Popular Toys From Each Year Reflects Utah and the Nation

In a list of most popular Holiday toys for the year you were born (see below), it is surprising how many of the toys that go back to the 1920’s are still recognizable today. It also gives you a sense of the time period. Lincoln Logs, Tinker Toys and Erector Sets all go back to the 1920’s. It must have been an era of building. 

The next decade includes Sock Monkey, Buck Rogers Gun, and Monopoly. It seems like this decade people were spending more time at home. Each year gives you a sense of what may have been important during those times. 

You can see the war years with Red Rider BB Guns and green army men. They were coming up with some iconic toys like the Frisbee, Magic 8 Ball and Legos through the decades after, and then something changed. 

There is a turn that takes place in the 1980’s. It seems like they stopped trying to make innovative toys and turned to action figures and stuffed animals that were marketed through movies and television. Ninja Turtles, Furby, Tickle Me Elmo, all the way up to Baby Yoda.

It's not all marketing. There was some amazing innovation. The electronic game systems like Atari and Nintendo changed things, but these did not have the staying power because new and better electronics came along to replace them.  

Utah was went through these eras the same as the rest of the nation. I think my grandparents who lived in Payson had every one of these toys. I loved the old games and we would make a mess of unloading them all from the cupboards every Sunday.

Sometimes you hear how things were better in the past. I guess looking at the list, it gives a sense of a time that was lost when marketing took over. Maybe I’m wrong. What do you see when you look down the list?