GAMES & TOYS – Toys
Toys - 1800's
The concept of childhood underwent a remarkable transformation beginning in the late 1600s and early 1700s, shaped by an intricate interplay of religious thought, intellectual movements, and evolving economic, political, and social conditions.
In the early 1800s, children’s lives reflected the stark realities of their time. Rural children primarily engaged in farm and shop work, inhabiting a material world defined by simplicity. Their possessions were limited to handmade toys, with books being rare luxuries, and education occurred sporadically as the transition to adulthood was often abrupt and predetermined.
Despite these limitations, children demonstrated remarkable creativity in crafting their own entertainment. They whittled bows and arrows from tree branches and fashioned miniature versions of farming tools, transforming readily available materials into cherished playthings. In the woods and meadows of the Lower Fraser Valley, they displayed remarkable ingenuity: wooden spools became horses, marbles served as cows, and handmade wagons carried their imaginations on countless adventures.
Their creative play extended beyond outdoor activities to elaborate domestic scenes. Children ingeniously used natural materials from their homesteads, with moss serving as carpeting and fence rails becoming shelving for makeshift cupboards. Nothing went to waste – broken household items found new life as children’s toys, with fragments of plates and vases repurposed into miniature tea sets. During Christmastime, special attention was given to handcrafting toys from wood and scrap materials, with fortunate children receiving carefully crafted dolls made from either wood or fabric.
As rural children continued their creative play traditions, the mid-1800s ushered in an era of significant change, particularly in the Northeast, where technological advancement and improved transportation fostered increasing industrialization and urbanization. Society viewed children as raw materials that could be moulded into the ideal adult. This perspective influenced early childhood education and play, with toys and games serving primarily educational purposes. Parents were expected to guide their children’s play toward practical skill acquisition, emphasizing learning, virtue, and intellectual development.
Toys - 1900's
As the century progressed, advances in paper production and printing technologies revolutionized children’s access to literature. The expanding middle class, combined with rising childhood literacy rates, created an unprecedented market for children’s books. By the early 1900s, this transformation had reached its zenith, with most children living in urban areas and experiencing a longer, more distinct childhood phase. While mass-produced toys and books became widely available in cities, children in rural areas like Mission continued to craft their own toys from everyday items and play on their family properties using features of the landscape in their games.
While both boys and girls engaged in play activities, their pastimes often mirrored the gender roles they would later assume as adults. In homes without servants, school-age girls balanced their studies with household duties, reflecting the era’s social expectations. Play became a central activity, with young girls using dolls and miniature cleaning tools to mimic adult responsibilities like child-rearing and housework. These play activities, including doll tea parties, served as informal lessons in social etiquette, complementing their formal education while reinforcing the era’s social expectations. Building upon the earlier emphasis on practical skill acquisition, a crucial turning point during this era began with the implementation of compulsory schooling and child labour laws, fundamentally transforming childhood experiences across many regions.
The mid-1900s marked a significant shift in society’s approach to childhood development, as recreation programs began emphasizing accessibility and community building. These programs were viewed as essential for children’s physical and moral development, with recreation increasingly recognized as a vital public good. The introduction of dedicated children’s programming created shared cultural experiences that transcended geographic and social boundaries, and direct marketing of toys and games to young audiences totally reshaped solitary and group play activities fundamentally. Children began weaving television characters into their imaginative play, and these new marketing techniques created unprecedented desires and expectations in young audiences.
The 1960s ushered in an era of profound social transformation. Girls’ participation in sports grew dramatically, marking a crucial victory for gender equality. Simultaneously, the concept of the “teenager” evolved beyond a mere transitional phase between childhood and adulthood. Young people commanded their own market, establishing a new status and exclusive cultural territory characterized by their creative engagement with emerging leisure commodities.
The late 1900s witnessed the dawn of the digital age, as advances in computer technology introduced an array of electronic games to an eager market. The 1980s proved particularly significant for gender equality, with girls gaining the legal right to play on boys’ sports teams with a landmark ruling in 1986. While children continued to spend considerable time in outdoor play and with traditional analogue toys and board games, they increasingly embraced electronic entertainment options.
Toys - 2000's
By the 2000s, this digital transformation had deepened, with children spending significant time with television and computer screens. Yet rather than completely replacing traditional play, these new technologies often enhanced it, as children incorporated television references into traditional activities like skipping and clapping games while continuing to engage in games of exploration, adventure, and imagination.
The arrival of smartphones, social media, high-definition virtual reality games, and streaming platforms has fundamentally transformed youth leisure activities in the modern era. Today’s children enjoy unprecedented global connectivity while maintaining connections to traditional forms of play and recreation, representing the latest chapter in childhood’s ongoing evolution and creating new opportunities for learning, entertainment, and social interaction across the world.
This evolution accelerated during the COVID pandemic, when many Canadians turned to video games not just for entertainment but for vital social connection during isolation, leading to significant increases in both the number of players and frequency of play.