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economic equity. In 1968, Operation Bootstrap launched Shindana Born in East Africa, Leslie Scott grew up fluent in both English and
Toys, a community-owned company dedicated to making toys that Swahili. Jenga evolved from a stacking game her family played with
“reflect Black pride, Black talent, and most of all, Black enterprise.” simple wood blocks. Back in England in the 1980s, Scott began
In its first year, Shindana produced Baby Nancy. Smith advocated manufacturing her game and trademarked the name “Jenga,” a form of
that the doll was not to be a white doll “dipped in chocolate” like many the Swahili word kujenga, which means “to build.”
of her predecessors. Black sculptor Jim Toatley meticulously fashioned Traditionally Jenga is played with 54 wooden blocks stacked into a
Baby Nancy’s face mold to retain Afrocentric features, which was key, tower. Each block is three times as long as it is wide, and one-fifth as
since some manufacturers had used the same production models for thick as its length. The blocks are intentionally manufactured with
both white and Black dolls. Baby Nancy had a dark complexion, and subtle variations, which add randomness and heighten the challenge. A
her nose, mouth, and facial structure were designed to look Black. rack supplied with the game allows for a quick tower set-up, in which
She was born amid the Black Power movement, the Civil Rights each layer of three blocks is set at a 90-degree angle to the last. Players
movement, and the Black Arts movement. remove any block on their turn, placing it on top to heighten the tower
without knocking it over. Topple the tower and you’ve lost. The game
is simple and easy to understand, and it tempts players to a
rematch. Success requires balance, patience, and manual dexterity.
Like many popular games, variations on classic Jenga soon appeared.
Hasbro, the official licensee for Jenga in most of the world, made
Throw & Go Jenga, with the added excitement of special-colored
blocks and a six-sided die to determine which color to pull. Truth or
Dare Jenga evolved from written "dares" scrawled onto blocks by
mischievous adults. Jenga also comes in hundreds of branded versions,
from sports teams to nationally recognized products, characters, and
organizations.

SIDEWALK CHALK

Historians have every reason to believe that the earliest people
played with chalk. Chalk’s use in playful pursuits relies on its physical
properties. Chalk that was used on early boards was made of
gypsum, which is found naturally and can be pulverized, colored, and
compressed into sticks.
The art of street painting began in Europe in the 16th century when
itinerant artists traveled from town to town to decorate public squares
and spaces in front of churches for festivals and holy day celebrations.
These folk artists used pieces of broken tile, charcoal, and chalk to
create their colorful works. The tradition of street painting continued
for centuries; only a conflict of the scale of World War II ended this
kind of playful public art.

Newsweek described Baby Nancy as having “Negroid features and
natural hair that drinks milk from a bottle and otherwise functions just
like the white dolls peddled on morning cartoon shows.” Shindana
employees knew that Baby Nancy meant much more than that. The
company exposed a long-standing desire for ethnically correct Black
dolls that the mainstream market had failed to deliver. By
Thanksgiving, Baby Nancy was the best-selling Black doll in Los
Angeles, and before Christmas, production couldn’t keep up with
demand. Shindana had proved that consumers craved a doll like Baby
Nancy and soon began national distribution.

JENGA

In 1972, a town in Italy hosted a street painters’ competition to
publicize the works of a dwindling tradition and to record the art of a
few remaining painters. The competition helped to revive street paint-
ing and, within a decade or so, street painters were decorating pave-
ments in cities all over the world. Manufactured chalks and artist-made
chalks in a variety of colors helped produce drawings that could be
more intricate and colorful.
The revival of street painters in the mid-20th century gave rise to
street painting and sidewalk chalking as a popular pastime for kids
young and old. There are few limits to what kids can do with chalk.
Every sidewalk square, patio, or driveway holds the potential for chalk
to transform it into a work of art, a winning game of strategy and
cleverness, or a demonstration of physical agility, poise, and balance.

Have a toy you would like considered for this honor?
Follow this link to nominate a toy for the 2023 Toy Hall of Fame:
www.museumofplay.org/exhibits/toy-hall-of-fame/nominate-a-toy/

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