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This summer we asked YOU, our online visitors, to choose the Top 20 Toys that Define Childhood—and you sure did rise to the occassion! The project, “100 Toys (& Their Stories) that Define Our Childhood,” spread like wildfire across the web and resulted in over 600 stories, 24,000 votes, and countless comments on news and social media sites. We've learned that everyone, everyone, has an opinion about their favorite toy.
Back in July, our curators unveiled 100 objects from our 120,000-object collection that they felt best represented the last 100 years of childhood. From there you voted and, more importantly, shared memories about your favorite toy. We received stories from grandparents, young moms and dads, teenagers, and parents sharing stories for their young children, along with incredibly moving stories on everything from GI Joe to dinosaur toys to Yo-Yos. And they were coming from all over: Maine, Florida, California, Germany, Israel—and even a class of students in Queensland, Australia!
You can now see your top-voted 20 toys on display in a special case at the entry gates. This is our first adventure in "crowd-curation," where YOU chose the artifacts that are displayed. So come on in and enjoy the fruits of your labor—and share a memory about your favorite toy while you're at it!
Curious to know what toys made it out on top? In This Week's WOW, Josh and American Collection Curator Andrea Hughes unveil the winners in our fabulous...exclusive...first...and only...100 Toys People's Choice Awards!
