Playthings (magazine)

• 1. Introduction

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  Playthings covered the American toy and game industry for more than a century, launching in 1902 and disappearing as an independent title in 2010. In January 1903, editor-in-chief Robert McCready opened its first issue with a declaration of purpose. In his words: "the more than 20,000 concerns in the United States engaged in the manufacture or sale of dolls, toys, and games." That sentence set the scope for everything the magazine would cover for the next century.

  What carried this trade paper about dolls, toys, and games through a chaotic twentieth century, and why did it eventually vanish inside another company's magazine? Its own timeline, covering ownership changes, wartime shifts, and a run of industry honors, holds the answers.

• 2. Founding And Early Identity

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  Robert McCready and publisher Henry C. Nathan launched Playthings in 1902 under the banner of the Henry Nathan Co. The first issue did not reach readers until January 1903, running just 20 pages. More than 70 percent of its coverage that first year went to European and Asian toys, mostly imports from Germany and Japan.

  By January 1904, marking the magazine's first anniversary, McCready reported growing subscription numbers and wider distribution. He wrote that "the trade has manifested a cordial interest in us, and has given us hearty support." By 1905, the magazine's focus had shifted toward merchants' money-saving techniques and the layout and display of toy store shelves.

  Within a few more years, McCready would stop sharing control of the magazine altogether.

• 3. The McCready Family Era

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  In June 1910, Robert McCready founded the McCready Publishing Co. and took full control of the magazine from the Henry Nathan Co. He now served simultaneously as president of the publishing company, editor-in-chief, and business manager of the magazine itself.

  By June 1912, Playthings had grown to 198 pages, including its first few two-color advertisements. The magazine swelled further, reaching 290 pages by April 1930.

  In 1945, Ben McCready, Robert's son, was appointed editor-in-chief, keeping the magazine within family hands. Ben McCready's tenure would carry the magazine through a decade in which its very purpose as a shopping guide began to shift.

• 4. American Toys For American Shelves

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  Between 1915 and 1940, two World Wars cut off the flow of European and Asian toys into American stores. Playthings responded by turning its coverage almost entirely to toys made in the United States. Even as its subscriber list grew to include readers abroad, the magazine's tone stayed sharply pro-American, spotlighting events like the American International Toy Fair.

  By the 1950s, Playthings began pushing a new idea: toy buying as a year-round habit rather than a Christmas-only ritual.

  Television arrived in the 1960s and introduced children to a new set of celebrities and characters, quickly turned into dolls and action figures. Playthings began covering these television-linked toys just as the magazine hit its largest size ever, with some issues topping 600 pages.

  That growth in size would soon collide with a change in who actually owned the magazine.

• 5. New Owners, New Concerns

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  In 1967, Geyer-McAllister Publications took over Playthings, ending the McCready family's decades of ownership. Through the 1970s, the magazine expanded its coverage to include toy safety, a subject it had not previously emphasized.

  Frank Reysen Jr. became editor-in-chief in the 1980s, steering Playthings into the electronic game era. The magazine covered handheld video games both before and after the 1983 market crash. It then followed the rise of video game consoles later in the decade.

  That same decade would bring the magazine one of its most notable industry honors.

• 6. Recognition And A Centenary

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  In 1984, Playthings won a Jesse H. Neal Award for its coverage of the counterfeit toy market. It was one of several Neal Awards the magazine collected over the years. That record helped establish it as the leading trade publication covering American toys.

  Reed Business Information acquired Playthings in 1998 and continued its publication without interruption. Maria N. Weiskott was appointed editor-in-chief in 2000, leading the magazine into its second century.

  January 2003 brought the magazine's centenary issue, titled "Toy Stories: 100 Years of Fun." Two years later, in 2005, the magazine won another Neal Award, this time for "Best News Coverage" of the possible breakup of Toys "R" Us.

  Within just a few years of that award, ownership of the magazine would change hands twice more.

• 7. An Ending And An Afterlife

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  Reed Business Information sold several of its properties, including Playthings, to Sandow Media in 2010. Sandow Media kept the title alive for only a few more issues. It published Playthings monthly in print, online, and through a weekly newsletter called Playthings Extra. That fall, Sandow merged Playthings into another of its titles, Gifts & Decorative Accessories, turning it into an insert section rather than a standalone magazine.

  On the 1st of October 2010, its entire printed run from 1903 to 2010 changed hands one final time. The Brian Sutton-Smith Library & Archives of Play at The Strong, in Rochester, New York, acquired every copy.

  A little over a month later, on the 12th of November 2010, Playthings took on a new role. It became the official national media partner of The National Toy Hall of Fame at The Strong, under a three-year promotional agreement.

  In May 2017, that insert section once called Playthings was renamed Kids' Corner.