Playing with History
Author : Molly Rosner
Publisher : Rutgers University Press
Release Date : 2021-05-14
ISBN : 197882209X
Pages : 154 pages
Rating : 4.8/5 (822 Download)
Download and Read Playing with History PDF by Molly Rosner Full Book and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 2021-05-14 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the advent of the American toy industry, children’s cultural products have attempted to teach and sell ideas of American identity. By examining cultural products geared towards teaching children American history, Playing With History highlights the changes and constancies in depictions of the American story and ideals of citizenship over the last one hundred years. This book examines political and ideological messages sold to children throughout the twentieth century, tracing the messages conveyed by racist toy banks, early governmental interventions meant to protect the toy industry, influences and pressures surrounding Cold War stories of the western frontier, the fractures visible in the American story at a mid-century history themed amusement park. The study culminates in a look at the successes and limitations of the American Girl Company empire.