As
we approach the Christmas season, this is the time of year in which
most toy companies end up making a bulk of their profits. It
certainly makes sense. After all, what do most kids between the ages
of three and thirteen ask for on their Christmas lists? Toys, of
course.
So,
for the next few weeks, I thought that I would do spotlights on some
popular toys that were huge when I was a kid...and these are toys
that I have actually received as Christmas presents back in the day
myself. So in addition to learning more about these toys, you'll
also be entertained by some personal stories in relation to my
experiences with these toys. I hope you enjoy it.
Okay,
so because I'm trying to make this blog a little more personal, I
should share with you a little bit of a story in regards to my
Christmas experiences...as well as my family.
It's
no secret when I admit that my family didn't have a whole lot of
money available for holidays. When you come from a one-parent family
income, which barely covered the essentials needed for survival,
there wasn't a whole lot of extra money available. And yet, I can
always remember having great Christmases. My parents really worked
hard to make sure that my siblings and I partook in the joy that
Christmas had to offer, and it wasn't just about the gifts either.
It was about spending time together, and enjoying the traditions that
came with the holiday season.
One
of these traditions for the holiday that I can always remember
occurred on Christmas Eve. When my siblings and I were children, we
were allowed to open one present on Christmas Eve night...the only
catch was that it was the same thing every year. We weren't even
allowed to choose which gift we could unwrap...we had to open a gift
that our parents chose for us.
Those
gifts ended up always being some form of sleepwear. Pajamas,
slippers, baby doll nightgowns (well, okay, I personally did NOT get
that last option). When I was a kid, I admittedly found it to be a
drag getting pajamas every single year. I almost would have welcomed
opening up socks and underwear instead...at least it would have been
a change! It wasn't until I got older than I really began to
appreciate the tradition for what it was. And if I'm ever lucky
enough to have a son or a daughter of my own one day, I plan to share
that tradition with them.
So,
what does a story about getting pajamas as a present have to do with
today's toy spotlight? After all, pajamas are not toys. I'm getting
to that.
You
see, one of the key elements in trying to figure out which gift
underneath the tree was the one we were to open on Christmas Eve was
how it was labeled. On our Christmas Eve gifts, the gift tag
attached to the present was always from “Dad”. This always meant
that every present that had the “Dad” gift tag contained pajamas.
Now
when I was twelve years old, I knew the drill. On December 24, I
would search under the tree, looking for a gift that was from “Dad”,
and opened it up expecting to see some form of pajamas. To my
surprise though, when I ripped off the red and green wrapping paper,
and opened up the box, I found this instead.
Now
clearly I couldn't wear this to bed. But I couldn't figure out how I
ended up with a Troll Doll for a Christmas Eve present instead of a
pair of pajamas. And neither could my parents, who were just as
shocked as I was!
That
is until my parents looked over the shredded wrapping paper all over
the floor and saw where the mix-up took place. Do you know those
ribbons and bows that have the peel and stick backings on them? Like
these ones below?
Apparently
when my parents were wrapping presents in preparation for Christmas,
they accidentally put a big bow so close to the gift tag that it
obscured the word “Mom” in the “From Mom and Dad” written on
it. And soon after, we found the right Christmas Eve gift, I got my
Christmas Eve pajamas, and all was right in the world...well, aside
from the fact that I ended up with two Christmas Eve gifts.
Not
that I complained too much, of course.
In
fact, I'll level with you. The Troll Doll that I accidentally
unwrapped that Christmas Eve was a gift that I had never gotten
before. It was a toy that looked so ugly, but yet it was kind of
cool at the same time. And hey, the troll's hair was my favourite
colour (purple), so it had that going for it as well. I think I
ended up getting about a half a dozen when I was a kid, just because
I thought they were interesting.
In
fact, I've decided to use this blog to talk about Troll Dolls, as
well as the origin behind them and how they initially became popular
during the 1960s, and enjoyed a brief comeback in the 1990s.
The
history of the Troll Doll begins a little over five decades ago in
the country of Denmark. The year was 1959, and Danish fisherman
Thomas Dam was having difficulty coming up with the right Christmas
present to give to his daughter, Lila. So, he decided to do what a
lot of other people have done...make something. In addition to being
a fisherman, he was an experienced woodcarver, and he decided to
carve something special for Lila. Christmas came, Lila ended up
getting her special present, and she loved it very much.
And
apparently, so did all the other kids in the Danish village where
Thomas and Lila lived.
This
is one of the original designs of what would come to be known as the
Troll Doll as it appeared back in 1959. Adorable little creature,
isn't he?
So,
Thomas Dam decided to mass produce the Troll Dolls so that every kid
in the village would have one, substituting plastic for the original
wooden one that he had made Lila. The dolls were produced by his
company known as Dam Things (a rather unfortunate name for a company
when you stop and think about it), and were sold under the name of
“Good Luck Trolls”.
The
dolls became instant sensations in several European nations, but it
wouldn't be until 1963 until they began to make an impact on North
America. From 1963 until 1965, “Good Luck Trolls” became a huge
fad in the United States.
Of
course, with the success of the Troll Doll came the knockoffs and
sub-standard versions. The original Troll dolls created by Thomas
Dam were known as Dam Dolls (again, a rather unfortunate name), and
were made of quality materials including glass eyes and hair made
from sheep wool. But due to the sudden popularity of the troll
dolls, coupled with a copyright notice error of Dam's original
product, cheaper versions were made that flooded North American
shelves.
By
1966, Troll dolls were fading in popularity in North America, but the
company remained open to produce them for the European market, in
which they were still widely popular well into the 1970s. But around
1988, Troll Dolls began to make a reappearance on store shelves all
across Canada and the United States. The E.F.S. Marketing Associates
Inc. were one of the very few corporations that the Dam family (you
can tell I'm having a lot of fun with the play on words here, can
you) allowed to market the dolls.
The
dolls were sold in the United States under the name of “Norfin
Trolls”, and several versions of the Troll dolls were mass produced
including the classic Troll...
...Trolls
with lucky gem stones...
...Trolls
with clothes...
...believe
it or not, there was even a two-headed Troll doll! As if they
weren't ugly enough already!
In
2003, a Congressional law allowed the Dam family to restore their
original copyright and become the sole manufacturer of the
dolls...forty years after the misprint in the original copyright
statement was made. Despite an American company's decision to
challenge the restoration of the copyright in court, the court ruled
in favour of the Dam family, and the copyright has been in their
possession ever since.
As
of 2012, Troll dolls are still being manufactured, though their
popularity has waned in recent years. It certainly didn't help that
DiC Entertainment tried to capitalize on the popularity of Troll
dolls by creating its own animated series known as Trollz – an
attempt that failed miserably in the United States, and prompted the
company that held the rights to the dolls to file a lawsuit against
DiC in 2007. But I'd reckon that Troll dolls might find their way
back into toy stores all over the world once again. Believe it or
not, there are plans to release a Troll doll movie!
The
plans were announced by DreamWorks Animation in the summer of 2010,
and as of right now, Chloe Grace Moretz has been cast as the female
lead of the film. It even has a tentative release date of June 2015!
So,
okay, we have to wait three years before we see any motion pictures
featuring the spiky-haired trolls of yore...but would you care to
take a wager that if and when the movie comes out, you'll see the fad
make a comeback?
Remind
me to revisit this topic in the summer of 2015, to see if I'm right!
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