And that's what little girls are made of

It's the Christmas season and that means toys...lots and lots of toys being sold. We've got cars and trucks and dolls and blocks and a whole bunch of stuff I've never heard of. I haven't been in the toy business for a long time and, well I'm old.

Most of these toys weren't around or even a conception when I was a lad eagerly awaiting the ripping frenzy of Christmas morning. Even in my toy retail days when I worked for the defunct Children's Palace stores, many of those toys were new to me. My first big 'toy craze' I worked through was the introduction of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Fortunately for me I had just missed the Cabbage Patch phenomenon.

But there are some things that just don't change. There are dinosaurs, action figures, dolls, science toys...wait, did you say science toys? Yes! There are all kinds of toys that let children discover science and the natural world around them. But you know what hasn't changed in my opinion? Parents don't buy these toys for girls.

We hear all the time that parents want more for their girls and they don't want them to just follow the traditional paths laid out for women. But guess what, most don't (in my opinion) begin setting them up for those paths. I've conducted a brief experiment at work asking moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas who they are buying the discovery / science toys for. And guess what? Well over ninety percent of them are buying those toys for boys, not girls.

It's obvious what parents (mostly women and moms buy for their girls because men don't do most of the shopping) buy for girls; dolls, jewelry kits, makeup kits, anything pink and a bunch of cutesy products specifically aimed at girls.

So here's my challenge to the women of this country; if you want your daughters to grow up and become active in the sciences or biology or any of the 'non-traditional' fields we all hear has a glass ceiling it's time to put your money where your mouth is and break the mold. Don't just hope your little girl stumbles into one of these professions, start them on the track at a young age. Even if they don't follow that path, you've set them on a course that offers them insight to a place they may at least have an interest.

Ball's in your court now...

Cowboys and Indians

Yesterday when I was at my day job, you know, that one that actually pays the bills, I was stocking the shelves as it is a common occurrence. This time of year toys are a prime object. Most of the time I don't give much notice to what the toy is. More often than not I have no connection with whatever the toy is to my past. You must remember, most of what is on the shelves these days wasn't around when I was a young lad.

One toy however did give me pause. Like the skillful merchandiser I am, I deftly slipped my regulation safety knife under the cardboard flap and within the blink of an eye had the box open. Of course one has to have a regulation safety knife because everyone who works in the industry these days is too stupid to use a real razor knife without doing themselves some serious harm...but I digress.

Inside the box was a 'replica Black Canyon' western rifle set. It came complete with a rifle just like Chuck Connors had in the old Rifleman television series, however it was orange, not sure Chuck would have approved of that, as well as a pistol and holster for said six shooter. It got me to thinking, do kids these days play cowboys and indians? I'm thinking that's a fantasy that has long since passed into the history books. Even in my day, North of 50 and I never really played that even though we were only a few generations removed from that era. Yeah, I'm a bit old. We were more into playing 'war' being we were fresh off the World War II era.

North of 50 on the left, me on the right

with our trusty rifles

The funny thing about that is we really didn't play good vs bad and make one be the Germans or the Japanese. I guess we didn't think along those lines. Now, the era of cowboys and indians is so far removed from the public mindset that this toy seems like an antique. Not to mention the politically correctness of it being, just not. I suppose unless one lives in the plains states or what would have been considered the 'old west', it isn't something kids gravitate to as that era is well over one-hundred years past.

Even if some kids thought of this these days it would likely be called 'Oppressive White Man vs Native Americans'.

Tales in Time for you

Tis the Christmas season, at least for me. I know for others Christmas is not their holiday of choice so consider this inclusion for the holiday season.

As a thank you to those who have followed along with this blog for either all the years we have written it or, have just jumped on recently, I have a small gift for you. I have written several short stories and put them together in an ebook. It is titled, Tales in Time. It is a collection of short stories that cover a wide range of genres from a gumshoe in the 30's to an old world vampire to a Christmas tale.

If you click on the link provided in the title it will take you to smashwords.com which is a book distributor. At the checkout enter the coupon code LT89M and the book is free. It is my Christmas gift to those who have faithfully followed along. So, if you've ever wanted to see if my writing is up your alley, this is your chance for a freebie.

I wish you all well this holiday season and...Merry Christmas.