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A woman at a toy counter.
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“The End Is Coming! The End Is Coming!”

In the 1990s, an entire industry was born of trying to convince Americans that Beanie Babies were a great investment opportunity.
by Ross Benes via HNN on April 1, 2025
A line of G.I. Joe action figures, in various military-style uniforms as well as scuba gear.

How G.I. Joe Jump-Started the Action Figure Craze

In the late 1970s, smaller 'Star Wars' action figures took over.
by Becky Little via HISTORY on October 11, 2022
Big Mouth Billy Bass

Big Mouth Billy Bass

Billy Bass might be considered mere kitsch, but dismissing this singing fish would ignore some critical linkages between culture and environment.
by Sherri Sheu via Perspectives on History on August 26, 2021
American Girl dolls

The Enduring Nostalgia of American Girl Dolls

The beloved line of fictional characters taught children about American history and encouraged them to realize their potential.
by Meilan Solly via Smithsonian on June 3, 2021
Potato Head family
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Toys Are Ditching Genders for the Same Reason They First Took Them On

Why the Potato Heads are the latest toys becoming more inclusive.
by Paul Ringel via Made By History on March 2, 2021
Stan and Mardi Timm show off Johnson Smith novelties they’ve collected. Stan wears X-Ray Spex and holds a Tark Electric Razor. Mardi wears a sailor’s hat that says “Kiss Me Honey I Won’t Bite” and holds a Little Gem Lung Tester and Bust Developer.

Fun Delivered: World’s Foremost Experts on Whoopee Cushions and Silly Putty Tell All

The Timms provide the history behind their collection of 20th century mail-order novelty items.
by Lisa Hix via Collectors Weekly on March 17, 2020

The Racial Symbolism of the Topsy-Turvy Doll

The uncertain meaning behind a half-black, half-white, two-headed toy.
by Julian K. Jarboe via The Atlantic on November 20, 2015
Margot Robbie in "Barbie" film.

This is the Real History of Barbie

Before the eagerly-anticipated film hits our screens, we take a look back at the story of the world's most famous doll.
by Marie-Claire Chappet via Harper's Bazaar on July 13, 2023
Barbie dolls in 1959 wearing the zebra-striped swimsuit.

A Cultural History of Barbie

Loved and loathed, the toy stirs fresh controversy at age 64.
by Emily Tamkin via Smithsonian on May 18, 2023
A photo of three young girls smiling seated around a table with dolls next to them.

Reading Disability History Back into American Girl

The author's personal history with the dolls, and an argument for American Girl to make a new doll with a disability.
by Marissa Spear via Nursing Clio on November 1, 2022
Twentieth-century porcelain dolls made by German company Armand Marseille

How Porcelain Dolls Became the Ultimate Victorian Status Symbol

Class-obsessed consumers found the cold, hard and highly breakable figurines irresistible
by Maria Teresa Hart via Smithsonian on November 1, 2022
A father and son stand in front of an illustration of a circular target, while the son holds a small gun.

American as Apple Pie

How marketing made guns a fundamental element of contemporary boyhood.
by Rachael Kay Albers via JSTOR Daily on October 19, 2022
Man dressed as a clown with face paint, bald on top with big tufts of hair on the sides, and a bulbous nose.
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The Strangely Enduring Appeal of Bozo the Clown

How a clown won over several generations of children.
by Jeffrey Allen Smith via Made By History on December 9, 2021

From Boy Geniuses to Mad Scientists

How Americans got so weird about science.
by Lisa Hix via Collectors Weekly on August 4, 2017
A photograph of Bonnie Erickson posing with the Phillie Phanatic mascot.

Miss Piggy Has a Mother

Everyone’s heard of Jim Henson. It’s time to give Bonnie Erickson — creator of beloved Muppets and mascots including the Phillie Phanatic — her due.
by Nell McShane Wulfhart via The Cut on June 13, 2024
Charles F. Ritchell and his flying machine.

25 Years Before the Wright Brothers Took to the Skies, This Flying Machine Captivated America

First exhibited in 1878, Charles F. Ritchel's dirigible was about as wacky, dangerous and impractical as any airship ever launched.
by Erik Ofgang via Smithsonian on June 11, 2024
Ferris wheel at Cony Island.
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Spending My Free Time Researching Free Time

One academic tells the story behind his new book -- and his next one.
by Gary Cross via HNN on February 27, 2024
The Sebring patent design, February 4, 1868.

Base Ball Patents

Searching for the first, in the 1860s.
by John Thorn via Medium on January 2, 2024
Kris Kringle with children from the film 'Santa Claus is Comin' to Town.'
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A Classic Christmas Movie Offers a Lesson About Antisemitism

Nazis play a key role as villain in American collective consciousness—but without broad understanding of antisemitism.
by Rebecca Brenner Graham via Made By History on December 21, 2023
Person holding a blonde American Girl doll and American Girl bag

All Dolled Up

How American Girl transformed the doll world—and why millennials love it so.
by Jayne Ross via The American Scholar on November 30, 2023
Girl holding a pile of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls

The Droll Capitalist Parable of Cabbage Patch Kids

A new documentary, “Billion Dollar Babies,” shows how a product of Appalachian folk art drew the blueprint for all holiday toy crazes to come.
by Jessica Winter via The New Yorker on November 20, 2023
Different Barbie designs sitting around a table.

Decoding Barbie’s Radical Pose

The “Barbie” movie glides over the history of dolls as powerful cultural objects.
by Alexandra Lange via The New Yorker on August 2, 2023
Barbie doll

Barbie and the Problem of Corporate Power

Stars of the movie about an iconic Mattel toy are on strike. Both the company’s history and Barbie’s plot illuminate how powerful corporations really are.
by Rithika Ramamurthy via Nonprofit Quarterly on July 31, 2023
Two women walking side-by-side.

Not White But Not (Entirely) Black

On the complex history of “passing” in America.
by Herb Harris via Literary Hub on May 3, 2023
Good Housekeeping cover with girl looking at wedding cake topper

Wedding Cake Toppers: Miniatures, Excess, and Fantasy

Tying frilly white doves and normative bride-and-groom couples to feminist art and DIY craft practices that offer opportunities for creativity and fantasy.
by Kendall DeBoer via Dilettante Army on May 1, 2023
Illustration of people on different types of bicycles

Bicycles Have Evolved. Have We?

Biking innovations brought riders freedom. But in a world built for cars, life behind handlebars is both charmed and dangerous.
by Jill Lepore via The New Yorker on May 19, 2022

Victorian Era Drones: How Model Trains Transformed from Cutting-Edge to Quaint

Nostalgia and technological innovation paved the way for the rise of model-train giant Lionel.
by Ben Marks via Collectors Weekly on February 1, 2017

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