TOYS FROM THE VAULT

What were Barbies made for? The origin of 11 timeless toys

Image: Super Snapper

Who comes up with toys? From dolls and teddy bears to kites and frisbees, these beloved classics have origin stories filled with creativity, serendipity, and often family games. Over the decades, these toys have influenced several generations of children. How did they come to be? Let’s uncover the tales behind 11 timeless toys that left indelible marks on childhoods all around the world.

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It wasn’t a plaything, at first. The famous modeling putty was created in 1933 by American soap manufacturer Kutol Products for cleaning coal residue from wallpaper. When houses stopped being heated by coal and soot was no longer a housekeeping problem, the company neared bankruptcy.

It was then that the McVicker family, creators of the compound, became aware that a kindergarten teacher was using their coal-cleaning putty to make art projects with the children. Inspired, the McVickers brainstormed names for the new toy. They considered "Rainbow Modeling Compound" and "Play-Doh," ultimately choosing the latter. They launched it in 1956 and became an international success in a matter of 5 years.

Image: Sandy Millar

You might think that teddy bears have been around for centuries, but that’s not the case. The Steiff company, founded in Germany in the 1880s, was the first to popularize plush toys in their country and across Europe. It wasn’t until 1902, however, that these toys became famous in the U.S.

This happened because, simultaneously, toymaker Morris Michtom had patented and released the design of a plushy bear figure. He based the design on a cartoon depicting President Theodore Roosevelt refusing to shoot a small, cute bear. Inspired by this incident, Michtom named the new plush toy "Teddy Bears." His and Steiff’s versions of the toy became widespread in the world. Some years later, in England, author A.A. Milne bought a fuzzy bear for his son and, in 1921, published a series of books inspired by it, called Winnie-the-Pooh.

Image: Teo Zac

Large heads, big smiles, and no noses. Did you know that the iconic design of Playmobil’s face was inspired by children’s drawings? In the early 1970s, Hans Beck, a German toymaker, revolutionized the industry with the invention of these small plastic humans. At the request of the owner of the Geobra Brandstätter company, Beck set out to design a toy that would be simple yet engaging, fitting perfectly in a child’s hand.

Beck developed the small figures, which, during the 1973 oil crisis, became a much cheaper and more viable product than larger plastic toys like hula hoops. Launched in 1974, Playmobil was an instant hit, and the brand went on to release accessories like automobiles, cranes, and boats that became just as classic as the main figures.

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Lego bricks have to be one of the smartest inventions in the toy world. They were introduced in 1949 by the Danish company Lego Group, today the largest manufacturer in the industry. The company was founded by Ole Kirk Christiansen, a carpenter who started making wooden toys in 1932 under a name inspired by the Danish phrase leg godt, which translates to "play well."

In 1949, the first version of the famous interlocking plastic bricks was released. This version was based on similar existing wooden blocks on the market. Over the years, seeing the inventive potential of these construction toys, the company developed a variety of brick types. Lego bricks soon became a symbol of creativity and free play to the point where they are no longer considered just toys for children but are popular among adults as well.

Image: Michał Parzuchowski

As simple and brilliant as it is, the first game of Jenga wasn’t played until one family invented it in the 1970s. For 13 years after that, it remained a family tradition. Its creator, Leslie Scott, and her family had once purchased a set of wooden blocks from a sawmill in Takoradi, Ghana. Playing with them, they had come up with an exciting game that followed the rules that we now know as Jenga.

Scott explained that its name is derived from the Swahili word kujenga, which means "to build." She officially introduced Jenga to the world at the London Toy Fair in 1983, and it quickly became a global favorite.

Image: Sandra Gabriel

It is estimated that two Barbies are sold every second. The world’s most famous doll was introduced in 1959 and remains one of the strongest brands in the toy industry. The concept was created by Ruth Handler, who, along with her husband Elliot, co-founded Mattel in 1945.

Ruth had noticed that their daughter, Barbara, would play with paper dolls and assign them various adult female roles. At the time, most dolls simply represented babies or infants. Combining this vision with the image of a Bild Lilli doll that Ruth had purchased in Europe, the Handlers created the Barbie doll. It became Mattel’s signature product, and the company is today one of the world’s largest toy manufacturers.

Image: Shubham Sharan

One evening after a Thanksgiving dinner in 1937, Fred Morrison and his fiancee Lucile started taking turns tossing a popcorn can lid at one another—a form of play that humans have engaged in for ages. That’s why it didn’t strike Morrison as an excellent toy idea, until one day when continuing the game of tossing a cheap pan back and forth on some beach, Fred and Lucile were approached by someone interested in buying the flying object. That was when Fred's lightbulb went off.

Marketing them as "Flyin-Saucers" to ride the wave of interest in unidentified flying objects that surged in the 1940s, Morrison and his partners started selling pan-shaped plastic discs. They eventually sold the rights to Wham-O, the company that changed the product’s name to "Frisbee."

Image: Agnieszka Ziomek

Kites originated in China over 2,000 years ago, but their original uses long preceded their role in park playtime as we know it today. The earliest kites were made of materials like silk and bamboo and were used for various practical purposes, including military communication, measuring distances, performing religious rituals, and testing the wind.

It wasn't until the late 19th and early 20th centuries that kites became widely recognized as recreational toys for both children and adults.

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Of the list, these are certainly the oldest. Hoop-shaped objects have been around since 500 BC and were often used recreationally by both kids and adults. In the mid-20th century, though, bamboo hoops became extremely popular in Australia, where children would use them in playgrounds and around the streets.

In 1957, the company Wham-O (the same one that patented the "Frisbee") became aware of its success in that country. They began manufacturing the hoops in a plastic material and selling them in the U.S. as the "Hula Hoop." They did not invent the name, which had been in use since the 18th century, but they trademarked it, and it became one of their legendary products.

Image: Klim Musalimov

Etch-A-Sketch, the famous drawing toy, was born by accident. French inventor André Cassagnes, an electrical technician, was writing with a pen on a translucent material when he realized that traces could easily be produced and erased. Based on this, he created a device he named L'Ecran Magique, or "the magic screen." The first version used aluminum powder and glass to create a toy that could be drawn on with a simple stylus, and then shaken clean to start anew.

Later on, the Ohio Art Company saw the idea at a toy fair in 1959, recognized its potential, and rebranded it as the "Etch A Sketch." For many decades, even with the advancement of digital technology, this analog toy remained a timeless classic.

Image: Adam Valstar

Slinky, the beloved coil toy, was invented by naval engineer Richard James in 1943. He had been working on a project to stabilize equipment on ships when he accidentally knocked one of the springs off a shelf. He watched the spring "walk" instead of falling. That funny image gave him an idea.

Together with his wife Betty, James refined the concept and introduced it as "Slinky" through department stores. They created a toy that was as charming as it was simple, and completely affordable, initially selling for $1. The toy could walk downstairs, stretch, and bounce back, which hooked children and adults. Its timeless appeal has even earned Slinky a place in the National Toy Hall of Fame, and even an eponymous character in the Toy Story franchise.

Some names stick around

From Table Tap Joe to Ziggy Stardust: Who are the best song characters?

Sometimes, a character is the perfect alter-ego to write a song about oneself without self-referencing so much. Other times, a character is just a character. Over the years, musicians have come up with lonely dreamers, fearless heroes, mysterious strangers, and even supernatural villains who have become just as famous as the songs themselves. Some were inspired by real people, others sprang entirely from imagination, but all of them left a lasting mark on music history. Which of these 12 do you remember?

Tom Waits has always had a soft spot for society's oddballs, and few are even stranger than Table Top Joe. Introduced on the 2002 album Alice, Joe is born with only a head and hands, yet grows into a brilliant piano player whose extraordinary talent earns him fame despite the odds stacked against him.

The song unfolds like a forgotten American folk tale, complete with references to Coney Island's legendary Dreamland amusement park and composer Igor Stravinsky. Although many listeners assume the story is based on an old carnival legend, Table Top Joe is entirely Tom Waits' own creation.

Few fictional musicians have ever become as famous as Ziggy Stardust. Introduced in 1972, Ziggy is an alien rock star sent to Earth shortly before humanity's end, only to be consumed by the very fame that makes him a savior to millions.

David Bowie blurred the line between fiction and reality by performing as Ziggy onstage for more than a year. When he unexpectedly announced Ziggy's retirement during a concert at London's Hammersmith Odeon in 1973, many fans believed the character, and perhaps Bowie himself, had truly reached the end of the story.

Tommy Walker isn't just the hero of a song, he's the central figure of one of rock music's first great operas. After witnessing a traumatic event as a child, Tommy becomes deaf, mute, and blind, yet somehow develops astonishing pinball skills that transform him into an unlikely celebrity.

Pete Townshend built an entire musical world around Tommy, exploring themes of trauma, faith, and redemption. First released in 1969, Tommy later became a hit film, a Broadway production, and one of the most influential concept albums ever recorded.

Johnny B. Goode is every aspiring musician's dream. Growing up in rural Louisiana with little more than a guitar and natural talent, he plays so brilliantly that listeners predict "his name will be in lights."

Chuck Berry based the character partly on himself and partly on pianist Johnnie Johnson. Originally described as a "colored boy," Johnny became a "country boy" in the final lyrics, making the song more likely to receive airplay during the segregation era. Nearly two decades later, Johnny's anthem would even travel into space aboard NASA's Voyager Golden Record.

Few fictional characters have captured loneliness as powerfully as Eleanor Rigby. She quietly moves through life unnoticed, while Father McKenzie delivers sermons that no one hears, creating one of popular music's saddest portraits of isolation.

Paul McCartney later explained that Eleanor's name came from actress Eleanor Bron and the Liverpool shop Rigby & Evens. The discovery of an actual Eleanor Rigby gravestone in Liverpool only deepened the song's mystique, though McCartney maintained the coincidence was unintentional.

Billie Jean may be one of pop music's most famous women, yet Michael Jackson insisted she wasn't a real person. Instead, she represented several women who falsely claimed that he had fathered their children during the height of the Jackson 5's fame.

Released in 1983 as part of Thriller, the song became a global phenomenon. It also provided the stage for Jackson's legendary moonwalk during Motown 25.

Unlike many legendary song characters, Stagger Lee actually existed. His real name was Lee Shelton, a St. Louis criminal who murdered Billy Lyons during an argument over a hat on Christmas Eve in 1895.

The shocking crime quickly entered American folklore through countless folk songs before Lloyd Price transformed it into a chart-topping hit in 1958. More than a century later, Stagger Lee remains one of the most enduring antiheroes in American music.

Tom Dooley was inspired by Thomas Dula, a Confederate veteran executed in North Carolina in 1868 after being convicted of murdering Laura Foster. His surname was locally pronounced "Dooley," giving the ballad its familiar title.

The Kingston Trio revived the old Appalachian folk song in 1958, turning it into an international hit and helping launch America's folk music revival.

When the narrator of "Lola" meets an intriguing stranger in a Soho nightclub, expectations quickly give way to surprise. Ray Davies crafted one of rock's earliest mainstream stories exploring gender ambiguity, decades before the topic entered popular conversation.

The recording rarely reached British radio. Because BBC rules prohibited commercial product names, Davies had to interrupt a U.S. tour and fly back to London simply to replace the lyric "Coca-Cola" with the now-famous "cherry cola."

Unlike most famous song characters, the Piano Man is really Billy Joel himself. Before becoming a superstar, Joel spent six months in 1972 and 1973 performing under the pseudonym Bill Martin at the Executive Room, a piano bar in Los Angeles, after becoming trapped in a bad recording contract. The song transforms those experiences into a bittersweet portrait of ordinary people searching for escape at the end of another week.

Joel has said that virtually every character in the song was based on a real person, from bartender John to "Paul, the real estate novelist" and Davy, who really was in the Navy. Yet the Piano Man himself became the story's most enduring character: a quiet observer who offers music as a brief refuge for dreamers, lonely souls, and regulars alike. More than fifty years after its 1973 release, "Piano Man" remains Billy Joel's signature song, and its title has effectively become his lifelong nickname.

Standing nearly seven feet tall and missing an arm, Amos Moses roams the Louisiana swamps hunting alligators. Jerry Reed filled the song with colorful Southern expressions and exaggerated storytelling that make Amos feel like an authentic folk legend.

Although fictional, Amos embodies the larger-than-life heroes found throughout American tall tales. His adventures turned the song into one of Reed's biggest crossover hits and secured Amos a permanent place among country music's greatest characters.

Big Bad John hardly says a word, but he doesn't have to. The towering coal miner earns everyone's respect through quiet strength before sacrificing his own life to save fellow workers when a mine collapses.

Jimmy Dean's 1961 ballad became a smash hit, winning a Grammy and inspiring several sequel songs. More than sixty years later, Big Bad John still stands as one of country music's defining working-class heroes.