Toys

Thinking about toys as popular culture is both obvious and yet they are so ingrained I found myself needing to purposefully take a step back to consider their impact and development. I enjoyed reading (http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/toys.html) and considering the development of toys through the decades. My reflections on toys and their place in our culture will be painted by my own toy experiences and the time I spent working in a toy store during college.

It makes sense that the technological advances in toys would parallel the media and the ‘major events’ in history. The article we read for the week (referenced above) focused on the highlights of each decade—as most decade by decade lists usually do. I remember both my mom and grandma talking about toys they had as they were growing up. Though I can’t remember the specifics, they weren’t these ‘mainstream’ toys, but both women spoke of them with smiles on their faces. Toys evoke lots of great memories and for everyone; the happiness of a ‘simpler time’ is apparent when they look back on their youth.
I was a child of the 80s and early 90s. Born in 1981, I remember a lot of the great cartoons like Gummy Bears, Rainbow Bright, GI Joe, Care Bears, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and all the marketing that went along with them. I was from a family, however, that didn’t often follow those product trends from year to year. I was able to have one or two ‘current’ items in my toy arsenal. We were much more a family who liked board games like Clue, Monopoly, Pictionary, and the great classic toys like Lincoln Logs, Light Bright, Etch-a-Sketch, and a Barbie from time to time. My sister and I would spend hours building items with Lincoln Logs and coming up with our own pretty pictures with the Light Bright.
The attitude toward toys today seems very different from when I was young. Perhaps that is a product of the kind of parents I had. I was taught to be thankful for what I did have and amuse myself with the toys we had. We had plenty of toys, but WANTING something wasn’t enough to merit a purchase.
I spent three and a half years during college working at Toys R Us. 95% of my time there was spent at the ‘customer service’ area of the store. I got to learn a lot about the marketing of products, shipping cycles and parent attitudes toward toys. Toy placement in a store is very well researched and purposeful. Sections of the store are designed to lead into each other, and the most highly advertised merchandise gets prime placement. Shipping cycles and locations are based on city demographics and store performance. Highly sought after toys are not equally distributed between stores. I don’t know the equation that was used, but our store in South Dakota often had to request additional popular toys like Elmo dolls and the return of the Cabbage Patch Dolls.

Parents turned into demanding, mean spirited people when we couldn’t meet their every need. We referred to it as the “Disney disease” because when they entered the store, they were under the delusion that everything would be sunshine and lollypops for their children’s toy wishes. When we couldn’t provide the toy they wanted or if something broke after purchase, we were often faced with frustrated people who made it seem as though the world was conspiring against them. You’d think I was exaggerating, but I’m not! Over and over, parents were flat out ANGRY when something was unavailable or malfunctioned. I believe the trend of ‘my child first’ is one of the worst parts of the advance of toys and their impact on our culture.

Part of the change in toys is marketing and rapid availability. Anyone with a credit card and the internet can order anything delivered to their front door in a matter of days. There is still joy in toys today for kids, but there is so much change so quickly that kids and their short attention spans only play for things for a bit until the next bigger/better item comes along. Manufacturers also take fewer risks today due to the threat of lawsuits. Kids are no longer encouraged to learn through ‘natural consequences.’

Maybe I’m being too hard on the trends of today, but I do believe that kids today are not as appreciative of the things they have because of the general rapid availability of the next item. Families are generally demanding on stores and products always expecting the best at every end. Perhaps we should go back to simpler times of toys in an effort to teach contentment.