1. Lincoln Logs:
...invented by John Lloyd Wright, Frank Lloyd Wright’s son. The original instructions included a how to construct a replica of Abraham Lincoln’s cabin, but also how to construct Uncle Tom’s cabin.
Frank Lloyd Wright must have been sooooo disappointed. He's the most famous American architect in history, and his son is building one room cabins out of logs. And plastic ones at that.
2. Tinkertoys
...were invented after a stonemason saw kids being totally entertained by building things with pencils and spools of thread.
Ah, the sweet days before electronics found their way into every kid's life. Like when kids would be sent out into the yard to find something (anything) to do. Didn't need a toy. Just a stick. Or a bug.
3. Hula Hoops
...the inventors promoted it by going around to various playgrounds and parks giving children samples and showing them how to use it. Something tells me two random men showing up in a park handing out toys wouldn’t go over that well today…
Seems to work for the drug dealers. If you want to see an entertaining movie from the 90s, see The Hudsucker Proxy (from the Coen Brothers). I can't tell you why. It will spoil the fun.
4. Sea Monkeys
...are real (and that’s what they look like)...They were “invented” in 1957 by Harold von Braunhut, the guy who invented X-Ray specs. They’re really brine shrimp and are ideal for packaging as a toy because they enter a natural state of suspended animation in certain (shippable) environments.
I don't think I owned a single comic book that did not contain a large sea monkey ad on the inside back cover. They sure didn't look like brine shrimp, unless brine shrimp are three inches long, pink, and constantly party. This is stretching the idea of a toy. And I hope those are gills, and not chest hair.
5. Play-Doh
...was first sold as a wallpaper cleaner. How’s that for weird? You rolled it on the walls to remove coal dust.
And I used to eat it. Salty goodness.
6. Troll dolls
...were created in 1949 by a Danish fisherman who needed a cheap Christmas gift for his daughter because he couldn’t afford to buy anything. He used sheep’s wool for the hair. Thomas Dam’s dolls caught on; thus the original dolls were called Dam Dolls.
I missed this craze, but I always wondered why someone would want something so (Dam) ugly.
7. Slinky
...was invented by Naval engineer Richard James. He knocked a spring off of a shelf when he was working to develop springs that could keep ship instruments stable in choppy waters. The spring did what a Slinky does… it stepped down to a stack of books, then to the table, and then to the floor, where it righted itself into a cylinder.
I don't believe the second half of this story. The slinky was constantly walking down steps and books on t.v., but getting it to take more than a couple of steps in real life was nearly impossible. You're telling me it stepped down a stack of books, and THEN to a table, and THEN to the floor, and then curled up nicely? And correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't the Navy be using a slightly higher grade metal?
8. LEGO blocks
... were invented by Ole Kirk Christiansen, a master carpenter who lived in Denmark. The word comes from the Danish words LEg and GOdt, which together means “play well.” They later discovered that in Latin, Lego means “I put together.”
Ole Kirk was the son that Frank Lloyd Wright never had.
9. Raggedy Ann and Andy
...were created by writer and illustrator Johnny Gruelle. Ann was created as a doll in 1915 for Gruelle’s daughter – he reportedly named the doll after two books poems from a James Whitcomb Riley book – “The Raggedy Man” and “Little Orphan Annie.”
These were creeeeeppppy! Can't you just see waking up in the middle of the night getting stabbed by this thing? Is that blood on her apron????? Actually, I feel a little sorry for her. Who wants to be called "raggedy"?
10. Sock Monkeys.
...The sock monkeys that we have come to know and love today – the ones made with Red-Heel socks – are thought to have come about in 1932. The distinctive red heel was given to the socks so customers would know they were getting authentic Rockford socks. When the Nelson Knitting Company discovered that their socks were being used across the country in this arts-and-crafts movement, they won the design patent for the sock monkey pattern and started including it in the packaging of their socks.
Okay, I don't believe this one either. My guess is that the origin of the sock monkey is much more sinister and unpleasant, but I'll leave that unspoken. For the moment, let's concentrate on the Sock Monkey Society: A place where sock monkeys unite!. Or Sock Monkey Ministries, whose job it is to demonstrate to us what's wrong with the U.S. Tax Code...they have a 501(c)(3) designation!
