Recently, TIME reporter Allie Townsend selected the 100 most influential toys from
1923 to the present. (Now I know why I can’t cook, I never had an Easy-Bake Oven. But I still have Silly Putty, Jacks, a few Matchbox cars, and a Barrel of Monkeys.)
It’s interesting to compare the toys on Time’s list to those inducted into the National Toy
Hall of Fame. The National Toy Hall of Fame is part of The
Strong, a wonderful “interactive, collections-based educational institution devoted to the study and exploration of play. It is one of the largest history museums
in the United States and one of the leading museums serving families and children.”
To date, 53 toys have been inducted. Children interested in the history of toys can learn who invented the inducted toys, how they were made, and what made them so popular.
The twelve 2014 toy finalists are (drum roll, please):
- American Girl Dolls
- Bubbles
- Fisher Price Little People
- Hess Toy Trucks
- Little Green Army Men
- My Little Pony
- Operation Skill Game
- Paper Airplane
- Pots and Pans
- Rubik’s Cube
- Slip-n-Slide
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
A ceremony at The Strong on Thursday, November 6, will reveal this year's inductees. (The cardboard box was inducted into the National Toy
Hall of Fame in 2005.)
