Pogo Sticks have been around since the 1950s and became a massive hit through the 1970s when a redesign took place. Pogo sticks are still a popular children’s toy and most children are still keen to try the humble Pogo stick and see how they fair.
So a Pogo stick is a pole with a handle at the top and footrests near the bottom, at the bottom a spring is in cased inside the pole.
You need to place a foot on the foot rests or hop onto it and balance whilst you jump up and down with a slight bending motion at the knees. This motion allows you to control by adding or removing energy which goes into the spring below. Or you can see how many full bounces you can do to pretend you are Tigger or to travel in larger but potentially more uncontrollable steps. The modern pogo stick was invented in Germany by Hans Pohlig and Ernst Gottschall, they filed a patent in 1920 for a device called spring end hoping stilt – catchy hey. Over time different designs have been made mainly focusing on adding more movement and higher bounce but also trying to protect the user from chin or head injury’s did also feature in several designs. Extreme Pogo or Xpogo is a growing action sport featuring 10ft jumps in height and many modern materials this has led to number of athlete and exhibition teams have been formed, this is one to watch the stunts and flips which are possible is great to watch.
Category Archives: Toys from 1990s
Clackers
Clackers are a toy made of two hard plastic balls on plastic arms or a string which when jerked up and down the balls hit together making a loud click-clacking noise. the idea was to keep them active and clacking for as long as possible – Yes ok this was another toy fad 🙂 but they have had a number comebacks. They were very popular in the late 1960s through to the early 1980s. 
The Clacker was discontinued over safety concerns as the balls/ends could be a little wild. A newer version of the Clacker which added fixed arms to the balls so the motion and sound were easier to achieve.
The size of the weights/balls varied between models but a diameter of two inches was typical, with the original version with practice you could make the balls hit together above the hand and not just below.
As we many toys Clackers were also known as Ker-Bangers and Clatter Balls and many other names.
The Clacker was discontinued over safety concerns as the balls/ends could be a little wild. A newer version of the Clacker which added fixed arms to the balls so the motion and sound were easier to achieve.
The size of the weights/balls varied between models but a diameter of two inches was typical, with the original version with practice you could make the balls hit together above the hand and not just below.
As we many toys Clackers were also known as Ker-Bangers and Clatter Balls and many other names.
Yo-Yo History
The Yo-Yo can be traced back to around 500 B.C. but it took until the 1920’s when a young US immigrant name Pedro Flores saw the potential after recalling its popularity in his Philippine roots. He founded the Yo-yo company whilst working as a bellboy in 1928. He began by selling handmade yo-yos to children around LA and managed to open a factory where within a year the company was producing 300,000 Yo-yos a day!!
The Yo-yo was a craze which led to countless yo-yo contests all over the country.
In modern times many different types of Yo-yo can be bought from simple, to more advanced ones with gears, lights and stunt based Yo-yos. They are a classic toy that is for sure and last for a small outlay.
Troll Dolls also known as Dam Doll
Trolls or Troll Dolls are also known as Dam Doll is a small plastic doll which has furry hair often in bright and slightly pointy styles. They were first created in 1959 by a Danish guy called Thomas Dam, they became one of Americas biggest toy fads in the 1960’s and have had numerous come backs and fads in periods during the 1970’s, 1990’s.
Thomas Dam was a fisherman and woodcutter and was struggling to afford a gift for his young daughter, so he carved a troll doll especially for her. When other kids saw the dolls they also asked for one and so the Dam company began to produce dolls using plastic instead. They marketed the dolls as a Good Luck doll. The dolls were very popular in many European countries in the 1960’s they were then introduced to USA soon after. They were one of the biggest fads in the USA from late 1963 right through to 1965. The original Dam dolls were high quality and featured sheep’s wool and glass eyes.
In 2003 the Dam company restored their United States copyrights which stopped unlicensed production. When they tried again to re-launch the brand under the name of Tollz in 2005 it didn’t quite work, but I’m sure they will be back soon for another attempt.
The Dam company continued to make the trolls in Europe were popularity remained, in the USA demand shifted and due to a mistake in the original copyright paperwork some cheaper imitations were produced to try and capture market share.
During the 1990’s the marketers tried to sell the concept to boys using the lines of Battle Trolls and Stone protector franchises, and of course teenage mutant hero/ninja turtles, mighty max. These were met with mild and limited success to convert them.
Pound Puppies
Pound Puppies was a range of toys sold in the 1980’s by Tonka which went on to have a number of TV specials, animated TV series, and a feature film. Sales of over $300 million were generated over five years by the toys 35 countries.
The puppies had a variety of colors and some with spots and featured plush stuffed dog dolls with floppy ears and droopy eyes. Each one came in a carrying case with an adoption certificate. Smaller versions were also created (approximately 5 inches (13 cm) long), and a line of cats called Pound Pur-r-ries was also released. Each authentic puppy had a heart-shaped emblem near its tail that sported a “PP” logo with either a dog or cat.
In 1987, Hardee’s restaurants offered a free Pound Puppie with every Children’s Meal. Pound puppies to come back in the early 1990s with additional toys and merchandise.
Guess Who
Guess Who? Is the well known two player guessing game where players have to guess which character they have picked before the opponent guess their chosen character. The game was created by Ora and Theo Coster and first made in in 1979 by Milton Bradley in the England. It was later brought to the United States in 1982.
Each player has a board which include 24 cartoon style characters with their names below the images on small stands. Each game starts with all of these standing up. Each player then picks from a pile of cards containing one of the same images, players then take turns to asking questions yes or no questions like do they wear glasses?, do they have hair? If they do the image remains standing if not it falls until one is left.
Girls World
Girls World has been around for decades. Its is large sized plastic girls head with hair that can be styled and make-up that can be applied. A must for any young aspiring make up artist. It is still available in any good toy shop and now supplied with make up, hair accessories including beads, bead applicator, hairbrush and hair slides.
My First Girls World version was released in the 1970’s and game with choker, brush, curlers, and make up.
Many now come with more beads and straight hair for easier styling. Hair brushes, beads and hair ties,clips are some of the accessories which typically are included with the latest Girls World Bead and Style version.
Cluedo Board Game
Cluedo is a popular board game based where you try to work out who was murdered and where and using what. This well known game was first published in 1949 in Leeds England by Waddingtons by Anthony E. Pratt who was a solicitors clerk and part time child’s entertainer. In the United States Cluedo is published by Hasbro who acquired its US publisher Waddingtons and Parker Brothers.
The aim of the game is for players to move around the board, each player represents a character/person and you move around the rooms of the mansion collecting clues to solve the questions of who murdered who in the where with the what.
A number of spin off versions have been released alongside many books and other material. The traditional game has the tag line of the “Classic Detective Game”.
Back in 1944 Anthony E. Pratt first filed for a patent of his invention of a murder/mystery-themed game, originally the game was named “Murder!” The game was originally invented as something to play during lengthy air raid drills. Soon after him and is wife presented the game to Norman Watson who was an executive Waddingtons, he immediately purchased the rights to the game and provided its trademark name of “Cluedo” which is a ludo (Latin for I play, and clue) The patent was granted in 1947 however due to post-war shortages, the game was not officially launched until 1949, the game was simultaneously licensed to Parker Brothers in the United States, where it was renamed “Clue”.
Monopoly Board Game
Everyone knows about the game Monopoly where you buy landmarks and hotels and take chance, try and avoid jail and travel round the board trying to avoid landing on opponents property’s. Many different versions exsist and the properties used are normally based on the location or film/TV featured.
The game consists of forty spaces on the outside edge of the board, with twenty-eight properties, three chance spaces, three community chest, four corners, Go, Jail amongst others.
In September 2006 the US edition of Monopoly Here and Now was released. This edition featured top landmarks across the US and the properties featured were decided by the people voting online during spring 2006.
Each player has a token to represent them they have changed slightly over the year but are usually Wheelbarrow (since 1937), Battleship, Race car, Thimble, Boot/Old Show, Terrier Dog, Top Hat, Cat (2013+). Tokens used previously but now retried are Rocking Horse, Purse, Lantern, Man on horse Back, Iron, Cannon, Sack of Money.
Some special editions also took the opportunity to have limited tokens the Australian version included a pewter koala, and 1982 Canadian edition had a pewter beaver.
The board game Monopoly was finally formed when an American called Elizabeth J Magie Phillips who had invented a game to try and explain tax and aspects of negative property ownership. Variations based on her concept and several patents were granted from 1906-1934.
In 1936 Parker Brothers licensed the game for sale outside the USA. In 1941 Waddington Ltd created a special edition for the Secret Intelligence Service for World War II prisoners of war who were held by the Nazis. Hidden within the games were real money, maps,compasses and other objects which would be useful to escape.
Parker Brothers and its parent companies (Hasbro) continue to hold the trademarks and since 1994 numberous special editions have been released tailored and most cities and series themes including San Diego, London and Star Wars Monopoly.
