We notice some toys that were gender destinctive. Toys like dolls, dollhouses, jacks, paoer dolls, teas sets, and other toys were generall seen as girls toys. Toys like balls, blocks, chemistry sets, erector sets, guns, sailboats, and sports equipment as well as video games today are generally seen as boys toys. Of course there was no absolute destinction. we see boys playibng wuth dolls and girls with balls. A factor here was the gender of older siblings. These destinctions have also varied over time. It is now much more acceotable foir girls to engage in athletics than it was only a few decades ago. Feminist argue that these detinctions are socially based. That boys play with guns because they are encouraged to do so and likewise girls play with dolls because they are also encouraged. To an extent sucg socialization pressures probably do have some effect. Genetic enginnering over time is also a powerful force. Those who work with young children know tht boys and girls are wired differently and that gender differences are not entirely the result of the socialization process.

Figure 2.--Almost always children pictured with dolls, baby chaiages, or doll houses are girls and not little boys still wearing dresses.

Girls' Toys

Some toys almost always indicate that the child is a girl. Some girls' toys do provide useful information about fashions. One of the most obvious is paper dolls, but others may also occur to me later.

Dolls

Almost always a doll meant that the child was a girl. There were, however, some exceptions. Boys raised with older sisters would be more likely to play with dolls, especially if they were schooled at home. Similarly girls raised with boys would be more likely to play with boys' toys and take an interest in sport. Also boys in orphanages might play with dolls as the orphanages sometimes accepted donations and the boys might have few other options if dolls were donated.

It was the Matel Toy Company that finally broke the doll barrier for boys when they created G.I. Joe. Apparently a doll engaged in warfare was quite acceptable.

One interesting use of dolls in highschools is to give teenagers an idea of what is involved in having a baby. The students in the class have toncarry around a baby doll for a set period of time.

Doll houses

In the olden days, doll's houses were made from wood, or at least heavypressboard, not from plastic. Sometimes they were built by a parent or grandparent of the owner. They did not come with their own residents. They did not require the further purchase of a sportscar, swimming pool, or stereo system. The furniture was also cleverly made of wood, with little doors that opened on some of the pieces. If you were really fortunate, you had a set of painted plaster food, and tiny wood or metal dishes. A turkey, fruit, and bowls of 'mystery food' may have been a part of part of the set.

Paper dolls

Paper dolls are cut-out figures. Separate, cut-out clothes allowed little girls to try on different outfits. They could be fastened with tabs bent around the edges. Paper dolls originated in the early 19th century as inexpensive playthings for children, and remained popular for the next 150 years. The first sets were expensive hand-colored engravings, which evolved into the delightful full-color lithographs of the early 1900s, and later still, into the beautiful books that many recall from childhood. The fashions depicted for the paper dolls, especially when depicting contemporary clothes, provide useful information on fashion.

Jacks

A close relative to an ancient game formerly played with stones. You bounce a small ball and, while it is in the air, you pick up a certain number of markers or 'jacks', catching the ball before it makes a second bounce. There are ten jacks in the set. The pieces are six-pointed, so that they can be scooped up easily. The old-fashioned jacks were made from some kind of heavy metal. Modern types are coloured, and made of a lighter alloy or plastic. The lighter ones are much harder to scoop up. Two things about jacks: if you play on a rough surface, like cement, you will end up with bloody knuckles; and if they are not gathered up after the game, they are extremely painful to step on. More pain may be experienced by the owner of the jacks, if they happen to be stepped on by a parent. Back in the days when there were 'boy toys' and 'girl toys', jacks were considered to be girl toys.

Boys' Toys

Some toys almost always indicate that the child is a boy. Few items are more universally desired among boys than balls. There are of course a wide rasnge of different balls. Some are made for younger boys just to bounce. Others are made for many different sports. Bikes with many of the modern features began to appear in the 1880s and were very poular with children--especially boys. One of the most popular toy with boys are toy guns. Modern parents, mostly the mothers, will refuse to buy guns or let their children play with toy guns. Interestingly, little boys without toy guns will simply use any handy object, pretend it is a gun and blast away at his friends. Almost always the children pictured with guns are boys. I'm not sure just when the first erector sets and chemistry sets appeared, but it was probably sometime after the turn of the century. Almost always the child involved will be a boy. Erector Sets were the serious child architect's version of tinkertoys. Trains were big, powerful, and noisy. All characteristics which attracted the interest of boys. Most of the children interested in model railroads were boys. Sailboats were another hug favorite with boys. Sports until the 1970s was primarily the chummy reserve of boys. This was particulrly true of the late 19th century. (Modern sports were just beginning to evolve at the beginning of the 19th century.) Almost always children pictured with sports equipment are boys. Almost all boys, while they may look askanse at dolls, delight in toy soldiers. For years the toy soldiers were metal, but beginning in the 1950s, plastic soldiers--pale imitations of the metal ones began to appear.

Created: 5:52 AM 6/28/2004
Last updated: 5:53 AM 6/28/2004