The National Toy Hall of Fame at the Strong inducted the puppet, Twister and the Super Soaker in a ceremony November 5.
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Nine toys and games that failed to make the cut were American Girl dolls, the combat game Battleship, the humble coloring book, the building block toy Jenga, Playmobil, the scooter, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures, the classic spinning top, and Wiffle Ball, a plastic bat and ball which serve as an introduction to baseball for millions of American kids.
Three toys will be inducted into the hall inside The Strong museum in Rochester Thursday. Milton Bradley changed its name to Twister but canceled production on it when Sears Roebuck and Co. refused to carry the game in its 1966 catalog because it deemed the game too racy. It took off, though, when Carson played it with Eva Gabor on “The Tonight Show“. In 1990, he made a deal with Larami Corporation and their advertising helped sell 27 million Super soakers in its first three years.
Lastly, there’s the Super Soaker, which was invented in the early 1980s by Dr. Lonnie Johnson, who was creating a heat-pump for NASA’s Galileo Mission to Jupiter.
“It’s truly an honor to have the recognition of the National Toy Hall of Fame”.
He made the first one from PVC pipe and an empty soda bottle. Super Soakers are still made today.
The puppet has been around for thousands of years and throughout the world.
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Last year, little green Army men, the Rubik’s Cube and bubbles were absorbed into the list of most important playthings alongside 53 other favorites all housed at The Strong, home to the national Museum of Play as well as the Toy and Video Game Halls of Fame.
