Playthings Magazine

Gifts & Decorative Accessories: Wow! 100 years! How big was the toy industry back in 1903?

Maria N. Weiskott: Well, Playthings' first editor, Robert McCready, wrote that there were 20,000 companies in the U.S. engaged in the manufacture or sale of dolls, toys, and games. They must have been mostly importers and retailers because some 70 percent of the toys on the American market at that time came from Europe.

Gifts & Dec: What kind of toys are we talking about?

MW: Toy soldiers, velocipedes, harmonicas. Actually, the cover of the first issue of Playthings featured an ad for M. Hohner harmonicas. But in that same year, Margaret Steiff introduced her stuffed bear at the Leipzig Toy Fair in Germany.

Gifts & Dec: Wasn't there also a toy fair over here?

MW: That's right. The first New York Toy Fair was held in February 1903, in a hotel in lower Manhattan. About a dozen exhibitors set up shop, hoping to catch toy buyers on their way to and from Europe. But World War I changed everything, and American toy manufacturers came into their own.

Gifts & Dec: Who were some of those manufacturers, and what did they produce?

MW: Between the wars there was A.C. Gilbert, who held more than 150 patents for toys, including one for his Erector set. Herman Fisher founded Fisher-Price in 1930, and George S. Parker's company launched Monopoly in 1935. Merrill Hassenfeld turned his family school supply business into Hasbro toys, and Louis Marx, who founded Louis Marx Toys in 1921, saw his company became the world's largest toy maker by 1950. Among the many who came after World War II were Ruth and Elliott Handler, who started Mattel Toys in their garage, and introduced Barbie in 1959.

Gifts & Dec: What were some of the changes at Playthings over time?

MW: Ben McCready, Robert's son, became editor of the magazine in 1945. Then in 1967 Geyer-McAllister Publications purchased the company from the McCreadys.

Gifts & Dec: And we became sister publications.

MW: Right. But we're the older of the siblings, aren't we?

Gifts & Dec: Yes, we're only 86. When did you come to Playthings?

MW: I was appointed editor-in-chief in 2000, two years after Reed Business Information bought Geyer-McAllister.

Gifts & Dec: Besides the famous toy and game manufacturers, there's a famous toy retailer, Toys R Us.

MW: Fifty years ago, in Washington, DC, Charles Lazarus transformed his father's bicycle shop into a toy store, and began selling toys at a discount year round. Before long, his chain of self-service toy supermarkets had revolutionized the retailing of toys.

Gifts & Dec: Aren't more toys now sold at Wal-Mart?

MW: Yes, there are. According to Playthings' research, sales in the discount channel grew the fastest in 2001 — 9.1 percent over 2000 — led by Wal-Mart.

Gifts & Dec: How have the independents responded to discounters?

MW: Independent toy retailers have countered with customized services and more upscale toys — toys not advertised on TV, for example, or unusual toys from smaller manufacturers. Some have launched e-tail Web sites and produced catalogs. Still others have formed cooperative buying groups like "The Good Toy Group." Many devise captivating promotions and events to draw in customers. It is interesting to note that even the mass-market retailers are trying to become more like "specialty" toy retailers with in-store events and promotions for kids. Some have even developed a store-within-a-store concept to give the appearance of an independent bent.

Gifts & Dec: What do you see for the future of toys and toy retailing?

MW: The future of toys is definitely secure! Play, after all, "is the work of childhood," as we say at Playthings. The toys that will survive are the ones that have the most "play value." They are the toys that stimulate imagination, creativity, curiosity, and social and intellectual growth, preparing kids for adulthood. And since history has proved that toys are fairly recession-proof, it's likely that toy retailing is safe, even for the independents.

Gifts & Dec: What toys are most popular with kids today?

MW: That's a really difficult question. We are going through a period now that the pundits call "age compression," which means that kids are growing older, younger. Because of this, the ages are more segmented than ever before with favorite toys popular for maybe just a few months. The days of girls playing with Barbies or boys playing with G.I. Joes until they are 11 or 12 years old are long gone.

Gifts & Dec: What's your favorite?

MW: I have to admit, I'm a pushover for Legos.

Gifts & Dec: How is Playthings celebrating its centenary?

MW: We decided to celebrate the toy industry itself by publishing Toy Stories for consumers. It's a magazine filled with stories and pictures of toys, from Lionel trains to video games. A celebration of 100 years of fun. It's available at Borders and Barnes & Noble, as well as at our Web site, www.Playthings.com. And yours, too, www.GiftsandDec.com.