Top Ten Toys of Yesterday: 1940s

Most teenagers would find themselves surprised by this list in which they will learn that they have played with the same toys their great-grandparents grew up with.

Top Ten Toys of Yesterday: 1940s:

1. Scrabble

Originally named Criss Cross Words, Scrabble might not be in homes across America is fans of the game had not taken personal action.

Alfred Butts, creator of the game, turned his love for crossword puzzles into a board game that used a mixture of chance and skill. Only a handful of handmade samples were made and given to family and friends. When he attempted to sell his idea to established game manufacturers, they all declined. He was too busy in his architect business to bother with pushing forward on the game.

Friends of Butts and fans of the game he created, the Brunot family decided to pursue marketing the game in 1948. They made a few minor changes to the rules and decided to change the name to Scrabble. Butts gave permission for the Brunots to manufacture the game, which they did with little initial success. Success was slow, but sudden. Upon returning from a trip, the family found their little factory swamped with orders for this new game.

Today, Scrabble is the second best-selling game in US History, with only Monopoly surpassing its sales.

2. COOTIE

This worldwide childhood favorite began as a hand whittled toy in 1948. Letter carrier and creator, Herb Schaper, carved the first forty thousand wooden COOTIES by hand! A few years later, over a million were produced mechanically.

3. Model Airplanes

Model airplanes were first developed to help sell airplanes to the military. Prior the the invention of plastic, consumers would have to cut their own wood pieces. Those initial model airplanes were sold as kits with balsa wood and patterns. With the use of plastic, inexpensive, yet detailed, model airplanes were able to be mass-produced.

4. Silly Putty

Silly Putty is a story of marketing success.