Tuesday, December 2, 2008 9:18 PM CST
OUR VIEW: Common stick attains elite toy status
By the JG/T-C Editorial Board
editorial@jg-tc.com
Now that the stick has joined the cardboard box in the National Toy Hall of Fame, can an empty can be far behind?
An Arcola boy’s stick recently was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame, joining 40 other childhood favorites.
The stick is one of three inductees in this year’s hall of fame “class” — joining the baby doll and skateboard.
It’s not easy to make the cut, as should be the case with any hall of fame.
Among this year’s Toy Hall of Fame nominees not selected were Hot Wheels, Rubik’s Cube, Thomas the Tank Engine and the Wiffle Ball — great toys all.
The announcement by the National Toy Hall of Fame, located at the Strong Museum of Play in Rochester, N.Y., had this to say about the common stick:
“Found in all sizes in nature, sticks inspire spontaneous, unstructured play and can be used in unendingly imaginative ways — to draw in the sand on a beach, or to use as a magic wand, slingshot, light saber, fishing rod, or walking stick; not to mention playing stickball, toasting marshmallows, or playing ‘fetch’ with your dog.”
The stick now keeps proud company with another nontraditional “toy” — the cardboard box — one of our favorites, too.
The cardboard box was inducted into the hall in 2005.
The stick that is on display at the National Toy Hall of Fame is a gun-shaped stick belonging to Julian Harshbarger, age 7, of Arcola.
The stick is Arcola’s third contribution to the toy hall of fame. Raggedy Ann (2002) and Raggedy Andy (2007) were previous “inductees.”
The two rag dolls, of course, were the creation of Arcola native Johnny Gruelle.
An official with the hall of fame was in Arcola a year ago as part of the Raggedy Andy selection process and was staying at the bed and breakfast operated by Julian’s dad and grandparents.
He saw Julian’s stick and the rest, as they say, is history.
“Talent,” it seems, truly can be discovered anywhere.
Criteria for induction into the National Toy Hall of Fame include: Icon-status (the toy is widely recognized, respected, and remembered); longevity (the toy is more than a passing fad and has enjoyed popularity over multiple generations); discovery (the toy fosters learning, creativity or discovery through play); and innovation (the toy profoundly changed play or toy design).
Other toys in the National Toy Hall of Fame include alphabet blocks, Barbie, bicycle, checkers, Frisbee, jump rope, kite, Lincoln Logs, marbles, Silly Putty and Tinkertoys.
And if hall of fame selectors are looking for another nontraditional toy like the stick and cardboard box, they might consider the can.
Virtually everyone has played kick the can or tied a string to two cans and talked to a friend.
Congratulations to the stick and to the young lad in Arcola, whose special stick caught the attention of the National Toy Hall of Fame.
— JG/T-C Editorial Board
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medic57 wrote on Dec 7, 2008 12:20 AM:
When I was a kid, (couple of days back) we used to cut up refrigerator boxes and wait for it to rain, then go down to the Foot Bridge and slide down the wet grass to the RailRoad tracks, luckily for us, no trains ever came along, even luckier, mom never found out. "