1964), were faddish and quickly vanished from the landscape.
The pictures will bring back lots of (hopefully) happy memories for anyone who played with these games or toys. And the Library’s Teaching Tools Collection (part of the Curriculum Collection) even sports a few: LEGO (1961), UNO, and Trivial Pursuit.