Apparently the Marx Toy Museum in Moundsville, West Virginia has nothing to do with Karl Marx, which might be disappointing for someone like Rush Limbaugh (or maybe not?). It is actually named after Louis Marx, who founded the toy manufacturing company in 1919 until it officially went bankrupt in 1980. One of the reasons for its downfall was the fact that Marx only spent a few hundred dollars on advertising for an entire year compared to a company like Mattel, which literally spent millions. Now you know how important Don Draper is to society. I actually wrote about this museum once before (read the post here). But considering this is the holiday season of consumerism where we buy kids toys who already have a gazillion toys they don’t play with, I say why not celebrate The Toy (and I’m not talking about the movie of the same name starring Richard Pryor).
Anyway, enjoy the photo of the display of the Campus Cuties, which were produced by Marx in 1964. The line was an attempt to emphasize figurines over play sets as well as consciously appeal to girls. There were sixteen figures in all, released in two waves, with each “Cutie” made to fit a particular activity or mood, like shopping, going to the movies or a party, or hanging out at the beach (but may I add none of the Campus Cuties are ever studying). Each title is molded into its base, such as “Twist Party”, “Lazy Afternoon”, and “Belle of the Ball”. The historical importance of these plastic college girls is interesting when you remember they were made in the era right before Women’s Lib, bra burning, and campus demonstrations.
