Abstract
ABSTRACTThis paper explores the role of adult nostalgia for the things and experiences of childhood, and the resulting perpetuation of certain toys and playthings in the contemporary marketplace. In doing so, it addresses the place of objects in the cross-disciplinary study of play, and the common emphasis on play’s preparatory and adaptive nature. While such nostalgic objects do not introduce children to the technology and social worlds of the future, they do enable adults to insinuate their own childhoods into the experiences of the next generation. This analysis focuses on two specific popular toys, the Fisher-Price Chatter Telephone, and Mickey Mouse Ears. Through a focus on the nostalgic aspects of toys, several important issues may be addressed, including the strain of conservatism that is perpetuated by adults in children’s material culture, and the implications for nostalgia in studying play and intergenerational relationships in the past and present.
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