| onal toys and games have been a part of society | | | | popular traditional toy. Only three years later, the |
| and culture all over the world for thousands of | | | | first American board game was produced, called |
| centuries, possibly since the beginning of time. As | | | | The Mansion of Happiness. |
| long ago as 6000 B.C., we know of the existence | | | | Board games continued to be popular traditional |
| of games similar to modern day chess. | | | | toys throughout the years. The Indian game, |
| Babylonians in 4000 B.C. also played a board game | | | | Parcheesi, is tone of he oldest toys to still be |
| similar to traditional games of checkers and chess. | | | | produced today and was introduced to England in |
| The first games of backgammon have been | | | | 1867 as Ludo. As the 19th century drew to a |
| dated back to ancient Samaria in 3000 B.C. In | | | | close, more and more innovative traditional toys |
| Egypt, traditional toy marbles were first fashioned | | | | came into production. Traditional toys, like alphabet |
| out of stone. By 2000 B.C., Egyptians were | | | | blocks, stuffed animals, and wagons and sleds, |
| making and playing with a number of traditional | | | | were all being commercially manufactured. |
| toys. Dolls were made from string, paper, and | | | | The late 1800's saw the introduction of toy guns |
| other easy to find materials and board games | | | | and pistols, as well as the BB gun. The concept of |
| much like our traditional game of checkers were | | | | talking toy dolls was perfected and high quality |
| played. At the same time, the first skates, | | | | wooden toys were produced in a number of |
| constructed of iron, were in use in Scandinavia. | | | | traditional toy styles, including train sets. Radio |
| Traditional toys like kites and yo-yos were first | | | | Flyer developed the traditional toy sled for |
| introduced in 1000 B.C. Though kites were | | | | outdoor winter fun and musical toys and soft |
| probably in existence long before, their first | | | | toys were in mass production. |
| recorded appearance was in China during this time | | | | The early 20th century marked the invention of |
| period. Greek children begin to play with yo-yos | | | | lots of traditional toys children still adore during |
| made of stone. Soon after, the first playing cards | | | | playtime today. Battery powered train sets and |
| were dealt in Asia. | | | | the famous Lionel trains were invented in the |
| Over the next thousand years, many of the | | | | early 1900's and the cherished teddy bear |
| traditional toys we know of today were designed | | | | became more and more popular in the United |
| in their earliest forms from crude materials. Most | | | | States. Other traditional toys, like rag dolls, |
| traditional toy inventions were not a recorded | | | | stacking rings, and all sorts of block varieties were |
| part of history until the eighteenth and nineteenth | | | | also introduced during the first part of the 20th |
| centuries. The first roller skates were invented in | | | | century. |
| 1759 by a man named Joseph Merlin, and, like | | | | Today, video games and electronic toys have |
| many traditional toys, they are still being refined | | | | gained a fair share of the toy market, but classic, |
| and altered today to fit modern society. | | | | traditional toys still continue to warm the hearts |
| The 19th century saw the introduction of many | | | | of children around the world. Traditional toys, like |
| traditional toys in America and throughout Europe. | | | | dolls, blocks, and board games, have been around |
| Dolls were already being made in several | | | | for thousands of years and will most likely |
| European countries, but in 1840 an American doll | | | | continue to be an important part of childhoods for |
| maker began the first mass production of this still | | | | thousands more. |