Momma's got a toy box

Whee! 

Look at what Momma found for me today at Cracker Barrel!

The World's Smallest toys!

The Duncan Toys Company is an American toy manufacturer based in Middlefield, Ohio, best known for its yo-yo line. The company was founded in 1929 by Donald F. Duncan, Sr. The Imperial yo-yo is the classic model that made Duncan yo-yos famous; a fixed-axle plastic yo-yo in a traditional silhouette. Available in many colors, the Imperial is the "starter yo-yo" in the Duncan line. (She's getting the red yo-yo for Clementine today.)

Etch A Sketch is a mechanical drawing toy invented by André Cassagnes of France and subsequently manufactured by the Ohio Art Company. The Etch A Sketch was introduced on July 12, 1960 for $2.99 and sold 600,000 units that year. It was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester, New York in 1998 and in 2003, the Toy Industry Association named Etch A Sketch to its Century of Toys List.

A Rubik's Cube is a 3-D combination puzzle invented in 1974 by Hungarian sculpter and professor of architecture Ernö Rubik. Originally called the Magic Cube, the puzzle was licensed by Rubik to be sold by Ideal Toy Corp. in 1980 via businessman Tibor Laczi and Seven Towns founder Tom Kremer, and won the German Game of the Year special award for Best Puzzle that year. As of January 2009, 350 million cubes had been sold worldwide making it the world's top-selling puzzle game. It is widely considered to be the world's best-selling toy.

Best of all? They all work!

 

Everything a toy store should be

plaidstallion.com

Working at Toys Я Us this holiday season has brought back many wonderful memories for Momma of going to Children's Palace in Columbus, Ohio as a child.

Growing up in a small town in southeast Ohio, Momma said there was nothing like the experience of walking into the huge toy wonderland on West Broad Street.

Children's Palace was a well-known toy chain on the East Coast. The chain was known for its warehouse-style merchandising, long aisles, and overstock storage above the selling-floor shelves.

Children's Palace was also known for making its stores resemble castles, complete with turrets, battlements, and three arches (two small, one large) in the front door.

After the acquisition of Children's Palace, Child World became the second largest toy retailer in the United States after Toys Я Us, its chief competitor. 

From 1977 until its closure in 1992, Child World also operated the Children's Palace chain and incorporated most of its castle theme features from Children's Palace into Child World stores.

 

I'm a Toys Я Us kid!

Toys"R"Us

It's official, I am the luckiest Vinyl American ever.

Momma got a seasonal job at Toys Я Us!

Toys Я Us is a dedicated toy and juvenile-products retailer founded in 1948 and headquartered in Wayne, N.J. The company now operates more than 877 Toys Я Us and Babies Я Us stores in the United States, more than 685 international stores, and over 170 licensed stores in 35 countries and jurisdictions.

Charles Lazarus started Children's Supermart (which would evolve into Toys Я Us) in Washington, D.C. , in 1948 during the post-World War II baby boom era as a baby-furniture retailer. Lazarus began receiving requests from customers for baby toys. After adding baby toys, he got requests for toys for older children.

The focus of the store changed in 1957, and Toys Я Us was born in Rockville, Maryland. The company's mascot Geoffrey the Giraffe (formerly known as Dr. G. Raffe) made his debut during 1957 in print advertisements for Children's Bargain Town. He was known for saying "Toys"R"Us," a quote that later became the company's name. Dr. G. Raffe was renamed Geoffrey in 1969 when Children's Bargain Town became Toys Я Us, and became the official Toys Я Us "spokesanimal."

The original Toys Я Us store design in 1969-1989 consisted of vertical rainbow stripes and a brown roof with a front entrance and side exit. Some brown-roof locations still exist, although some have been painted different colors or renovated.

Incidentally, Toys Я Us acquired toy retailer FAO Schwarz in May 2009.

FAO Schwarz, founded in 1862 during the Civil War and the oldest toy store in the United States, is known for its unique high-end toys, life-sized stuffed animals, dolls, and games. The FAO Schwarz flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York City is a popular tourist destination, and has gained iconic status for its floor piano, cameos in major motion pictures, and real-life toy soldiers.

A Visit from St. Nicholas

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tinny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

Bitter sweet

Tonner Toys

Ooh, I like the sounds of this new girl!

Maudlynne McCobb (or is it Macabre?) is very sensitive, shy and able to see ghosts. Maudlynne was home-schooled for most of her life until her parents noticed her peculiarness and decided it was time for her to socialize a bit more with regular kids.

• Age: 10
• Favorite colors: Black, Blue & Purple.
• Likes: Dark Chocolate, walks along moonlit beaches, black cats, all nocturnal creatures, & nice musty attics.
• Lives: In a Victorian Mansion in a sleepy little town in Upstate New York.
• Style: Modern Victorian Chic.
• Ambition: TV clairvoyant.
• Best Friends: Victoria, the Ghost in the attic & Edgar Allan, the talking Raven.

 Sound like someone you know?

 

The Adventures of the REAL Winnie-the-Pooh

New York Public Library

Speaking of British bears, the beloved children's book Winnie-the-Pooh was first published on Oct. 14, 1926!

I said goodbye to Paddington and popped back across The Pond to wish Winnie and his friends a happy anniversary.

Author A. A. Milne originally gave the stuffed bear to his son Christopher for his first birthday. Eventually named Winnie-the-Pooh, the bear and other stuffed animals inspired Milne to write his famous books.

Milne later donated the stuffed toys to American publisher E.P. Dutton in 1947. Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Kanga (Roo was long gone), Eeyore and Tigger remained with Dutton until they were donated to the New York Public Library where they have been on display since Sept. 11, 1987.

British politicians have been asking for the historic toys return (and American politicians refusing) since at least 1998.

Mike McCurry, spokesman for then-President Bill Clinton proclaimed, "As the President indicated to some of us, the notion that the United States would lose Winnie is utterly unbearable."

It's nice to see some toys getting the respect they deserve.

The bear necessities

My Big Sister got to take a tour of a local teddy bear factory yesterday with her third grade class and make her own teddy bear to bring home.

Part of the tour explained the history of the teddy bear which I thought I'd share with you.

Back in November 1902, President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was hunting in the vicinity of Smedes, Miss. When tracking and locating a bear seemed likely to be fruitless, his hosts produced what was described as a "small bear” and encouraged Roosevelt to shoot him. Roosevelt refused. He would not shoot such a helpless creature in sport.

The incident became the topic of a political cartoon by Clifford Berryman in The Washington Post on Nov. 16, 1902.

According to the tour guide at Stuffington Bear Factory, candy store owner Morris Michtom saw the drawing of Roosevelt and the bear cub. He had his wife Rose make 10 stuffed bears which he sold for $10 each. He put one in his candy shop window with a sign that read "Teddy's bear," after sending a bear to Roosevelt and receiving permission to use his name. The toys were an immediate success and Michtom later founded the Ideal Novelty and Toy Co.

Stuffington Teddy Bear Factory is one of the few stuffed animal manufacturers with production based in the United States. They have been creating stuffed animal gifts since 1959. The facility is 16,000 square feet and is a complete "cut and sew" production environment. They also have a retail store where they sell their teddy bears and stuffed animals.

They also host factory tours, school field trips, birthday parties and special events. During these events, visitors learn all about teddy bears and are able to stuff, comb, bathe and dress up their very own teddy bear.

What a good idea - combining history with toys.

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night

I don't know about you but I am exhausted, and look rather like Randy in these two scenes from A Christmas Story.

Momma (and Santa) outdid themselves this year. This is what I got:

Golden Kung Fu Cannon

Launch an awesome assault! This Exclusive Fisher-Price Kung Fu Panda Golden Cannon with Wolf is an action packed cannon launcher! Load up the balls and aim at the targets. Press down on the cannon to fire! Includes: cannon, 3 balls, 3 targets and an exclusive Wolf figure.

Schylling Zeppelin Ornament

This Miniature Tin Toy Ornament was inspired by the classic tin toys from the 1920's and 30's. Making Tin Toys is a dying art. A single piece of this ornament can require 6 or more processes to create its final shape. Each ornament is then hand assembled from up to to 24 of these single pieces.

It is easy to see why tin toys were quickly abandoned when plastic was developed. Now, tin toys are sought after by collectors around the world.

Uglydoll - 4" Ice-Bat Clip

Wage, Babo, and the Uglydolls decide to go on a sort of Ninja type mystery adventure...a sort of quest. The mission? You know the cookies and snack foods youve been munching on? Yeah they want some of those. Or more than just some. Probably all. Ice-Bat lives in the freezer. Yeah but can he crash at your freezer while he's on this whole Ninja mystery mission adventure dealio? 

God bless us, every one!

A few of my favorite things

And Momma (in her ‘kerchief) and I in our nook,
Had just snuggled down with a long winter’s book.

After all this talk about Christmas movies and TV shows I thought I'd better address my first love -- books.

(That's not to say some of those moving pictures and TV shows haven't been based upon books, but it's the very rare movie or TV show that is better than the original book it's based upon.)

So what are some of my favorite Christmas books that I read every Christmas?

Bess Streeter Aldrich
Journey Into Christmas (1949) are stories about reunited families, good fellowship, and restored faith. This is not to say that all is sugar candy. The mother in the title story faces a lonely Christmas in an empty house; but then something quite ordinary but miraculous happens. In "The Drum Goes Dead," a small-town bank cashier, a solid citizen and sterling friend, is dispirited by hard times until he discovers that it is indeed a wonderful life. In the closing piece, "I Remember," the author recalls her own childhood in Iowa. 

Charles Dickens

A Christmas Carol (1943) is the story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come.

Kate Douglas Wiggin
The Birds' Christmas Carol (1887) is the story is about Carol Bird, a Christmas-born child, who as a young girl is unusually loving and generous, having a positive effect on everyone with whom she comes into contact. By the time she is 10, she is bedridden and physicians say that she does not have long to live. The novel primarily involves Carol making plans for a Christmas celebration for the nine Ruggles children, a poor, working-class family living near the Birds. The book is a wistful moral tale about a saintly child, but is enlivened by many humorous scenes, particularly those concerning the home life of the Ruggles family.

Maud Hart Lovelace

Heaven to Betsy (1945) and Betsy and Joe (1948)

Nobody celebrates Christmas like the Ray family, but my two, absolute favorite Christmas stories in Lovelace's books are found here. We get to read about the family's traditions in Heaven to Betsy and feel like we're there, too. In Betsy and Joe the warmth and merriment is still there, but Betsy learns she must put on a brave face when she and Joe quarrel. I dream of a Betsy-Tacy Christmas Treasury (Are you reading this HarperCollins?)

O. Henry 
The Gift of the Magi (1906) is a short story written about a young married couple and how they deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very little money.

Clement Clarke Moore 

A Visit from St. Nicholas (1823), also known as The Night Before Christmas and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, is largely responsible for the conception of Santa Claus, including his physical appearance, the night of his visit, his mode of transportation, the number and names of his reindeer, and the tradition that he brings toys to children.

Laura Ingalls Wilder

A Little House Christmas (1995) describes some of the Christmases she and her family celebrate on the frontier. Even if they don't have much money for presents, they always have one another, and that's enough to make any Christmas merry. This lavish gift book gathers together five of Laura's classic Christmas stories from Little House in the Big Woods, Little House on the Prairie, and On the Banks of Plum Creek, and is illustrated with gently colorized (boo hiss) versions of Garth Williams' original art.

A Little House Christmas Treasury (2005) is pretty much the same as above but it does include a Christmas story not found there and vice versa.

And last but certainly not least: 

The American Girls Holiday Treasury (2005) of holiday stories and songs takes girls back in time to Christmas celebrations with their favorite American Girls characters. From Christmas Eve during the Great Depression to a Civil War fellowship dinner, these timeless stories illustrate the importance of family and the cherished traditions that are at the heart of the holiday season. Includes a CD of classic Christmas songs, a ribbon bookmark, and a special cover with gold foil stamping and glitter.

Frankly, my dolls, I do give a darn

Medical staff discuss whether the dolls could have been used as smugglers.

Dolls have been thought for years to be used as smugglers since everyone assumes we're all empty-headed.

That's not necessarily true.

I can think of two books for children off the top of my head featuring spy or smuggler dolls:

• The Clue in the Old Album, by Carolyn Keene
• The Spy Doll, by Alice Putnam

Last year, The Museum of the Confederacy decided to investigate the claims made about their dolls.

I know American Girl has a doll hospital, but I wonder if it looks anything like this!

AP - Two Civil War-era dolls thought to have been used to smuggle medicine past Union blockades were X-rayed Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010, disclosing hollowed papier-mache heads that once could have contained quinine or morphine for wounded or malaria-stricken Confederate troops.

Nina

The 150-year-old dolls, dubbed Nina and Lucy Ann, were likely packed with the drugs and shipped from Europe in the hope that Union troops would not inspect toys when looking for contraband, a museum official said.

Nina and Lucy Ann were taken to Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center from their home next door, The Museum of the Confederacy, to see if the contours inside their craniums and upper bodies were roomy enough to carry the medicines.

The conclusion: yes.

The next step could be forensic testing for any traces of the drugs.

The dolls were given to the museum by donors who said they were used to smuggle medicine past Northern blockades to Southern troops.

Nina was donated to the museum in 1923 by the children of Gen. James Patton Anderson, who commanded the Tennessee Army of the Confederacy. She has red felt boots. 

Lucy Ann

Lucy Ann, attired in a salmon-colored cape and dress, was given to the museum in 1976 by an anonymous donor. She is adorned with a coral necklace.

Lucy Ann has an open gash on the rear of her bonneted head, possibly made when its contents were emptied. Nina was likely disassembled then stitched back together.

Museum officials believe the dolls were in fact used for smuggling in the Civil War.

"In all of the research that I have been able to do, these are the only two confirmed smuggling dolls that I've been able to find," said Catherine M. Wright, collections manager at the museum. The X-rays were conducted as part of the museum's continuing research of its vast Confederate holdings, believed to be the largest in the U.S.

"People have been so interested in children's toys and dolls from the Civil War in general," she said. "The smuggling aspect is very captivating."

Wright carried the dolls, each 2 to 3 feet long, in a box to the radiology department of the hospital.

Registered technologist Lanea Bare gently placed each doll on the X-ray table, taking images of each facing up, then on their sides. Ghostly images were then displayed on a screen in the busy radiology department, drawing stares and wisecracks from passing doctors and technicians as the dolls lay neatly back in their box.

"Looking here, this looks like a cavity in the head and upper chest," said Dr. Ann S. Fulcher, pointing to Nina's image on the screen. "That's probably where the majority of the goods, the medicine, was put."

The hospital visit was free-of-charge.

The dolls' heads and shoulders are stitched to the bodies, which are stuffed with wool or cotton. Safety pins used to secure their clothing, including undergarments, were visible in the X-rays.

The museum knows little about the dolls' silent service to the Confederacy.

One theory is that they were purchased in Europe, then shipped to a Southern port with the medicines stuffed in their heads to avoid detection by the North's blockade of Southern ports.

"The idea behind the smuggling dolls is that even if a ship was boarded and searched, it was unlikely that they were going to do such a thorough search that they would find this medication hidden inside of dolls," Wright said.

The blockade from 1861 until 1865 was intended to thwart the delivery of arms, soldiers and supplies such as medicine to the South. Rhett Butler, the fictional rogue in Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind, was a blockade runner.

A well-known illustration from the period shows a woman tying bundles of medication under her hoop dress for delivery to Confederate troops, Wright said.

Once the dolls reached a port, the powdered quinine would be pressed into pills for Southern troops, Wright said.

Malaria was widespread among Union and Confederate troops. Some 900,000 Union troops contracted malaria during the war, leaving 4,700 dead, according to the Medical and Surgical History of the Civil War.

Statistics for Southern troops were not compiled but malaria was probably more widespread, said Robert Krick, park historian at the Richmond National Battlefield Park, which includes the site of the Confederacy's largest hospital.

Wright, the museum collections manager, was elated after the examination.

"This has been really thrilling," she said. "It's not often that you get to research a topic that one else has ever worked with before."

Nina (left) and Lucy Ann tucked in their transport box.

And some of you thought I was joking when I said I was a spy!

You can see more about Nina at the History Detectives website, where she was investigated in a show that aired Aug. 30, 2011.