Exploring the History of Childhood and Play through 50 Historic Treasures

Susan A. Fletcher

A full-color trip through the treasures of American Childhood from 1650 to today.

Remember the toys you played with when you were growing up? Each of those objects has a story to tell about the history of American childhood and play. Construction toys like Lincoln Logs and Erector Set offer insight into America’s booming urban infrastructure in the early 1910s and 20s, and the important role toys played in preparing children for future careers in engineering and architecture. A stuffed toy monkey from Germany tells the story of young Jewish refugees to the United States during World War II. The board game Candyland has its origins in the dreaded polio epidemic of 1950s.

Exploring Childhood and Play Through 50 Historic Treasures brings together a collection of beloved toys and games from the last two centuries to guide readers on a journey through the history of American childhood and play, 1840-2000. Through color photographs and short essays on each object, this book examines childhood against the backdrop of culture, politics, religion, technology, gender, parenting philosophies, and more. The book features ten categories of objects including board and electronic games, dolls, action figures, art toys, optical toys, animal toys, construction sets, and sports. Each essay tells the story of the individual object its historic context, and each passage builds upon one another to create a fascinating survey of how childhood and play changed over the course of two centuries.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers / AASLH

Pages: 328 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-5381-1874-0 • Hardback • May 2020 • $42.00 • (£35.00)

978-1-5381-1875-7 • eBook • May 2020 • $39.50 • (£30.00)

Series: AASLH Exploring America's Historic Treasures

Subjects: Social Science / Children's Studies, History / General, Business & Economics / Museum Administration & Museology

Exploring the History of Childhood and Play through 50 Historic Treasures

Hardback

eBook

Summary

A full-color trip through the treasures of American Childhood from 1650 to today.

Remember the toys you played with when you were growing up? Each of those objects has a story to tell about the history of American childhood and play. Construction toys like Lincoln Logs and Erector Set offer insight into America’s booming urban infrastructure in the early 1910s and 20s, and the important role toys played in preparing children for future careers in engineering and architecture. A stuffed toy monkey from Germany tells the story of young Jewish refugees to the United States during World War II. The board game Candyland has its origins in the dreaded polio epidemic of 1950s.

Exploring Childhood and Play Through 50 Historic Treasures brings together a collection of beloved toys and games from the last two centuries to guide readers on a journey through the history of American childhood and play, 1840-2000. Through color photographs and short essays on each object, this book examines childhood against the backdrop of culture, politics, religion, technology, gender, parenting philosophies, and more. The book features ten categories of objects including board and electronic games, dolls, action figures, art toys, optical toys, animal toys, construction sets, and sports. Each essay tells the story of the individual object its historic context, and each passage builds upon one another to create a fascinating survey of how childhood and play changed over the course of two centuries.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers / AASLH

Pages: 328 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-5381-1874-0 • Hardback • May 2020 • $42.00 • (£35.00)

978-1-5381-1875-7 • eBook • May 2020 • $39.50 • (£30.00)

Series: AASLH Exploring America's Historic Treasures

Subjects: Social Science / Children's Studies, History / General, Business & Economics / Museum Administration & Museology

Author

Susan Fletcher is a public historian, writer, and artist. She serves as the Director of History and Archives for The Navigators and Glen Eyrie. She is also the founder and CEO of History Joy Consulting, an archives and museum consulting firm. Fletcher earned her MA in History from Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis. She is the co-author of Dawson Trotman in His Own Words and has written numerous chapters on state and local history for the Pikes Peak Regional History Book Series. In addition to her scholarly work, her writing appears in Springs Magazine and The Colorado Collective.

Table of Contents

Contents
Timeline of Artifacts
List of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1: Board and Card Games
Chapter 2 : Art Toys and Materials
Chapter 3: Optical Toys and Cameras
Chapter 4: Toy Animals
Chapter 5: Construction Toys
Chapter 6: Dolls
Chapter 7: Action Figures
Chapter 8: Physical Toys
Chapter 9: Mimicking the Adult World
Chapter 10: Electronic Games
Go Play
Index
About the Author

Reviews

Fletcher pulls together trends in technology, social structures, popular culture, marketing, and much more to provide vivid and valuable historical context for 50 landmark toys. With charm and insight, she carries the reader through the landscape of play in America and reveals fresh meaning for these memorable icons of childhood.
— Christopher Bensch, Vice President for Collections, The Strong National Museum of Play

If you have cooked with an Easy Bake Oven, passed 'Go' and collected $200, or threw a Nerf football, you will love this deeply researched and wonderfully entertaining book! Public historian Susan Fletcher takes us on a journey down memory lane as she tells the stories of our favorite childhood toys.
— John Fea, Professor of American History, Messiah College

Susan Fletcher’s engaging book deftly surveys the origin and influence of some of America’s most cherished games and play objects. Better yet, Fletcher situates each toy in its historical context to who how history has interacted with childhood.
— Howard P. Chudacoff, George L. Littlefield Professor of American History at Brown University, and author of Children At Play: An American History.

Susan Fletcher brings historical toys to life, welcoming readers into the past with a blend of scholarship and wit that will appeal equally to professional public historians and fans of American Pickers. Like the toys it describes, this book is smart, fun, and hard to put down.
— Annie Gilbert Coleman, associate professor, Department of American Studies, University of Notre Dame