Toy Stories: Classic Toys and Their Origins

The first toy store opened in London in 1760, as Noah’s Ark. It was later renamed Hamleys, in honor of its founder, William Hamely, and today Hamleys on Regent Street is the biggest toy store in the world. Its American counterpart, FAO Schwarz (originally named Toy Bazaar), was founded in 1862 in Baltimore, Maryland. Both Hamleys and FAO Schwarz have delighted generations of children and adults and are famous around the world.

But toys have been around for literally thousands of years before they were sold. Some of the earliest toys go back to 3100 BC. The first toys were primitive; made of such materials as rocks, wood, and string. They bear similarities to some of today’s toys and games, including dolls, marbles, jacks, dice, and puzzles, and were homemade. The arrival of the Industrial Revolution meant toys could be mass-produced.

Even during times when children were expected to help their parents with their work and education was reserved only for the wealthy, kids still found time for recreation. But toys were seen to have potential as educational devices as well. The idea was first proposed by English philosopher John Locke in 1693, and today,  educational toys account for 35% of the U.S. market, driven in by high demand for increasing STEM learning. The overall toy market for 2024 is expected to be approximately $40.1 billion.

Ask any child, though, and they’ll insist that at their heart, toys are about fun, plain and simple. And if there’ some learning tucked in there, well, that’s a bonus for not just the kids but for parents and teachers.

Here’s a look at some classic toys, how they came to be, and the people behind them.

CRAYOLA CRAYONS

INVENTOR: Cousins Edwin Binney and Charles Smith

INVENTED: 1903

FUN FACT: Crayola also owns “Silly Putty”

Crayola Crayons, with their assortments of vivid colors and memorable names (Carnation Pink, Blue Bell, anyone) are considered the OG of the boxes of waxy drawing sticks. But Crayola crayons are not actually the original crayons. They were first invented in Europe and were used by classical artists going back as far as the 15th Century. The word itself, which originally referred to “chalk pencils,” comes from the French word for chalk, “craie.”

Crayons got an update at the beginning of the 20th century when Binney and Smith were inventing substances and colors for industrial use. The company, Binney & Smith, produced a variety of items, including pencils, and the first dustless white chalk. Edwin Binney and his wife, Alice, developed the prototype for today’s crayons in 1903. Alice, who was a former schoolteacher, came up with the catchy name “Crayola.” 

In 1903, a box of six crayons, marketed to artists, cost 5 cents. Today, boxes sell as many as 200 crayons, and the company sells a full range of artist supplies. There currently are 148 colors, and Crayola makes almost 3 billion crayons a year. That’s 12 million every day.

LEGOs

Inventor: Ole Kirk Kristiansen

Invented: 1953

Fun Fact: LEGOs can be donated through a program called BrickRecycler.com

It took a Danish carpenter, Ole Kirk Kristiansen, to create the world’s most popular plastic toy. Since the first LEGO was made in 1953, more than 1.1 trillion pieces have been created, weighing almost 2 tons.

But Kristiansen didn’t start out making plastic toys, or even building blocks. His first creations were wooden toys, including wagons, trains, and a duck that “quacked” when pulled along. He made these toys along with useful household items for adults, such as ladders and ironing boards. But his heart was in the toy business, and even when he had financial difficulty and toy-making was less than practical, he stuck with the idea of entertaining children.

He started the LEGO company in the 1930s, years before the first plastic brick was produced. He took the name from combining the words leg godt, which mean “playing well” in Danish. The named proved prophetic, as “lego” means “I put together” in Latin.

Kristiansen got the idea for his most famous invention, which made his company name into a household world, in the late 1940s when he saw Kiddicraft Self-Locking Building Bricks, plastic blocks that snapped together, designed by a British toymaker. The idea wasn’t patented outside of England, so he created LEGO Automatic Binding Bricks.

Today, LEGOs are a worldwide brand. The name of the company is now synonymous with the little plastic bricks used by children to create the most basic toys and by adults to create elaborate works of modern art.

HOT WHEELS

Inventor: Elliot Handler

Invented: 1968

Fun Fact: Hot Wheels were invented to compete with Matchbox cars. Mattel, which owns Hot Wheels, later bought Matchbox

Elliot Handler, the husband of Barbie inventor Ruth Handler, invented the miniature cars and got design help from real car companies, including General Motors. Barbie was invented because dolls for girls weren’t realistic. But Hot Wheels were born because Elliot thought that the very popular Matchbox Cars were too realistic. He wanted something a little more “outrageous” to capture the attention of young boys already fascinated by automobiles.

The model cars are built at a scale of 1:64, meaning real cars’ measurement are 64 times the unit of measurement used for the Hot Wheels. By comparison, the average human being is approximately 1+1⁄16 inches tall according to the 1:64 scale, where 3/16ths of an inch is equivalent to one foot.

The cars got their name because when Elliot saw the first car in action, he said, “Those are some hot wheels!” The miniature cars have remained hot. Hot Wheels were the best-selling toys in their category in 2022.

Elliot started out as an art student and light designer. He and a business partner, Harold Mattson, and Elliot’s wife Ruth started Mattel in 1945. The name was a combination of “Elliot” and “Matt,” Harold’s nickname. The company originally made frames and doll furniture, and had its first successful product, a toy ukelele, in 1947.

SQUISHMALLOWS

Inventor: John Kelly

Invented: 2017

Fun Fact: Squishmallows have gotten more than 11 billion views on TikTok

Are Squishmallows pillows, or are they stuffed animals? Judging by their popularity (in 2022, they were the most popular toy in 21 of the 50 states), who cares? Their cozy, huggable shapes and individual identities have made them a source of comfort and joy to both kids and adults. With some 3000 different styles and coming in sizes ranging from keychain charms to 24 inches, there’s a Squishmallow for everyone.

The inventor, John Kelly, said he was inspired to create them after he traveled to Japan and saw how much people there loved squishy plush toys. Kelly took things a step further with Squishmallows. He gave each one a unique identity that includes a name, a “squish date” (imagine a birth date for a toy), an assignment to one or more “squads” such as Food, Sealife, or Original, and a personality. Cameron the Cat, part of the Original Squad, is a skateboarder and is besties with Original Squad members Hoot the Owl and Wendy the Frog.

There’s also an educational element to the Squishes and their stories. Steele the shark was “born” deaf Steele and loves to dance, and his tag explains that he is “Feeling the vibrations of the drums and bass.” Louie the mango is dyslexic, but reading is his favorite hobby.

You can also find Squishmallows that have teamed up with other famous brands, including “Hello, Kitty,” Star Wars, Pokemon, Harry Potter, Disney, and Marvel.