Sunday, August 30, 2026
How Jewish immigrants invented American childhood through classic toys, comics, and media
On Saturday mornings in the 1960s and ’70s, instead of going to synagogue, I watched cartoons.
Like millions of other American kids, I binged on Fat Albert, The Pink Panther Show, and H.R. Pufnstuf, while absorbing endless commercial breaks for games, action figures, model kits, and other marvels that might, if I played my cards right, be mine on Hanukkah.
But even if my family didn’t spend Saturdays in shul, kids’ television immersed me in an unspoken Jewish culture, as Michael Kimmel explains in his new book Toymakers: The Jewish Entrepreneurs Who Created the Toy Industry in America.
It’s a study of the mostly first-generation American Jews who led the toy industry in the 20th century, as well as the Jewish child psychologists, children’s book authors and comic book creators who, he asserts convincingly, invented the American idea of childhood.
Comments:
Post a Comment
