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The Evolution of Toys Over the Last 100 Years

We all had our favorite toy as a kid, just like our parents and grandparents did when they were little. So who had it best? What generation had the most fun toys to play with, and what decades would  been better off just wrapping up a cardboard box as a gift?

Mode.com has put together a fun little video looking at the changes in toys over the last 100 years, from the dolls of the 1910s (that were apparently the inspiration for every horror movie that was ever made) to the “hoverboards” of 2015 (you know, those things with the wheels that are like a really lazy man’s Segway). In between kids have had a chance to play with lots of great (and some not-so-great) toys.

This collection is certainly not complete, nor is it meant to be. Instead it gives you an idea of the types of toys that were popular in those periods, and you can see the changes in interests as well as designs. Watching this you realize some decades were a lot more fun than others, pushing creativity and imagination over just dolls and stuffed animals. Though in fairness, those have had a lot of staying power.

(If you’re too young to remember how popular that damn Tickle Me Elmo toy was, I can tell you, as someone that was there, it almost tore this country apart. A lot of blood was shed, and a lot of good people lost.)

It would be interesting to see this video go back another 100 years. I’m no expert on the history of toys, but I believe the first known toy in America was actually a giant splinter, and eventually that evolved into a block of wood you could sit on, or put your one meal of the day, an onion and a bag of leaves, on top of.

Things were hard in the olden days.

Did you spot any of your favorite childhood toys in this video? If so, don’t toy around with us; tell us about it in the comments below.

Image: Mode.com/YouTube

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