The Most Popular Toy From Each Year Is A Lense to Utah’s Past In a Unique Way

Looking at this list of the most popular toy every year that you can find at the bottom of this article is not only fun, it gives you a feel for what was happening at the time. It turns out toys reflect the culture and what was important that year.

Toys are Not a Necessity But a Choice

You can look at homes and building from earlier decades and get a feel for life during those times. The difference with toys is they aren't what someone had to buy, but something they wanted and not for themselves, but their kids.

You can see what was important to the parent and the child reflected in the gifts. For instance the 1920s toys were Lincoln Logs, Tinker Toys and Erector Sets. It must have been an era of building. 

Looking at the Decade's Influence Through the Toys

The next decade includes Sock Monkey, Buck Rogers Gun, and Monopoly. It seems like this decade people were spending more time at home. Each year gives you a sense of what may have been important during those times. 

You can see the war years with Red Rider BB Guns and green army men. They were coming up with some iconic toys like the Frisbee, Magic 8 Ball and Legos through the decades after, and then something changed. 

There is a turn that takes place in the 1980’s. It seems like they stopped trying to make innovative toys and turned to action figures and stuffed animals that were marketed through movies and television. Ninja Turtles, Furby, Tickle Me Elmo, all the way up to Baby Yoda.

It's not all marketing. There was some amazing innovation. The electronic game systems like Atari and Nintendo changed things, but these did not have the staying power because new and better electronics came along to replace them.  

Utah was went through these eras the same as the rest of the nation. I think my grandparents who lived in Payson had every one of these toys. I loved the old games and we would make a mess of unloading them all from the cupboards every Sunday.

Read More: White Elephant Gifts That Reflect Utah Culture Perfectly

Sometimes you hear how things were better in the past. I guess looking at the list, it gives a sense of a time that was lost when marketing took over. Maybe I’m wrong. What do you see when you look down the list?