SPOTLIGHT TOY MUSEUM

PLAY TIME

How one woman’s love of toys created Rochester’s most interesting museum.

Don’t be alarmed by the gargantuan spud—it’s just Mr. Potato Head! Giant versions of classic toys, like an apple-red Etch-a-Sketch and larger-than-life cans of Play-Doh, aren’t the only things that greet visitors to the Strong Museum in Rochester’s downtown East End neighborhood (www.strongmuseum.org). Devoted to the study of play and the impact popular culture has on playthings, the Strong Museum, founded in 1982, is a mecca for toy enthusiasts. Home to the National Toy Hall of Fame, the museum has transformed itself in recent years from a simple repository of playthings into a sleek interactive facility.

Tonka ToysOver half a million toys and collectibles— including what museum officials claim is the world’s largest doll collection—call the Strong Museum home. A little girl’s passion for collecting at the turn of the 20th century was the seed that grew into this multi-story homage to play and the child in all of us.

Margaret Woodbury (later Strong) was the only child of a wealthy Rochester family and heir to her parents’ fortune in Eastman Kodak stock. The Woodburys traveled the world extensively with their daughter, whisking her off to places that were incredibly exotic to Americans in the early 1900s, such as Japan and China. Margaret’s passion for collecting sprung from these early adventures.

As an adult, she recalled how her passion for accumulating tiny objects of all kinds blossomed: “From the time I was eight years old, my father and mother would take me out of school, and away we would go to foreign countries. I was allowed to carry a small bag to put my dolls and toys in, and to add anything I acquired on the trips. Consequently, my fondness for small objects grew,” she wrote in her autobiography.

Crayola CrayonsBut her collecting didn’t stop after she married and became a mother. As Strong made several more trips around the world, her obsession with collecting dolls and miniatures grew exponentially. Her 30-room mansion became a museum, of sorts, onto which she built additional wings and rooms to accommodate her ever-growing collection. Her passion for toys and dolls was so great that the grounds of her Rochester estate even boasted a little community of doll’s houses, all electrically lit at night. She even made sure that the “walks” leading to the outdoor doll’s houses were shoveled when it snowed. When she eventually realized that an even larger home was needed to house her treasures, she started planning for the museum that bears her name today.

While she had a vision to create a permanent home for her collections, Strong could not have imagined the toy temple the museum has become. Today’s multi-story glass entryway and atrium are a far cry from her Rochester mansion.

King Friday XIII’s Castle

Upon entering the museum, visitors are greeted by an antique carousel and a full-size replica of the famous Sesame Street brownstone stoop that’s part of the many Sesame Street-themed activities for kids, including counting with the Count and a puppet theater. In addition to the numerous interactive exhibits, the museum is home to many toys familiar to the baby boomers and Generation X-ers who bring their children here, like Frisbees, Hula Hoops and Slinkies. Christopher Bensch, the museum’s vice president for collections, says that he often overhears exclamations like, “Oh, I had one of those!” and “When I was your age…”

Sesame Street isn’t the only exhibit those in their 30s and beyond will recognize. The museum recently opened a tribute to “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” that features King Friday the XIII’s castle and other highlights from Fred Rogers’ Neighborhood of Make-Believe. Other activities include “flying” in a giant helicopter and becoming a disc jockey for a day at the museum’s do-it-yourself radio station.

Some of the exhibits remind us that fun and games aren’t always just fun and games. An exhibit called “When Barbie Dated GI Joe: Toying with the Cold War” explores the gender impact of toys during the Cold War era and beyond. “When you look at the girls’ toys, such as pink-colored toy stoves and refrigerators, versus the boys’ spy and cowboy toys and action games, the messages about gender roles are clear,” says Susan Trien, the museum’s public relations director.

Slinky

As for the National Toy Hall of Fame, there are 31 “members” on display, including the Teddy bear, the rocking horse, Barbie and Mr. Potato Head. Bensch explains that the toys must meet three strict criteria in order to make it into the Hall of Fame: They must have been enjoyed for several generations, they must be “icons,” and they must also encourage learning, creativity, discovery and interaction in play.

The ranks at the Hall of Fame will soon be growing, as new recruits are added every year. Toys that might be on the 2005 shortlist, according to Trien, include Fisher-Price Little People, Hot Wheels cars, the Easy-Bake Oven and Raggedy Andy (Raggedy Ann will get lonely!). If you want to weigh in with your vote, then now’s the time. The museum will announce the 2005 winners in November.

AirTran Airways provides daily, low-fare flights to Rochester. Visit www.airtran.com for more details.

WORDS BY JOANNE BAMBERGER