Sure, a 14-time Grammy winner who regularly tops the charts and breaks records like singer-songwriter Taylor Swift could create seismic waves when she goes on tour.
But her Do you have a blanket fort on Eras Tour?
To do this, you must participate in the Strong National Toy Hall of Fame Eras Tour.
From now until the end of August, the museum will be showing a different generation of toys every week, from the past to modern times.
And yes, it starts with a bizarre blanket castle.
“A blanket can be a cloak. It can be a cave. It can be a secret base. You can be invisible,” said Rory Cushman, the museum’s senior coordinator of public programs. “When you’re scared, you hide under it. That’s safety. It’s comfort, but it’s also so much fun.”
In the first week, marbles, dolls, kites and sticks join the blanket – all members of the Toy Hall of Fame with a reputation for being “timeless”.
“Some of the earliest forms of play come from these things that people don’t necessarily think of as toys,” Cushman said. “So we made them into toys themselves, that’s why they’re timeless.”
Take marbles, for example. According to Brittanica, marble games—sometimes involving pebbles or fruit pits—date back to “antiquity” and are found in both ancient Roman and North American Indian artifacts.
Noelle E.C. Evans
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WXXI News
And there is research that says that the origins of puppetry date back to 403 BC in ancient China during the Warring States Period, and that the art form of puppetry later emerged during the Han Dynasty.
“Archaeological sites are turning up things like marbles and jacks from times long past,” said Chris Bensch, the museum’s chief curator. “These things, like hieroglyphs and drawings on Egyptian walls, prove that people have been playing for a long time.”
Bensch said that celebrating toys that have their origins in ancient times – such as the cane – or were invented in the industrial age – such as the cardboard box – right up to the present day helps people develop a deeper appreciation for play and its many forms.
“Play is at the core of who we are and how we develop. And it’s something we don’t always articulate,” he said. “Children’s play always reflects the world around them. Since Roman times, children have played with transport toys, and those were horses and chariots because that’s what they knew – or horses and carts in the Middle Ages.”
Through play, we can learn about human nature across cultures and throughout history, he said.
For Cushman, the Toy “Eras Tour” is also an opportunity to capture this moment in cultural history.
“There’s a singer that some of us know who may have had some thoughts on how we got here,” Cushman said. “A singer … that we like just a little bit, but that’s about it.”
Noelle E.C. Evans
/
WXXI News
The exhibition is open until August 26. Details from the museum can be found below:
- June 29 to July 7: Era of Timeless Toys – Toys from ancient times such as marbles, sticks, kites, dolls and blankets.
- July 8-14: Spin & Tumble Era – toys from the Middle Ages such as dominoes, sidewalk chalk, jump ropes, marbles, spinning tops and dollhouses.
- July 15-21: Puzzle Era – Toys from the Enlightenment era, including paper airplanes, rocking horses, alphabet blocks and soap bubbles.
- July 22-28: Era of Mechanical Powers – Discover toys from the Industrial Revolution, including the Jack-in-the-Box Spring, the Cardboard Box, the Bicycle, the Lionel Trains and the Rubber Duck.
- July 29-August 4: Era of Classic Toys – Modern era of play with classic toys that originated over 100 years ago. Featured are Tinkertoys, Crayola crayons, baseball cards, Lincoln Logs, the teddy bear and the baby doll.
- August 5-11: Roaring & Soaring Toys Era – Toys from the early 1900s such as Scrabble, the Radio Flyer Wagon, the Erector Set, and Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy.
- August 12-18: TV Toy Era – Toys from the 1940s and 1950s. Highlights include Candy Land, Mr. Potato Head, Slinky, LEGO and Tonka Trucks.
- August 19-25: Groovy Toys Eras – Toys from the 1960s and 1970s. This week’s focus is on the Rubik’s Cube, Etch-a-Sketch, Hula Hoop, Lite-Brite, Frisbee and GI Joe.
- August 26th to September 2nd: Totally Rad Toys Era – Toys from the 1980s and 1990s. This week’s focus is on Uno, Cabbage Patch Kids, Super Soaker, Jenga and American Girl Dolls.
