100 Years of American Toy Ads: From Meccano to Star Wars

A new Taschen book, 'Toys. 100 Years of All American Toy Ads' by Steven Heller and Jim Heimann, surveys a century of US toy advertising, revealing how playthings mirrored technological and social shifts. The 528-page volume traces the evolution from handcrafted toys to industrial production, with early 20th-century hits like Meccano and Erector sets. The 1920s yo-yo craze (introduced by Filipino immigrant Pedro Flores) gave way to Depression-era cereal-box premiums featuring comic characters. Post-WWII saw new plastics and atomic-themed novelties like the 1947 KiX Atomic Bomb Ring. The 1950s brought Barbie (created by Mattel co-founder Ruth Handler in 1959) and Ken (1961). The 1960s saw talking dolls (See 'n Say), Hot Wheels, and Swingy. The 1970s introduced adult consumers with Ernő Rubik's Cube (1974) and Dungeons & Dragons. The digital revolution from the late 1970s—Atari, Space Invaders, Game Boy, Super Mario—transformed play. The book is published by Taschen (Cologne, 2021, €30). A companion volume, 'Giocattoli storici della collezione Cavalli Rosazza' (Silvana Editoriale, 2021, €45), documents 1,130 toys from a collection at Palazzo Chiericati in Vicenza.