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The History of Toys, 1900 to the Present
Imaginative play is a crucial part of growing up. It has a major impact on cognitive, emotional, and intellectual development. It’s also a joyous activity that gifts us with some of our fondest and most resilient childhood memories. Toys and games have long been a part of childhood, but the 20th century saw the rise of an entire industry devoted to the business of play, one that would constantly evolve over the years to reflect the rapid changes of the 20th and 21st centuries.
In the six lectures of The History of Toys, 1900 to the Present, consultant and toy industry expert Chris Byrne—also known as The Toy Guy—will take you on a journey through the world of toys from the Edwardian era to our current moment. Beginning with the birth of the mass-market toy industry, you’ll trace the many transformations of toys and our shifting theories of play and childhood development. From Lionel Trains and Barbie to G.I. Joe and LEGO to Tickle Me Elmo, you’ll see how these beloved playthings reflect our ideas—and our ideals—of childhood, reinforce social rules and cultural expectations, showcase new technology, and so much more.
Toys are no longer just the purview of children and their parents—our love of toys and imaginative play has become a more acceptable part of adult life, too. As you consider both the short-lived fads and the enduring games and gadgets of the past, you’ll see that, while toys and the place they have in our lives may change, one thing remains constant: our human need for play as a tool of discovery, development, and understanding of the world around us.
In the six lectures of The History of Toys, 1900 to the Present, consultant and toy industry expert Chris Byrne—also known as The Toy Guy—will take you on a journey through the world of toys from the Edwardian era to our current moment. Beginning with the birth of the mass-market toy industry, you’ll trace the many transformations of toys and our shifting theories of play and childhood development. From Lionel Trains and Barbie to G.I. Joe and LEGO to Tickle Me Elmo, you’ll see how these beloved playthings reflect our ideas—and our ideals—of childhood, reinforce social rules and cultural expectations, showcase new technology, and so much more.
Toys are no longer just the purview of children and their parents—our love of toys and imaginative play has become a more acceptable part of adult life, too. As you consider both the short-lived fads and the enduring games and gadgets of the past, you’ll see that, while toys and the place they have in our lives may change, one thing remains constant: our human need for play as a tool of discovery, development, and understanding of the world around us.
Audiobook
Published December 12, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
February 7, 2025
Play on, youngsters.
As is typically true with most of these lectures, I ended up learning about random things that I had never bothered to even question before.
Like, why do we have teenagers?
Before the 20th century, you were either a child or an adult. This whole idea of this separate chunk of development is relatively new.
I had never stopped to think about that before. I guess I was too busy either being a teenager or maybe wrangling teenagers to question the validity of their existence.
Anyway. According to this (and my meager efforts to poke about the interwebs after I finished the book), with the rise of the Industrial Revolution, children who had previously been potentially working on a farm (safe) were now working in factories (not as safe). This caused a moral pushback that ended up making education compulsory. So now you have a group that was previously employed and on their way to adulthood, being seen as something more than just children but less than adults.
Or at least, that's the extremely skinny gist.
What does this have to do with toys?
Well, instead of just marketing toys to young children modeling purely adult behavior, like baby dolls, you have toys that model their next step - the glorious freedom of being a cool teenager and the never-gonna-marry-Ken Barbie dolls.
That's kind of neat, right?
From the World Wars and the Great Depression to the invention of Plasticine, a lot of different things have made their mark on the modern toy industry.
But the moral of this story is that kids love to play. And kids of all ages love to collect and reminisce about their favorite childhood toys.
I still have my two favorite stuffed animals from back in the day, and my mother-in-law recently surprised us with a ton of Hub's old toys. We now have an old-school slinky, Smokey Bear, and a G.I. Joe with the weird hair hanging out in the office.
On an unrelated side note, we also got Charlie's Angels & OJ Simpson posters. And an uncanny amount of horse posters. So, now our children refer to their father as a horse girl.
Cruel? Yes.
Funny? Also, yes.
Ok, so while this (once again) isn't a meaty lecture, it's short and silly and fun.
If you're looking for something to listen to on a car ride, this is about 3 hours worth of a good time.
Recommended.
As is typically true with most of these lectures, I ended up learning about random things that I had never bothered to even question before.
Like, why do we have teenagers?
Before the 20th century, you were either a child or an adult. This whole idea of this separate chunk of development is relatively new.
I had never stopped to think about that before. I guess I was too busy either being a teenager or maybe wrangling teenagers to question the validity of their existence.
Anyway. According to this (and my meager efforts to poke about the interwebs after I finished the book), with the rise of the Industrial Revolution, children who had previously been potentially working on a farm (safe) were now working in factories (not as safe). This caused a moral pushback that ended up making education compulsory. So now you have a group that was previously employed and on their way to adulthood, being seen as something more than just children but less than adults.
Or at least, that's the extremely skinny gist.
What does this have to do with toys?
Well, instead of just marketing toys to young children modeling purely adult behavior, like baby dolls, you have toys that model their next step - the glorious freedom of being a cool teenager and the never-gonna-marry-Ken Barbie dolls.
That's kind of neat, right?
From the World Wars and the Great Depression to the invention of Plasticine, a lot of different things have made their mark on the modern toy industry.
But the moral of this story is that kids love to play. And kids of all ages love to collect and reminisce about their favorite childhood toys.
I still have my two favorite stuffed animals from back in the day, and my mother-in-law recently surprised us with a ton of Hub's old toys. We now have an old-school slinky, Smokey Bear, and a G.I. Joe with the weird hair hanging out in the office.
On an unrelated side note, we also got Charlie's Angels & OJ Simpson posters. And an uncanny amount of horse posters. So, now our children refer to their father as a horse girl.
Cruel? Yes.
Funny? Also, yes.
Ok, so while this (once again) isn't a meaty lecture, it's short and silly and fun.
If you're looking for something to listen to on a car ride, this is about 3 hours worth of a good time.
Recommended.
January 8, 2025
History of really niche topics are my jam.
January 17, 2025
I enjoyed this book so much that it is funny. The way the author tells the history, explodes the myths and. Shsres his memories and insight into the the toy industry's is as amusing as it is informative.
January 30, 2025
Super interesting to hear the stories behind hit toys. Tickle-me-Elmo, Beanie Babies, Furby, Giga Pets, oh the memories!
April 24, 2025
Engaging and enlightening... a nice summary.
January 8, 2025
Interesting and entertaining.
February 12, 2025
next book (audiobook, like most of these) i listened to for 2025 was "the history of toys, 1900 to the present" which was a free (for subscribers) audible book, which was actually a converted 'great courses' lecture series, so it felt like attending a short college class on the history of toys. it wasn't bad, but as could be expected, it was not very heavy on theory or speculation, it was just largely a rote listing of which toys were popular and when, and random cool facts about each toy trend over the years.
so what struck with me is random oddball facts, like how the shirley temple doll actually made up the majority of shirley temple's income, she was underpaid for her movies so most of her wealth came from sales of the shirley temple doll (which she took a personal interest in, making sure they looked like her and were good quality).
as a game designer, i thought it'd be useful to get a good grasp on the history of toys, but, i don't think this book provided that good grasp, it was more a series of random facts rather than a new understanding of what toys are and what they mean. which i don't think is necessarily a bad thing, i just wish there were a more expansive book written by someone more philosophical, on the history and theory of toys, and not just through the 1900s, but through all of time. the author of this book was actually a toy company marketing executive (he's the guy who introduced tickle-me-elmo back in the day), not a historian or a philosopher, so that may explain the shallow nature of the history. but it was fun to learn all these random facts, so i'd give it a 3.5/5 or something.
(another big fault is it only covered the history of toys in the 20th century *in the united states* -- not the rest of the world. cuz that's what the guy knew about. so we got a lot about barbie, g.i. joe, transformers, and the like, but who knows what toys were popular in india or china or brazil or russia in the 20th century? this book ignores all that. like how can you have a history of toys without even mentioning those nestled russian dolls or other toys that originated outside of the toy industry of american corporations?)
so what struck with me is random oddball facts, like how the shirley temple doll actually made up the majority of shirley temple's income, she was underpaid for her movies so most of her wealth came from sales of the shirley temple doll (which she took a personal interest in, making sure they looked like her and were good quality).
as a game designer, i thought it'd be useful to get a good grasp on the history of toys, but, i don't think this book provided that good grasp, it was more a series of random facts rather than a new understanding of what toys are and what they mean. which i don't think is necessarily a bad thing, i just wish there were a more expansive book written by someone more philosophical, on the history and theory of toys, and not just through the 1900s, but through all of time. the author of this book was actually a toy company marketing executive (he's the guy who introduced tickle-me-elmo back in the day), not a historian or a philosopher, so that may explain the shallow nature of the history. but it was fun to learn all these random facts, so i'd give it a 3.5/5 or something.
(another big fault is it only covered the history of toys in the 20th century *in the united states* -- not the rest of the world. cuz that's what the guy knew about. so we got a lot about barbie, g.i. joe, transformers, and the like, but who knows what toys were popular in india or china or brazil or russia in the 20th century? this book ignores all that. like how can you have a history of toys without even mentioning those nestled russian dolls or other toys that originated outside of the toy industry of american corporations?)
January 20, 2025
I always thought that Furby's came out before Gremlins, but this audible proved me wrong.
I think that the effects that pop culture have on industries of all kind are interesting, but I didn't realize how much of an effect toys had on children as well as adults.
I am not sure why, but I always thought that toys where a large part of out culture, it was more of an after thought until the start of the 19th century; starting in Europe and moving to the US and Japan.
I also think that the toy market moving to adults in the last few decades has been an extremely interesting shift. We are really helping boost the action figure and Lego markets.
Overall, it was very interesting to listen to and I do feel like i learns some new things.
I do recommend listening to it on 1.2x or 1.5x speed.
I think that the effects that pop culture have on industries of all kind are interesting, but I didn't realize how much of an effect toys had on children as well as adults.
I am not sure why, but I always thought that toys where a large part of out culture, it was more of an after thought until the start of the 19th century; starting in Europe and moving to the US and Japan.
I also think that the toy market moving to adults in the last few decades has been an extremely interesting shift. We are really helping boost the action figure and Lego markets.
Overall, it was very interesting to listen to and I do feel like i learns some new things.
I do recommend listening to it on 1.2x or 1.5x speed.
March 6, 2025
A course that took me on a journey through time.
My grandmother, born in 1899, probably played with homemade toys or ones crafted by friends in her village. My father, born in 1926, witnessed the rise of mass-produced toys—he loved his Lionel train and pellet rifle.
I, born in 1962, grew up with metal and plastic toys—cars, yo-yos, and the like. All mass-produced, and I loved them. My children, a mix of Millennials and Gen Z, moved from action figures and Legos to a world almost entirely digital.
The author says that as long as there are children, there will be play. But the world has changed so much that sometimes, I hardly recognize it.
My grandmother, born in 1899, probably played with homemade toys or ones crafted by friends in her village. My father, born in 1926, witnessed the rise of mass-produced toys—he loved his Lionel train and pellet rifle.
I, born in 1962, grew up with metal and plastic toys—cars, yo-yos, and the like. All mass-produced, and I loved them. My children, a mix of Millennials and Gen Z, moved from action figures and Legos to a world almost entirely digital.
The author says that as long as there are children, there will be play. But the world has changed so much that sometimes, I hardly recognize it.
February 27, 2025
A nostalgic journey through the last century of playthings, 100 Years of Toys captures the shifting zeitgeists that shaped childhood across generations. It’s a fascinating look at the evolution of trends, from timeless classics to fleeting fads—some I fondly remember, others I wish I could forget. The audiobook provides an interesting take on how cultural shifts and consumer habits influence what we play with, making it as much about history as it is about toys. A fun listen for anyone who enjoys reminiscing or analyzing how trends develop over time.
January 12, 2026
This was ok, but chunks of it read more like a list of toys that were popular over the years, when I was hoping for a little more behind the scenes on how and why different toys became famous, were created, or were popular. To be fair, Byrne notes that there aren't really any written records of toy development, just stories told over the years, so there's not a lot to work with in terms of backstory. Still, though, it felt lacking in some way for me.
January 28, 2025
Wow we had those toys… who’s going to pay that much for old toys… Lincoln log!
Wow. No mention of the racetrack being used to beat kids though. lol
Wow. No mention of the racetrack being used to beat kids though. lol
February 9, 2025
Fun history in context of American Toy Industry. I’m thinking of ways to incorporate assigned reading of this as part of a collectibles unit!
February 9, 2025
This series is really interesting. This does tend to focus more on more modern toys than the older ones
February 21, 2025
Such a fun and interesting book!
April 14, 2025
The content of the audiobook may well be interesting, but I couldn't abide the author's voice and cadence. I gave up almost immediately.
September 16, 2025
Was interesting. Wish I had money for toys but food is good too.
October 30, 2025
fantastic!
December 12, 2025
It was interesting but the title is a bit misleading. It should say History of Toys in America.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews