The History of Barbie Dolls
[SIZE=-1]The Barbie doll was invented in 1959 by Ruth Handler (co-founder of Mattel), whose own daughter was called Barbara.
Barbie was introduced to the world at the American Toy Fair in New York City.
The doll was intended to be a teenage fashion doll.
There has been some controversy over Barbie's figure when it realized that if Barbie was a real person her measurements would be an impossible 36-18-38.
The Ken doll was named after Ruth's son.
Barbie first had bendable legs in 1965.[/SIZE]
History of Cabbage Patch Kids
[SIZE=-1]In 1976, Xavier Roberts invented 'Little Person' dolls, the first Cabbage Patch Kids.
Roberts was a teenager when he started the Babyland General Hospital in Cleveland, Georgia, where people could adopt a baby (the hand sewn dolls were never called dolls) complete with adoption papers.
Roberts and five friends started the Original Appalachian Artworks company to produce the dolls.
The Coleco toy company liked Roberts' ideas and began mass-marketing the dolls in 1983, under the new name of 'Cabbage Patch Kids.'[/SIZE]
Mr Potato Head
George Lerner of New York City invented and patented Mr. Potato Head in 1952.
Based on an earlier toy called “make a face” that used a real potato, Lerner designed his all-plastic toy as a prize for cereal premiums.
Lerner sold Mr. Potato Head to the Hassenfeld Brothers of Rhode Island, who owned Hasbro Inc., the toy company.
Hasbro sold the first Mr. Potato Head with a styrofoam head as a base for the facial plug-ins. However, instructions were included that suggested the use of vegetables and fruits instead of the styrofoam. Mr. Potato Head was the first toy to be advertised on television. Today, Hasbro, Inc. still manufactures Mr. Potato Head.
The History of the YoYo
(Or What Goes Up Must Go Down)
The yo-yo has been around for over twenty-five hundred years.
In fact the yoyo or yo-yo is considered the second oldest toy in history, the oldest being the doll.
In ancient Greece, the toy was made of wood, metal and terra cotta. The Greeks decorated the two halves of the yoyo with pictures of their gods.
In the Philippines, the yoyo was used as a weapon for over 400 hundred years. Their version was large with sharp edges and studs and attached to thick twenty-foot ropes for flinging at enemies or prey.
It was not until the 1920s that Americans first heard the word yoyo. Pedro Flores, a Philippine immigrant, began manufacturing a toy labeled with that name. Flores became the first person to mass-produce toy yoyos, at his small toy factory located in California.
Donald Duncan saw the Flores toy, liked it, bought the rights from Flores in 1929, and then trademarked the name Yo-Yo.
The History of Skateboards
[SIZE=-1]
[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]As early as the 1930s, kids attached roller skates onto two-by-fours boards, but it wasn't until 1958 that the modern skateboard was developed.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]The skateboard was originally conceived as a means of surfing outside of water.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]On August 17, 1993, patent #5,236,208 was issued to Thomas Welsh for a platform steerable skateboard.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]The "Ollie" was invented by Alan Ollie Gelfand. The Ollie is a skateboarding trick involving a leap into the air with the skateboard staying flush with the feet.[/SIZE]
The History of Jigsaw Puzzles
[SIZE=-1]Englishmen, John Spilsbury invented the jigsaw puzzle in 1767. Spilsbury was an engraver and mapmaker.
The first jigsaw puzzle was a map of the world.
[/SIZE]Spilsbury attached a map to a piece of wood and then cut out each country.[SIZE=-1]
Teachers used Spilsbury's puzzles to teach geography Students learned their geography lessons by putting the world maps back together.[/SIZE]
Snakes and Ladders
[SIZE=-1]A racing boardgame where a player's token follows a track from start to finish. Is one of the first and most popular boardgames.
[/SIZE]Snakes and Ladders originated in India as a game based on morality called Vaikuntapaali or Paramapada Sopanam (the ladder to salvation).
This game made its way to England, and was eventually introduced in the United States of America by game pioneer Milton Bradley in 1943.
The game was played widely in ancient India by the name of Moksha Patamu, the earliest known Jain version Gyanbazi dating back to 16th century. The game was called "Leela" - and reflected the Hinduism consciousness around everyday life.
Impressed by the ideals behind the game, a newer version was introduced in Victorian England in 1892, possibly by John Jacques of Jacques of London.
The History of Crossword Puzzles
A crossword puzzle is a game of words where the player is given a hint and the number of letters. The player then fills in a grid of boxes by finding the right words.
Liverpool journalist, Arthur Wynne invented the first crossword puzzle.
Arthur Wynne who immigrated to the United States wrote the first crossword puzzle for an American newspaper called the New York World. It was published on Sunday, December 21, 1913.
Arthur Wynne's crossword puzzle was initially called word-cross and was diamond shaped.
The name later switched to cross-word and then crossword.
Wynne based his crossword puzzle on a similar but much older game played in ancient Pompeii translated from Latin to mean magic squares.
In 1924, Simon and Schuster published the first collection of crossword puzzles in book form.
