Interesting facts about toys. Interesting facts from the history of toys

Who knew the mechanism of the helicopter before our era?

The helicopter rotor - a mechanism that gains lift from rotation - was invented in China in the 4th century BC. e. It was used in a toy, which was a plate specially carved from bamboo and mounted on an axis, the sharp rotation of which lifted the structure into the air. This helicopter was famous in Renaissance Europe - it is recorded on some canvases and, in particular, drawings by Leonardo. Later experiments with a toy influenced the development of the ideas of George Cayley, considered the father of modern aeronautics.

Why did Marvel fight to get X-Men figures to be recognized as toys rather than dolls?

In 2003, Marvel's Toy Biz toy division filed a complaint with the US International Trade Court for illegal customs duties. The petition indicated that the X-Men and the Fantastic Four are non-human creatures, so they should be classified as toys, not dolls. Toy Biz had a clear economic interest, since the tariffs on the import of dolls into the United States are higher than the tariffs on the import of toys, and the judge granted the complaint. This fact caused a negative reaction from the fan community, because one of the central themes of comics about X-Men mutants is their struggle to recognize their humanity.

Where did the word "dance whistle" come from?

At the end of the 14th century, the Vyatka residents mistakenly killed the Ustyuzhan who came to their aid against the common enemy, and since then in Vyatka a tradition of annual folk festivities with commemoration of the dead has appeared. The main attributes of the holiday were the whistle of clay toys and dances, therefore the name "dance whistle" was stuck behind this day. Later it became just a "whistle", as the requiem was no longer celebrated, and the holiday became just a fair, the main products of which were the same whistles. And the word became common thanks to the historian Pogodin, who called the editors of the satirical magazine "Whistle" "the knights of the dance." Gradually, it acquired today's meaning of "confusion, unbridled manifestation of something negative."

What famous toy was the by-product of the Navy's development?

In 1943, engineer Richard James Thompson was working on a spring device that would compensate for the pitching motion of sensitive ship instruments. Once he accidentally pushed the spring off the shelf and saw how it first "stepped" on the table, and then on the floor and gathered in a tight position. Deciding that such a spring could be a great toy, he experimented with different types of steel wire for a year until he found the perfect one. Thompson and his wife set up a business, and the ladder springs, dubbed "Slinky", became immensely popular. Later, plastic counterparts with a bright color, known as "rainbow", appeared.

What toy did American manufacturers fail to replace the teddy bear with?

William Taft became the 27th President of the United States, succeeding Theodore Roosevelt. Seeing the huge success of the Teddy Bear, named after the former head of state, toy makers have decided to make money by creating a hero, now in honor of Taft. Factories have produced thousands of plush possums called "Billy Possum", and a massive media campaign has been launched to promote them with the emphasis that soon all American kids will throw away bears and play only with possums. However, all this turned out to be a complete failure: the demand for Billy Possum did not last even a year, and Teddy Bear only strengthened its popularity over time.

What can you use to pop bubble wrap in endless mode?

The Japanese company has developed a keychain called Mugen Puchipuchi, which has eight protrusions on one surface. Pressing on them produces a tactile effect similar to the bursting of a bubble wrap, accompanied by a corresponding sound. Every hundredth press produces another random sound - for example, a doorbell or a dog barking.

Which company is the world leader in the production of tires in units of finished goods?

The Lego company can be called the world leader in the production of car tires, if you count the units of finished products. According to 2011 figures, Lego produced 381 million tires, more than double that of each of Bridgestone, Michelin and Goodyear.

What toy part was used in the first electrocardiograph?

The first version of the design of the electrocardiograph was developed in 1887 by an employee of a London hospital, Augustus Waller, and included a platform from a toy railroad. A movable photographic plate was located on it, on which the cardiogram was recorded. However, due to the low sensitivity of the used electrometer, Waller's apparatus was not yet suitable for full-fledged diagnostics.

How do yellow ducks help you explore ocean currents?

In early 1992, a ship with a cargo of 29,000 Chinese plastic toys left Hong Kong for the United States: yellow ducks, as well as turtles, frogs and beavers. In the middle of the journey, the ship was caught in a storm, and the containers with toys were washed overboard. Ducks found themselves in free swimming and after a while began to appear on the shores of Alaska, Hawaii and other places. Toys have been of great help to oceanographers who study currents. For example, the cycle period between Japan, Alaska and the Aleutian Islands has been found to be approximately three years.

Why is one of the most popular toys named after US President Theodore Roosevelt?

In 1902, US President Theodore Roosevelt was out hunting. He was offered to shoot a bear driven by dogs, half-killed and tied to a tree. Roosevelt refused on the pretext that it was unsportsmanlike, but ordered to kill the bear to end his torment. This story in the form of cartoons got into the newspapers, but then it was softened, and entrepreneurs launched the release of toy teddy bears, named in honor of the president "Teddy Bear". These plush toys soon became one of the most popular and remain so to this day.

According to statistics, 4-year-old children pronounce 12 thousand words every day, ask about 900 questions. The answers to many of them are given by toys. By playing, the little person learns how the world works.

The toys appeared together with the person. Primitive people made toys from wood, branches, fangs and skins of animals, clay, stone, iron. The oldest children's toy is a doll. The ancient Egyptians even six thousand years ago made dolls from boards, painted clothes on them and put on a wig. Then they knew how to make mechanical tigers and crocodiles that open their mouths from wood. And during excavations in the valley of the Indus River, they found small carts, whistle birds and toy monkeys, which are about five thousand years old.

In ancient Greece and Rome, toys were already sold in stores. There one could find both expensive ivory toys and cheaper ones made of clay, with movable arms and legs, on strings.

In the Middle Ages, spinning tops appeared in Europe - a prototype of a whirligig, horses in the form of a stick with a horse's head, figurines of knights and animals made of wax. In the XIV century, in German Nuremberg, they began to make not only dolls from baked clay, but also the first doll houses with a kitchen.

The Dymkovo toy appeared in Russia in the 15th century. Tsar Ivan III moves potters across the Vyatka River to the village of Dymkovo, who are engaged in the production of brightly painted clay figurines. These figurines are gaining popularity all over the country.

In the 16th century in Paris, they began to make custom-made pandora dolls. Beautiful, with the figure of an adult woman, they were very expensive and were not made for children. Such dolls played the role of modern fashion magazines. Passing from hand to hand, they demonstrated fashionable outfits.

In the 18th century, technical progress for the first time radically changed the toy. In 1738, Jean Vaucanson makes a man-sized doll that plays 12 tunes on a flute, and a mechanical duck that can eat. And in 1774 the watchmaker Pierre Jaket Droz presents three automatic dolls. The artist doll could draw, the musician doll played the harpsichord, and the scribe doll from four thousand parts could write any text from forty characters in three lines.

A hundred years after these inventions, a talking doll appeared. And humanoid machines that can think and perform some actions themselves appeared in the 20th century. The first robot was designed in the USA in 1927, and 70 years later, constructors appeared, from which a child can assemble a robot.

In the mid-60s, radio-controlled toys began to be produced. Airplanes and remote control cars have become popular not only among children, but also among adults. Today, progress has gone even further, among modern children, quadrocopters have become popular - lethal vehicles in which motors are controlled by a special electronics board based on signals from sensors. You can order a quadrocopter with a camera on the website http://igrushki-vsem.ru/.

Would you install an application for reading epochtimes articles on your phone?

This time I have prepared for you a small selection of interesting facts about toys:

• The very first teddy bear was made in 1894. The toy has a tag with the release date, and it is still inherited in the same family.

• In the 90s, a record was recorded by the Guinness Book of the largest kite. Its area is 680 sq.m. In 1999, this kite even flew over the ground.
• An interesting fact about toys - in the first year of production of Barbie dolls, approximately 351,000 models were sold.
• The production of the cartoon "The Lion King" on Broadway became famous for the use of a huge number of toys in the presentation - more than 200 pieces. In addition to toys, a variety of dolls were used, including rod-based, flat and life-size.

• Analysts have made an interesting conclusion about the Rubik's cube toy: in the mid-1980s, every 5th person in the world played it. And since the first date of manufacture, more than 300 million copies have been produced.
• An interesting fact about toys - historians say that the oldest and first toy on the planet was a doll, and in second place is the famous yo-yo. Something similar to this thing was invented in Ancient Greece in the 500th century BC, and in the 16th century. the inhabitants of the Philippines used it as a weapon.
• An interesting fact about toys - it is definitely established that the Rubik's cube has exactly 43 252 003 274 489 856 000 different combinations and only 1 solution.
• Statisticians have calculated that Lego has produced at least 320 billion Lego bricks to date. If you distribute this amount equally to all people in the world, then 1 person will receive about 52 parts.

• Thanks to the world economic crisis, the game "Monopoly" appeared. In 1932, it was invented by the unemployed Charles Barrow.
• From the birthday of the Barbie doll (March 9, 1959) to the present day, the doll has acquired more than 100 different professions, 45 nationalities, more than 1000 various outfits and 15 modifications of its appearance - pregnant, plump, in a wheelchair, etc.
• An interesting fact about toys - according to the American publication, crayons were the most popular toys of the 20th century. A typical US child spent about 28 minutes creating color drawings a day, and parents bought more than 2.4 billion crayons every year.
• The average age of the owner of a game console in Japan is 40, which indicates the considerable popularity of video games among adults.
• The potato head, first introduced in 1959, was the first toy to be advertised on TV. In the first year of sales, manufacturers generated sales revenue of about $ 30 billion (2005 exchange rates).

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What's the longest toy train? And which car is worth a fortune? How do plastic ducks for playing in the bathroom relate to the study of ocean currents? Here are these and some other interesting facts about toys.

Longest train model, which is listed in the Guinness Book of Records, has 887 cars with a total length of 110 meters. This model was created in Germany, namely in Miniatur Wunderland - this is the so-called. Miniature Wonderland, the largest model of the railway in Hamburg.

In ancient Greece, the toy "yo-yo" made from baked clay. This is the first mention of yo-yo and they date back to the 5th century BC. Therefore, the yo-yo is rightfully considered one of the oldest toys in the world.

The first full-fledged designer in history was a metal one invented by Frank Hornby (founded the Meccano company) in 1898 for his sons. This designer was a set of perforated metal plates, nuts, bolts, from which a loading crane could be assembled.

Miniature figures of soldiers found in the burials of the pharaohs of Ancient Egypt, approx. 2000 BC During excavations in Dr. Greece and dr. Rome also found figures of soldiers from bronze, stone, wood. In the Middle Ages, with the help of toy figures of warriors, they simulated military operations when teaching young men military science.

And the most expensive toy soldier in the world is the 30 cm figurine G.I. Joe, published by Hasbro in 1964, which costs about $ 200,000.

However, there are more expensive toys. The most expensive toy car to date - this is a copy of Lamborghini Aventador,
manufactured by German craftsman Robert Gulpen, with an auction value of over $ 4 million. The machine was made with accuracy according to the drawings of a real car, of course, manually using gold, platinum and inlaid with precious stones.

And in the history of Hot Wheels cars the most expensive became the model Volkswagen (Volkswagen) Beach Bomb, 1969, in pink. About 72 thousand dollars were paid for it. And some of Hot Wheels' largest car collections run up to a million dollars.

Yellow rubber ducks for swimming made their contribution to the study of ocean currents. In 1992, during transportation from Hong Kong to the United States across the Pacific Ocean, due to a storm, a container was left overboard, in which there were about 30 thousand rubber ducklings, frogs, and turtles. Somehow the container opened and the toy "flotilla" set off on an independent journey. Some time after the incident, these toys were discovered off the coast of Alaska, Canada, Hawaii and elsewhere. Ocean scientists tracked the movement of these toys, which allowed them to obtain more accurate data to model ocean currents.

What is the real name of the Barbie doll? What is the oldest toy in the world? How many designs can you make with multiple Lego pieces?

Here are some interesting facts about the most beloved and popular toys that you may not have known.

Lego constructors

1. The Lego Company is the largest manufacturer of car tires in the world. It produces about 300 million miniature tires a year.

2. More than 120 million combinations can be made from 6 Lego pieces.

3. The Lego Company has produced over 320 billion Lego bricks. This means that there are approximately 52 bricks for every person in the world.

Barbie doll

4. Totally Hair Barbie became the best-selling Barbie doll in company history, holding the world record for the longest successful toy sales.

5. The Barbie doll was named after the daughter of her creator (Ruth Handler), and Ken after her son.

6. Barbie's full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts.

7. Barbie was made in the image of a German doll, the prototype of which, in turn, was the heroine of erotic comics, Build Lilly.

Game "Monopoly"

8. The game "Monopoly" was invented in 1932 by the unemployed salesman Charles Barrow during the Great Depression - the world economic crisis.

9. In 1983, members of the Buffalo Diving Club set the record for the longest playing Monopoly underwater, at 1080 hours.

Yo-yo

10. Yo-yo is considered the second oldest toy in the world (dolls are considered the oldest toys in the world). The first evidence of the use of yo-yo - toys made of two discs fastened with an axis, on which a rope is put on, appeared in ancient Greece in the 500th century. BC.

11. In the 16th century in the Philippine Islands, the yo-yo served as a weapon.

Teddy bear

12. The teddy bear, which is called the "Teddy bear" in the USA, was created in honor of the US President Theodore Roosevelt, who took pity on the wounded bear cub while hunting.

Rubik's Cube

13. The Rubik's Cube was originally created as an engineering project by the Hungarian sculptor Erno Rubik.