Stacy Conradt
The Quick 10: How 10 Classic Toys Were Invented
by Stacy Conradt - March 27, 2009 - 4:49 PM

q10

It’s Friday, so I thought we’d go with a particularly fun topic today… and what’s more fun than toys? (Umm… don’t answer that). I discussed Barbie a couple of weeks ago – apparently I’m on a toy kick lately – so I left her out of this one. But don’t worry; I’ve got 10 other classics sure to inspire a little nostalgia.

logs1. Lincoln Logs were invented by John Lloyd Wright, Frank Lloyd Wright’s son. The original instructions included a how to construct a replica of Abraham Lincoln’s cabin, obviously, but also directions on how to build Uncle Tom’s cabin.
2. Tinkertoys were invented after a stonemason saw kids being thoroughly entertained by building things with pencils and spools of thread.
3. Hula Hoops have been around forever in various formats, but the “official” Wham-O toy was invented in 1958. The inventors promoted it by going around to various playgrounds and parks giving children samples and showing them how to use it. Something tells me two random men showing up in a park handing out toys wouldn’t go over that well today…

monkeys4. Sea Monkeys are real (and that’s what they look like). I always thought they were a scam because I never once saw living Sea Monkeys swimming around in their little plastic home. They were “invented” in 1957 by Harold von Braunhut, the guy who invented X-Ray specs, but they are really just brine shrimp which are ideal for packaging because they enter a natural state of suspended animation in certain (shippable) environments. When kids release the “monkeys” into the prepared water, they “hatch.” The reason they’re so active (supposedly active… I’m still bitter that mine never worked) is because one of the packets you dump into the aquarium contains a type of salt that increases the sexual activity of the little critters. Yep. Think about that the next time your kid is fascinated by Sea Monkeys.

5. Play-Doh was first sold as a wallpaper cleaner. How’s that for weird? It was rolled it on the walls to remove coal dust.

6. Troll dolls were created in 1949 by a Danish fisherman who needed a cheap Christmas gift for his daughter because he couldn’t afford to buy anything. He used sheep’s wool for the hair. Thomas Dam’s dolls caught on; thus the original dolls were called Dam Dolls. I got in on the whole troll craze in the early ‘90s; I think they still reside somewhere in my parents’ basement. I remember some of their names… I believe Dud the Surfer was my favorite. That’s not a typo: Dud. Not Dude. He had his own theme song. I’m not entirely sure why I’m sharing this.

slinky7. Slinky was invented by Naval engineer Richard James. He knocked a coil off of a shelf when he was working to develop springs that could keep ship instruments stable in choppy waters. The spring did what a Slinky does… it stepped down to a stack of books, then to the table, and then to the floor, where it righted itself into a cylinder. James knew it would be a great toy and tests by neighborhood kids proved him right.
8. LEGOs were invented by Ole Kirk Christiansen, a master carpenter who lived in Denmark. The word comes from the Danish words LEg and GOdt, which together means “play well.” They later discovered that in Latin, Lego means “I put together.”

9. Raggedy Ann and Andy were created by writer and illustrator Johnny Gruelle. Ann was created as a doll in 1915 for Gruelle’s daughter – he reportedly named the doll after two books poems from a James Whitcomb Riley book – “The Raggedy Man” and “Little Orphan Annie.” Ann inspired Gruelle to write stories about her adventures, and in 1918, Raggedy Ann Stories was released. Her brother, Andy, showed up in 1920. I had a Raggedy Ann doll and she scared the crap out of me. Most dolls did. I broke the arm of a porcelain doll once, then shut her in the closet because I was convinced that she was going to kill me in the middle of the night for breaking her. To this day I have to have the closet doors closed when I sleep. Have I ever mentioned that my first horror movie was Dolls and I was in third grade? Let the psychoanalysis begin!

10. Sock Monkeys. The sock monkeys that we have come to know and love today – the ones made with Red-Heel socks – are thought to have come about in 1932. The distinctive red heel (the monkey’s mouth) was given to the socks so customers would know they were getting authentic Rockford socks. When the Nelson Knitting Company discovered that their socks were being used across the country in this arts-and-crafts movement, they won the design patent for the sock monkey pattern and started including it in the packaging of their socks.

As you can see by my rants about Sea Monkeys and Raggedy Ann, these toys definitely dredge up memories (why are both of mine bad?). Share yours in the comments! Maybe we’ll do a follow up… I was itching to throw in Cabbage Patch dolls and Pound Puppies, but I was trying to keep the list more traditional.

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Comments (58)

  1. I remember seeing a movie (Dolly Dearest maybe?) and it was about a doll that possessed a little girl. She was like, 3 feet tall and had red curly hair (the doll). Years later I was friends with a girl (this was in 7th grade) and her mom collected dolls. She had one that looked EXACTLY like the doll from the movie. I wanted to cry. She had it standing up in the living room. When I would stay the night, she would just be in the corner staring at me while I slept…. should have put her in a closet.

    posted by Ashley on 3-27-2009 at 5:15 pm

  2. what about the furbies? those were the creepiest toys ever.

    recaptcha: sells separate

    this amuses me because my last name is sells

    posted by sam on 3-27-2009 at 5:26 pm

  3. My sea monkeys worked okay, but I was still disappointed that they didn’t look like the ad. I was even going to build a little castle for them, and name them, etc. Shoulda went with an ant farm.

    posted by Johnny Cat on 3-27-2009 at 5:47 pm

  4. 9 reminded me of Creepy Doll by Joco
    reCaptcha: study bitter

    posted by Isaac on 3-27-2009 at 5:48 pm

  5. I remember going to a movie store and they had a display of Chuckie Dolls. My mom though they were so cute and kept asking for one. Finally I had to rent the movie and let her see a little of it, so she would understand why I kept refusing to buy it for her.

    posted by Patrick B on 3-27-2009 at 6:34 pm

  6. “I’m your Talking Tina doll and I’m going to kill you.”

    posted by PartiallyDeflected on 3-27-2009 at 7:15 pm

  7. I was given a hand-me-down talking doll from my aunt when I was about four. It was taller than me, my cousins had cut her hair, and the mechanism that allowed her to talk must have been broken because at random moments during the day and night she would say “Hello”. Super Creepy!

    posted by Regina S. on 3-27-2009 at 7:34 pm

  8. Stacy, maybe you could do a “Toys of the 80s” version. It might play (har dee har har) well with a lot of your audience. Plus, this one was awesome.

    Maybe 80s toys don’t have very exciting beginnings…”One day, this guy at a toy company decided that kids like puppies AND stuffed animals and thought…hey! Pound Puppies!” Still worth looking into, I think.

    posted by kate on 3-27-2009 at 7:48 pm

  9. Your description of how LEGO toys began. Ole started the company making wooden toys, plastic came later. The whole history of the LEGO Group is quite fascinating actually.(LEGO is meant to be in all caps and it is incorrect to ever say Legos. It is LEGO toys, LEGO bricks, Lego group, etc.)

    posted by Luke on 3-27-2009 at 8:41 pm

  10. I live in Rockford,and the local history museum is trying to bring back the Sock Monkey. We also have sock monkey statues all over town that have been painted with different themes that correspond to the city.

    posted by Jill on 3-28-2009 at 12:44 am

  11. The sea-monkey bit is my fun factoid of the the day. I have shared it with everyone around me (2 people) with hilarious results.
    And yeah, dolls. Super creepy. And I agree; closet doors should *always* be shut when sleeping. You never know…
    Please do something on Pound Puppies. Maybe it is as self explanitory as kate says, however I received a Pound Puppy for my birthday in 1986 and I still have her. There was even a cartoon and a movie as I recall.

    posted by Zelda on 3-28-2009 at 12:55 am

  12. I liked the part about dolls scaring you because it brings back a memory of my own childhood. My monsters weren’t under the bed, they were in the closet. But as long as I made sure the closet doors were closed when I went to bed, I felt safe.

    I wonder, is it some universal belief children have, that monsters can’t open closet doors?

    posted by Dave on 3-28-2009 at 1:11 am

  13. I had a toy robot that would move when you pressed the button on its remote. I think we misplaced the remote at one point because we took the batteries out of it for some reason. A few nights later I saw it move. Got rid of that one quickly.

    posted by Sam on 3-28-2009 at 1:45 am

  14. Ahhh! Talking Tina! I didn’t have many dolls, but one of my friends collected those creepy porcelain clown ones. I had trouble sleeping when I stayed over at her house.

    Doodle Bears were the major disappointment of my childhood. I had wanted one for several years, and when I finally got one for Christmas, the markers didn’t work! It was really sad.

    posted by Kieran on 3-28-2009 at 10:06 am

  15. How about WaterBabies? The dolls come all flat in their package and you fill it with water and it jiggles like a newborn realistically. Creepy. Especially because whenever you would go to pick it up, its arms and legs always contort into these awful positions. Yuck!

    posted by Kelly on 3-28-2009 at 5:09 pm

  16. Actually, while Richard James did indeed invent the slinky, his wife Betty James was behind the marketing, even taking over in the early 60s when he ditched his family to join a cult. The toy might only be one of those things baby boomers reminisce about if not for her leadership.

    posted by CJ Casey on 3-29-2009 at 1:33 am

  17. I had a metal slinky when I was small (maybe 4). I got that thing twisted up and would have to take it to my mom to get it untwisted. Well 10 minutes later, it would magically get twisted again and I’d go back to mom. I vaguely remember getting frustrated and shoving the knotted mess down into my toybox right next to my string puppet, Suzie, who also resided in a tangled state for most of my childhood.

    posted by Nicole on 3-29-2009 at 3:09 pm

  18. To this day I remain fearful of open or ajar closet doors, but not because of toys ‘coming alive’ but because when I was young I came across an article about alien abduction which stated that aliens could only enter rooms through open closet doors.

    I no longer believe this but it’s become a compulsive quirk of mine, that I now have to ensure the closet doors are closed before bed.

    posted by dangermouse on 3-29-2009 at 6:36 pm

  19. my sea monkeys never worked either, I thought I’d been had

    posted by Emily on 3-30-2009 at 2:28 pm

  20. These toys are still fun to play with. That’s what makes grandchildren so much fun

    posted by shoppersdream on 3-30-2009 at 3:42 pm

  21. My sea monkeys worked GREAT! They even bred more a second and third generation of sea-monkeys. But I’d heard at some point as an adult that one of the packets you add later on (like the second or third packet maybe?) isn’t food or growth powder or anything but really mostly more sea-monkeys.

    posted by Melissa on 3-30-2009 at 4:36 pm

  22. I still have a Teddy Ruxpin. He still works too. Well he’s actually my second one because when I was younger his eye went back into his head and scared me so bad I made my mom throw him away…then she bought me another. It’s still my favorite toy and look forward to showing my daughter when she’s old enough. I’ll have to find the tapes, wherever they may be.

    amothersdevotion.blogspot.com

    posted by Michele on 3-30-2009 at 10:01 pm

  23. I remember one time I got a packet of sea monkeys and put in a bit of seamen. The two began to evolve together and eventually created an underwater society. It was the craziest thing that ever happened to me.

    posted by Guy on 3-31-2009 at 12:40 am

  24. When my daughter was about 5 (now 14), she had a doll that would laugh or cry when you talked to her. It was controlled by the light, however. So, the first night after Christmas, I turned off the lights in the livingroom and there was this maniacal laughing coming from the dark. So,needless to say, that baby doll had its batteries removed and never laughed again!

    posted by Natasha on 4-13-2009 at 9:07 am

  25. Seriously, did any one ever get thier sea monkeys to hatch?

    posted by christine on 4-13-2009 at 1:18 pm

  26. it was either teddy ruxpin or talking mother goose that took standard cassette tapes at one time, can’t recall. my older kids liked to torture kid # 6 by playing ac/dc “highway to hell” on her cute, furry friend. she managed to turn out very well in spite of them, with a great sense of humor. No thanks to evil siblings.

    posted by jane on 4-14-2009 at 2:47 pm

  27. Ha ha I like the fact that I was not the only one freaked out by the movie DOLLS. That is the worst thing you could ever let your kids watch. Especially when you collect dolls like my mom did. They were all over the place. I didn’t sleep good then and I still don’t. I searched everywhere for that movie..ya know to watch it again, face the demons head on. Ha ha not as bad as i remembered it….still that didn’t change a thing. Ha ha they still creep me out!

    posted by Anna on 4-16-2009 at 4:01 am

  28. My wife had a Wendy Walker doll when she was a little girl. It was a doll that stood about 2.5′ tall and had a pull string on the back with sayings. The first pull said “My name is Wendy and my sister’s name is Gayle!” The doll then went into the closet and never came out. Why? Because my wife’s name is “Wendy” and her only sister is named “Gayle”.

    posted by Mr. Excitement! on 5-4-2009 at 10:38 am

  29. I was an adult when someone gave me a sea monkey kit. Despite having grown-up skills at direction following and animal tending, I had exactly one hatch. Poor little guy looked pitiful all by itself.

    posted by little gator on 5-6-2009 at 6:57 pm

  30. Haha, I also saw the Dolls movie and am still paranoid about creepy dolls and things coming out of my closet at night. I do have to have the door closed when i sleep, or at least have my boyfriend between me and the door.

    posted by Jenn on 7-21-2009 at 7:46 pm

  31. I was always fearful of my closet for a completely different reason. When I was 7 or 8 my whole family was down in the living room and out of no where there was a crash in my room. My huge bin of LEGOs somehow fell out of the top of the closet with no one around and I hadn’t touched it in like a week. So soon after signs appered on my door stating \Caution! Beware of falling stuff\ \Beware of floor! It bites back\ (How else do you find tons of little LEGOs all over a childs floor)

    posted by Matt on 8-25-2009 at 11:00 am

  32. I used to have a sea monkey kit too, but they were a different kind called Triops. They actually DID hatch
    when they were supposed to. Once, though, one of them jumped out of the tank (it didn’t die though).
    P.S.: I don’t do horror movies. ):

    posted by Missy on 8-30-2009 at 1:07 pm

  33. Here’s how my hatred of clowns and dolls collided. When I went away to college, some relatives gave me a hand-made clown doll that creeped me out by constantly being in wierd places I didn’t remember putting it. One morning, I awoke to find said doll staring at me from atop my dresser with its hand in my half-open underwear drawer. My roommate was out of town at the time so I knew it wasn’t a joke. The doll went in the trash posthaste.

    posted by Dara on 10-14-2009 at 11:06 pm

  34. This is either really freaky or really funny because last Thursday I read about the “most haunted” on this site and it included a couple of scary doll stories which I forwarded to my husband to read because it was really interesting. So on that Saturday we went to visit some relatives on the other side of town, during our visit my 2 year old daughter made friends with an older relative I didnt know to well but thought she was so adorable and asked me if it was ok to give her an old doll she thought she would enjoy. I didnt think much of it and agreed so before we were leaving she caught us at the door and gave my daughter this old porcelin doll it had a long white dress and curly black hair and had bright blue eyes that looked so real. Me and my husband stared at each other while my daughter was holding this life size doll she could bearly carry. I grabbed it from her and rushed to the car and placed it in the trunk (we both were kinda freaked out for a minute). By the time we got home from our two hour drive I forgot about it until I opened the trunk!! ahhh! I was freaked out all over again… So I did what any mature young woman would do… Put it in my brother’s closet. Let just say I had a good morning laugh. So my dilema now is what to do with this doll? Maybe Halloween decoration. So anyway I think its crazy that a read this today and under the Ragedy Ann Doll they commented about a porcelin doll.

    posted by Elly on 10-26-2009 at 4:09 pm

  35. My father worked as a designer for a number of toy companies. When I was a kid, he was always bringing prototype games and toys home for me to play with. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was functioning as a one-subject focus group. If I really liked a toy, it was taken from me and brought back to work. It may explain my inability to form lasting relationships as an adult.

    posted by Maxmanta on 11-5-2009 at 9:51 pm

  36. “I live in Rockford,and the local history museum is trying to bring back the Sock Monkey.”

    I don’t think they have to keep trying!! Sock monkeys are everywhere these days, and are particularly big in crafty/artsy circles.

    posted by Ally on 11-5-2009 at 10:09 pm

  37. My sea monkeys worked, but I was most disappointed that they didn’t wear their crowns…ever.

    posted by Linda on 12-19-2009 at 11:23 am

  38. I loved my slinky. I found it most amusing. Miss it already when I read this article.

    posted by leo on 1-6-2010 at 11:52 am

  39. Coming to this conversation a little late, but I just saw a link. The Raggedy Ann story is a sad one — Johnny Gruelle made up those stories to tell his daughter as she was dying a lingering death from having mistakenly been given a second smallpox vaccination. This is the story I got from a docent at the little Raggedy Ann & Andy museum in Arcola, IL (not far from the World’s Only Hippie Memorial).

    posted by hepcat on 1-21-2010 at 8:31 am

  40. porcelain dolls with teach-truly scary. and pull string dolls that talk-also frightening. i swore one told me “i like chocolate” which def wasn’t something Matty Mattel (look that doll up to be truly horrified) was supposed to say.

    posted by miranda on 3-11-2010 at 11:36 am

  41. that should say teeth.

    posted by miranda on 3-11-2010 at 11:36 am

  42. Does anyone remember the teddy ruxpin commercial during christmas where he asked the kids to leave the room and then told parents to buy it for them from santa?!?
    I also liked glo-worms!!!

    posted by Addie on 6-12-2010 at 4:21 pm

  43. The Hula-Hoop craze did not take off until Wham-O approached Art Linkletter (who at that point had 5 series on TV with one on each of the 3 networks). It was then that they became a national craze.

    Linkletter ended up making millions off of it and other toys he latter promoted.

    posted by frenchjr25 on 6-15-2010 at 12:44 pm

  44. Fun article!

    Raggedy Ann predated Little Orphan Annie by almost a decade, so Harold Gray’s comic strip had nothing to do with the name of Gruelle’s doll.

    posted by Andrew on 6-23-2010 at 10:16 pm

  45. @Andrew – The reference shoul be to the poem “Little Orphant Annie.” This poem also inspired the “Little Orphan Annie” strip.

    posted by Ranomatic on 7-6-2010 at 1:31 pm

  46. Ahh! From seventh grade until my sophomore year of college, I had a complete fear of dolls! I would cry when I would see one!
    For me, it started when I had this dream about my American Girl dolls coming to life. A few weeks later at a Bible study, my friends decided to pull a prank on a bunch of people. They had people go get something from a room where they had set up a mannequin. I went to get a guitar pick and looked over to see a mannequin right behind me! I ran out terrified! Later when I went to use the bathroom, it was propped up in the hall right by the door. I cried. A lot. My boyfriend’s brother found out and would chase me around with a dummy. I was such an easy target!

    posted by Lindsay on 9-27-2010 at 11:15 am

  47. I was never afraid of dolls or things in the closet – I do always close the closet door so I don’t walk into it.

    Under the bed, well that’s a whole other kettle of scary things.

    I wasn’t so intrigued with Sea Monkeys, I wanted live seahorses or the “darling pet monkey” ($18.95). I dreamed over the ads for the electric lit giant doll house you could get inside. And the Polaris Nuclear Sub at $6.98. 7 feet long!

    When young I was intrigued by the Flatsy Doll (Jingle: “Your flat, and that’s that.”). I can’t recall having one, but I coveted her. Polly Pockets too.

    posted by Yvonne on 10-8-2010 at 12:00 pm

  48. Unfortunately my sea monkeys were so tiny I couldn’t hardly see them and they didn’t last longer than two days. I tried them a few times and it just frustrated me!

    I do love the Lincoln Logs! That was one of the most entertaining toys I had as a child. It is too bad that children are growing up nowadays with imagination-stealing video games. Back when, we could entertain ourselves with a stick and some mud!

    posted by Toy Store on 11-10-2010 at 3:28 pm

  49. “I had exactly one hatch. Poor little guy looked pitiful all by itself.”

    Well no wonder, if “…one of the packets you dump into the aquarium contains a type of salt that increases the sexual activity of the little critters.”

    posted by Babarafiki on 12-4-2010 at 3:43 am

  50. Oh, I love Lincoln Logs! My family has some quite old ones…the new ones that we tried getting to fill out the set had this awful dye that came off on fingers. We also had tinkertoys (amazing how fun those were), and I still have LEGO, in various states of assembly, around my room. In fact, I think I’ve had most of these at one point or another. Except the sea monkeys. I didn’t even hear about those until recently!

    My sister had the Raggedy Ann, who stayed obediently in the toy hammock–maybe the other stuffed animals kept her in line. I used to be certain they moved around when I wasn’t looking. All of them were friendly, though.

    So glad you didn’t put Barbie on this list. I hate those things. They…sit there…and grin at you…I think Ken’s the worst…you just know he’s planning something…

    posted by Penny on 12-7-2010 at 4:50 pm

  51. Probably didn’t help that the Barbies lived in the closet…

    posted by Penny on 12-7-2010 at 4:53 pm

  52. My 17 year old daughter has always loved sea monkeys. I give her a set every Christmas. And they usually live for several months. I actually sent this year’s group to the watery grave today. Finally died off.

    posted by Bryan on 4-18-2011 at 9:02 pm

  53. Play doh is my absolute favorite!!! It had such an impact on me when I was a child that I know do clay sculptures! The hoola hoop one made me smile. It also reminded me of my childhood toys like skip it, and my little ponies (remember how some had the scratch and sniff on there hinds?) I also had the She-ra doll-who was far too bad ass to be frightening.

    posted by Jas on 4-19-2011 at 11:06 am

  54. I miss my glo-worm… =(

    I used to have a talking Alf doll too, didn’t have a Teddy Ruxpin though. I still have my original cabbage patch doll from the 80s. I did have an original care bear too but I lost it when I moved a few years ago.

    posted by Rina on 5-20-2011 at 8:47 am

  55. Creepy dolls & open closet doors are bad, but sock-puppet monkeys freak me out even worse.

    They have those long arms that look like they could reach out & strangle you from across the room.

    Socks should just stay on your feet or in your sock drawer, not be used in some evil monkey-shaped poppet! (I’d say Voodoo doll, but that’s not technically correct, and since this is mental_floss, well, you know…)

    posted by Jane on 7-13-2011 at 9:08 pm

  56. Ever seen Pinocchio’s Revenge?
    Enough said.

    To this day I still cannot say “shut up” three times in succession.

    posted by ohepi on 7-24-2011 at 6:09 pm

  57. It’s “Lego” not “Legos”!

    posted by Kevin on 12-13-2011 at 11:33 pm

  58. I had a very successful batch of sea monkeys when I was around 9 or 10. The package said that they thrive in the light, so not only did I have their battery powered light for the tank cover, I aimed a very strong lamp right on them as well. They do not thrive in battery acid. Fred was the only one left. Then my dog drank him.

    posted by Wtb. on 1-17-2012 at 10:14 am

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