This time of year always makes me nostalgic for my childhood, and the days when I dreamed of visiting Santa’s workshop. For way too many years I believed that somewhere far far away, presumably the North Pole, Santa’s elves were (happily) slaving away, making mountains of toys for children all around the world. I decided toys with name brand labels were either made and shipped to certain companies or only labeled as such as a cover for the real Santa’s workshop.
Today’s infographic shows 50 years of the most popular toys. I can remember most of these novelty items popping up at various ages and stages of my life. The annoyance of Furbies and Giga Pets waking me and my friends up in the dead of night at sleepovers is hauntingly familiar. And back in my day, no one was safe from the Beanie Baby craze — I probably had hundreds of these glorified stuffed animals, and I was told that they would be worth thousands of dollars some day (granted, their cuteness factor and hugable-loveableness was much more important to me at the time).
Get nostalgic with today’s infographic and check out some of your favorite childhood (and possibly current) playthings. [Via]