Elmhurst exhibit plays up the local history of classic toys
When Elmhurst Historical Museum curator of exhibits Lance Tawzer started researching Chicago's toy industry, he wasn't sure if there would be enough material to make an exhibit. He quickly found that there was too much to use.
“I just starting reading and getting books,” Tawzer said. “One after the other, they had some connection to Chicago.”
The result is “Toys in the Hood,” which runs at the Elmhurst Historical Museum through Sept. 18. The exhibit celebrates the historic toys that got their start in the Chicago area, the industry of toy invention and toy inventors working in the area today.
“It's an industry that we felt people could get a little education about,” Tawzer said.
Geared toward all ages, the exhibit opens with information on Marvin Glass and Associates, a toy design company founded in 1941 in Chicago that is responsible for some of the most popular toys of the 20th century including Simon, Mouse Trap and Rock'Em Sock'Em Robots. The Elmhurst Historical Museum reached out to the Evanston History Center, Chicago History Museum, The Children's Museum of Indianapolis and The National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York, to borrow an extensive collection of toys to show off.
The exhibit displays other popular toys with local roots like Lincoln Logs, which were invented by Frank Lloyd Wright's son John Lloyd Wright in Chicago, and Tinker Toys which were invented in Evanston. Donald F. Duncan began manufacturing wooden yo-yos in Chicago in the 1930s and marketed the toy through contests and demonstrations nationwide. More recently, the Oak Brook-based Ty company ignited a national collecting craze in the '90s with Beanie Babies.
Not all the local ideas made good, and the exhibit also displays flops like stackable men called Bill Ding. A case shows off development models including a version of Simon that looks more like a keyboard than the signature circle, an Operation game that's simply a metal slab with some circuitry and a gumball-dropping cow.
“Ninety five percent of the time, an idea is rejected,” Tawzer said. “You have to have very thick skin as a toy inventor.”
A TV shows a four-part piece on toy invention, where you can press buttons to watch different one- to two-minute clips. Other displays show the work that goes into creating a finished product, including developers measuring actual cars to make models and the process of taking a design from a sketch to a mold to a complete toy.
Many of the early Chicago-area toy companies have since been bought by bigger corporations and moved elsewhere. But independent game designers still thrive in Chicago, which hosts the annual Chicago Toy and Game Fair.
“These are people who are basically doing it out of their houses,” Tawzer said.
After learning about their favorite toys' history, kids can head to an upstairs gallery to play with Lincoln Logs, Thomas the Tank Engine, Mouse Trap and others.
“The toy companies themselves really stepped up,” Tawzer said. “They didn't just send me one set of Tinker Toys, they sent me four knowing pieces would disappear throughout the summer. These are big companies and you send them a letter from a little museum and they say ‘This is brilliant. How can I help?'”
The Elmhurst Historical Museum is planning several special events as part of the exhibit. June 26 is the Toy Fair Extravaganza where kids can play games, enter a Lincoln Log building contest and win prizes. From 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesdays June 21 through Aug. 16, kids and their caregivers can drop in for toy-themed craft activities including making yo-yos, teddy bears and kites. Admission is $1 to $2.
Toys in the Hood
Elmhurst Historical Museum, 120 E. Park Ave., Elmhurst, (630) 833-1457; elmhurst.org
<B>Hours: </B>1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday through Sept. 18
<B>Admission:</b> Free