The role that advertising played in turning kids into consumers
"It was in the wake of the 20th-century consumer boom that playtime entered its heyday. Up until then, children’s toys were the source of little attention, and the market was dominated by European manufacturers, with Germany, in particular, funnelling toys into America.
"As society surfaced from the First World War, change was in the air, bolstered by American ingenuity, and a burgeoning consumer culture supported by the media empires of newspapers, radio and television. American toys became ubiquitous in the consumer world, and with them came advertising and all its graphic sensationalism.
"These themes are explored in a new chronological book, Toys: 100 Hundred Years of All-American Toy Ads, published by Taschen. It takes readers down both memory lane, and the aisles of American history’s vast toy store.
"The new market for toys was built on desire, and as the emphasis shifted from ‘need’ to ‘want’, compelling visual advertising was at the heart of the drive. Children, and parents, were targeted with verve, first through magazines and comic books and later through television."
Book Review: A Century of All-American Toy Advertising in Pictures