A War Without Toys

Dungeons & Dragons' recent entry into the Toy Hall of Fame is noteworthy because the game has transcended its roots, becoming a full-blown hobby enjoyed by children everywhere -- and a hobby that, as we've discussed previously, wasn't originally targeted at children in the first place. And yet there was a time when toys were considered so trivial that holiday production was almost cancelled to support America's war efforts. In one fateful meeting, the fate of the Christmas toy industry hung in the balance. Without A.C. Gilbert, there may well have been no toy industry at all.

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[H=3]Building an Imagination Foundation[/H]
Dr. Alfred Carlton Gilbert was many things: an Olympian, a Yale graduate, and a magician. He was also the inventor of the Erector set in 1912, predating many other building toys. An ad in Popular Mechanics from 1922 summarizes their appeal -- an appeal that will sound familiar to role-players:

Gilbert Toys are fun, but they are more than fun. They are toys that stimulate the imagination. Boys who were playing ten years ago with Gilbert Toys, today are among the leaders in Engineering, Chemistry, Electricity.
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Erector sets were inspired by construction workers erecting railroads with steel girders and rivets. The set included metal tools to put beams, nuts, screws, bolts, and more together in whatever fashion the boy desired. Gilbert passionately believed that this sort of imaginative play was good for America's children, as described in Encyclopedia of Play in Today's Society:

By offering these tools for building, Gilbert hoped to encourage construction and engineering abilities among America's boys. He believed that the ability to solve problems and create structures, no matter how small, would prevent boys from descending to the level of aimless, pessimistic, disaffected youth without skill or purpose.
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The hopes for these sets was reflected in Gilbert's philosophy for toys in general; that they paved the way for a more productive youth. Tabletop role-playing games could easily be the complement to the philosophy behind Erector sets, encouraging interest in the arts and humanities where Erector sets focused on the sciences. Both share a limitless framework in imaginative play that continues into adulthood:

Mentioned in countless patents, including those for Flexible design construction toys, toy building elements, construction toys, and interlocking blocks, it is seen as a forerunner of toys designed to teach spatial thinking and to encourage mechanical and engineering pursuits. It has also served as a useful tool for adults making models for larger products.
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Gilbert's story doesn't end with the Erector set however. He had a very important role to play in defending the nascent toy industry at a time when it was most vulnerable: World War I.
[h=3]"The Man Who Saved Christmas"[/h]In 1918, the Council of National Defense seriously considered halting all production of toys indefinitely, turning factories into ammunition centers and even discouraging holiday gift-giving -- all in attempt to fuel the war effort:

The Council hoped the ban would encourage people to buy more war bonds with the money they would have otherwise spent on Christmas toys. The Committee on Public Information created a campaign to essentially cancel Christmas—encouraging parents to “buy bonds, not toys.”
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Gilbert, then president of the Toy Manufacturers of America, was given the one chance to make a passionate plea before the Council to preserve the toy industry. What he didn't realize then was he was making an impassioned argument for role-play and wargaming as well:

He began by telling them that "the greatest influences in the life of a boy are his toys. Yet through the toys American manufacturers are turning out, he gets both fun and an education. The American boy is a genuine boy and wants genuine toys." What happened to the American girl in all this is not clear. But as Gilbert went on to praise toy air rifles, claiming they helped make American soldiers better marksman, members of his committee took the toys out of the wrappers and placed them on the table.
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Gilbert emphasized creativity, imagination, and resourcefulnes as an integral part of play:

Gilbert testified that not only were these construction toys valuable learning tools, but they showed the long-term effects of fostering inventiveness, creativity, ingenuity, and problem solving abilities. Gilbert told Congress that we must take care of our current human resources, “our children,” for the perpetuity of American ingenuity and the value of learning.
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What happened next was a turning point in history. The adults started playing with the toys:

Gilbert then laid out his toys for the board to examine. Secretary Daniels grew absorbed with a toy submarine, marveling at the detail and asking Gilbert if it could be bought anywhere in the country. Other officials examined children’s books; one began pushing a train around the table. The word didn’t come immediately, but the expressions on the faces of the officials told the story: Gilbert had won them over. There would be no toy or gift embargo that year.
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There is a long line of development between the early 1900s of imaginative toys and tabletop role-playing games, but it's safe to say that the connectivity between role-play and miniature wargaming was tested that day. Perhaps all adult gamers owe a small debt to a man willing to face down a war council in defense of imaginative play.

Mike "Talien" Tresca is a freelance game columnist, author, communicator, and a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to http://amazon.com. You can follow him at Patreon.

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[Henry]

What happened to the American girl in all this is not clear.

This being 1918 and women yet unable to vote, I'm guessing his pleas would be as much girl-focused had there been more women on the (what appears to be) all-male board...

 

[Gilladian]

Interesting side tidbit. My great grandmother met Mrs Gilbert on a train once, when she was pregnant. The two women became lifelong friends, and my grandfather, father and older brother are all named Gilbert.

 

[Celebrim]

Excellent post. If you get paid for these things, you earned yours today.

 

[GreyLord]

Interesting item. How would they have banned the toys at the time? What would have happened to the companies that made the toys? Would it have been like prohibition, but with toys?

I haven't heard about this part of history before.

 

[Celebrim]

Interesting item. How would they have banned the toys at the time? What would have happened to the companies that made the toys? Would it have been like prohibition, but with toys?

I haven't heard about this part of history before.

Woodrow Wilson was not much of a believer in individual rights. The World War I war time period was probably the low ebb of civil rights in the United States. Wilson thought it not wrong to imprison his political critics at the time, so outlawing the manufacture of toys seems a pretty small infringement by comparison.

 

[pemerton]

How would they have banned the toys at the time? What would have happened to the companies that made the toys? Would it have been like prohibition, but with toys?

I don't know anything other than the article, but the impression I got was that it would have been an exercise of wartime power to requisition materials and direct production.

If a person could acquire some wood and whittled up a toy boat in the shed, there would be no issue. So in that respect, no, it would not be like prohibition.

 

[Eltab]

It would not have been like the Burgermeister Meisterburger (WHAT is the name of that program?), outlawing the possession of toys and making Kris Kringle a criminal for distributing them.

Instead, the factories would have been converted to some war-essential production: boots, tin cans (for C-rations), uniforms, rifle stocks, barbed wire, whatever happened to be in short supply and used the same raw materials as the toys had used. After the war ended - or after new President elected - resume civilian production ... of toys.

 

[LordEntrails]

Interesting item. How would they have banned the toys at the time? What would have happened to the companies that made the toys? Would it have been like prohibition, but with toys?

I haven't heard about this part of history before.

To expand upon what [MENTION=42582]pemerton[/MENTION] said, at that period of time (World War I), production facilities (in the US) were mandated as to what they could produce, and then they were paid what the government felt was the appropriate fee.

For instance, car, truck & tractor factories were converted to produce military vehicles (same thing happened in WWII). Plane factories were converted to producing military aircraft (again in WWII).

Toys factories that produced tin soldiers and such probably would have been converted to produce ammunition cans or similar items.

Basically, during a declared war, the President gets a whole lot of latitude. And if a factory owner were to do something like refuse to produce the "requested" goods, then they would be going against the war effort, and could (and would) be charged with treason, imprisoned and the factory taken over by the war department or a cooperative company.

This wasn't just something that happened only in the US though. Basically it has happened in every country that has declared war on another for as long as recorded history. It is how nations go to war. War is not a mercantile endeavour or one in which individual liberties are expressed as a popular view.