Wheels and Heels – A Real Toy Story
By: Quezia Salgado
Some 55 years after arriving on store shelves, Barbie dolls, Matchbox cars, and (a decade later) Hot Wheels cars, remain not only popular but relevant. That’s quite an accomplishment in this digital era.
The Norton Museum of Art’s 2014 Summer Exhibition takes a playful and in-depth look at these iconic toys. The miniature car, epitomized by the Matchbox and Hot Wheels brands, and the “teenage doll” Barbie. The exhibition, Wheels & Heels: The Big Noise Around Little Toys, is on view through Sunday, Oct. 26th, 2014. The exhibition will fascinate audiences of all ages while looking at the history and impact of these beloved toys, which first found popularity in the years following World War II.
“In many ways, these toys helped teach Boomers to be consumers,” says Guest Curator Matthew Bird, Associate Professor of Industrial Design at the Rhode Island School of Design, “the first car or dress that a child fell in love with was a miniature, but the thrill of ownership was enduring and informed how that child became an adult. Although we accept these toys as familiar parts of our cultural landscape, they were nothing short of revolutionary at the time they were created.”
To tell these toy stories, Bird has assembled numerous editions of the toys themselves as well as vintage advertisements, design drawings, television commercials, and the marketing publications that helped fuel the feverish desire to have or collect these toys. Visitors young and old will enjoy the nostalgia that this story invokes. As cultural icons these toys are not uncontroversial. The exhibition will also look at their impact on society, contemporary art, and media.
Visitors will be able to view hundreds of related objects including Barbie’s 1964 theater, 1964 college dorm, and a number of her houses, horses, and dogs. There are Matchbox racetracks from the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s.
As with last summer’s popular LEGO® exhibition, Block by Block: Inventing Amazing Architecture, Wheels and Heels will feature an interactive playroom. To add to the excitement, Museum admission will be free to Florida residents every Thursday from June 5 – Sept. 4, 2014.
For additional information, please call (561) 832-5196, or visit www.norton.org.
