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Toys

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Toys and Development



Sticks, seedpods and stones may well have been the very
first toys, followed in every culture with dolls, spin-tops, pull-
toys and, above all the ubiquitous ball.
 
The history of toys runs parallel to that of tools, following
progressive technological change. In the nineteenth century,
traditional hand-made toys of wood and cloth were
supplemented with mass-produced mechanical and optical
toys of metal, reflecting the latest technological advances.
Twentieth-century toys leave no plastic or electronic
technologies unused.
 
Like comic books and science fiction, toys often predict the
future of technology by imaginative leaps forward. Since they
are not constrained by the need to be practical, they are free
to explore fanciful applications of technology.

 

© 1993- 1995 Alexander Manu ©1995 Danish Design Centre "ToolToys - Tools with an Element of Play "
The author grants permission to make a digital or hard copy of part or all of this work for personal use provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit. The copyright notice and the title of the publication must appear on all printed copies.