Toys and Collectibles, 1987-2006
Parenting
Magazines around toys generally fall into two major categories; those marketing towards children, and those marketing towards parents. Parents had to contend with not only the variety of toys which existed, but the varied interest, trends, fads, brands, content, etc. that their children were being exposed to. To help parents not only make sense of what was what, but also a way to market products to the parents as well, magazines began to publish guides to help identify the popular toys and brands of the day, as well as buyers guides, styling guides around certain items and franchises, and a particular market for toys which may assist with education in a way children may enjoy, and all while guiding parents to help keep their kids safe.
As the internet began to take center stage, and kids began becoming more online than ever, many magazines began to switch to online publication in an effort to maintain their market, and parents had to be educated on how to utilize this new medium as well to continue to keep up with the information they once relied on magazines for.
Included in this gallery are three magazines which cover the toys which are directly discussed through the lens of parenting and how they work together. This includes two magazines to help assist parents with understanding trends around popular toys and children’s products as well as market research and product testing for similar purposes, and a magazine regarding toys and games which can assist with the education of children.
The front cover of Family Guide to Educational Toys & Games, Winter 1989
Family Guide to Educational Toys & Games is a product catalog for Queue, Inc. Queue, Inc. was started as an educational software in 1980 by Jonathan Kantrowitz out of Shelton, Connecticut. It has since transitioned to producing and selling mostly educational workbooks for test preparation under the branding Queue Workbooks.
In this Family Guide to Educational Toys & Games dated to 1989, that process is apparent with lines of physical rather than software products, including games, stamps, and flash cards. The product catalog includes a mail order form for readers to select featured products to purchase. It is noted in its catalog order form that other magazine product catalogs for educational video and educational software are extant when this particular guide was published.
The front cover of A Parents' Guide to Children's Products, Fall/Winter 1993
Distributed by Better Homes and Gardens as a special interest publication, A Parents’ Guide to Children’s Products aims to assist parents in decorating their child’s room according to trends. Readers can order project plans for furniture displayed in the magazine. The cover boasts additional assistance for parents looking to learn more about popular media, education, and safety for children from the ages of infant to ten.
Better Homes and Gardens, the parent magazine of A Parents’ Guide to Children’s Products, was first launched in 1922 under the name Fruit, Garden and Home by Edwin Meredith. Meredith wanted to develop a product for magazine salesmen to offer to the women they may sell to. For over one hundred years, Better Homes and Gardens has established itself as a staple of at-home creativity.
The front cover of Marianne Szymanski's Toy Tips & Parenting Hints, vol. 1, no. 1 (2006)
Marianne Szymanski's Toy Tips & Parenting Hints is published by Toy Tips Inc. The company was founded by Marianne Szymanski in 1991 and is an independent toy testing and research company that tests toys on kids and in schools for market research. Additionally, Marianne publishes articles with parenting tips such as “Planning a sunny weekend getaway with your teenagers,” “How to do Disney World,” and “Hawai’i with the kids: A Toy Tips guide.” The magazine featured here is the premiere issue of Marianne Szymanski's Toy Tips & Parenting Hints, which is no longer available in print, but the company’s website contains all of the toy tips and parenting hints formerly published in the magazine.