[...no Rubber Ducky? How come?]
February 19, 2008, 5:55 pm
Will Rubber Ducky Ever Be Enshrined?
By Jennifer 8. Lee
Toy fair Tim George, right, a k a Mr. Etch A Sketch, at the Javits Center. Mr. George, 57, is an Etch A Sketch artist from Columbus, Ohio. Toy Fair runs all week. (Photo: Ruby Washington/The New York Times)
Tucked down Aisle 900 of Toy Fair (just Toy Fair, mind you, not ?the Toy Fair?) at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center ? amid the newest whirring, glowing, hovering, shrinking playthings clamoring to be the hit product this year ? is a space reserved for the elite of the elite, the toys that don?t have to prove themselves anymore to anybody. They are the inductees to the National Toy Hall of Fame.
The honored toys include the sophisticated but obsolete (Atari 2600, inducted in 2007) and the humble (cardboard box, 2005), the trademarked (Scrabble, 2004) and the generic (kite, 2007), the domestic (Easy Bake Oven, 2006) and the militaristic (G. I. Joe, 2004).
The gatekeeper for the exalted status is the Strong National Museum of Play, in Rochester, which acquired the rights to the Toy Hall of Fame from A. C. Gilbert?s Discovery Village, in Salem, Ore., which started the hall in 1998. Who knew that the rights of the halls of fame could be bought and sold? (Mr. Gilbert, by the way, is best known as the inventor of the erector set.)
To be considered for the hall, toys must have promoted learning, creativity and discovery; be innovative; and proved their longevity (for at least 20 years).
To highlight their favorites, the museum had brought Tim George, an Etch A Sketch artist from Columbus, Ohio, to show off his skills. Mr. George, who sketches elaborate images of animals and scenes with the mere twisting of his wrists, has been playing with the Etch A Sketch since around 1960. At Toy Fair, he even had one of his original Etch A Sketches from his childhood (the only main difference from today?s model is that the white knobs were smaller then).
In the age of Nintendo Wiis and Webkinz, do children still play with Etch A Sketch? Oh yes, he said, when he goes into schools to show off his sketching, he always asks the students if they have ever played with an Etch A Sketch. ?Even today, everyone raises their hands ? every one of them,? he said. He gets a similar enthusiastic response in retirement homes, he said, adding, ?It?s cross-generational.?
Since it took over the hall, the National Museum of Play has been much more selective in its induction process, adding only two or three toys a year. The opening class of inductees in 1998-99 was a long list of 18 toys. ?They did whatever they wanted back then,? said Susan Trien, the spokeswoman for the museum.
Now, the nominations are narrowed down to finalists, which are then ranked by a panel of judges to come up with the final inductees. Of course, the museum is hardly above the influence of lobbying, especially by well-organized groups. The Raggedy Ann Museum had a multiyear campaign to get Raggedy Andy into the hall to rejoin his sister, who had been inducted five years earlier. (Will Ken, likewise, join Barbie? Students at Williamette University have protested his omission.)
And G. I. Joe received 1,200 nominations from fans before he was inducted, overwhelming the poll by Playthings magazine. Of course, not everyone has such clear constituencies (the cardboard box was really considered an underdog.)
Among the glass display cases in the exhibit were several familiar yellow figurines on display: rubber duckies.
Is Rubber Ducky in the hall? City Room inquired.
?No, it?s not,? Ms. Trien said.
Your City Room reporter was stunned for a second. After all, how many other toys have a song devoted to them, much less a memorable serenade from th ?Sesame Street? show? After gathering her composure, she pressed. ?Could Rubber Ducky make it??
Ms. Trien hesitated, then added: ?It?s possible. It was nominated. I can?t rule it out.?
Aside from Rubber Ducky, other omissions are notable: Rubik?s Cube, skateboard, pogo stick.
Here are the current 39 (or 38, if you count Raggedy Anne and Andy as one unit) inductees into the National Hall Toy of Fame.
Original 1998-99 inductees:
* Barbie
* Crayola Crayon
* Erector Set
* Etch A Sketch
* Frisbee
* Hula Hoop
* Lego
* Lincoln Logs
* Marbles
* Monopoly
* Play-Doh
* Radio Flyer wagon
* Rocking Horse
* Roller Skates
* Teddy Bear
* Tinkertoy
* View-Master
* Duncan Yo-Yo
2000
* Bicycle
* Jacks
* Jump Rope
* Mr. Potato Head
* Slinky
2001 (when it switched over to the National Museum of Play)
* Silly Putty
* Tonka Trucks
2002
* Jigsaw puzzle
* Raggedy Ann
2003
* Alphabet Blocks
* Checkers
2004
* G. I. Joe
* Scrabble
2005
* Candy Land
* Cardboard box
* Jack-in-the-Box
2006
* Easy Bake Oven
* Lionel Trains
2007
* Atari 2600
* Kite
* Raggedy Andy
Anything missing?
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/will-rubber-ducky-ever-be-enshrined/
