Boy-built Toy Truck
I really find these homemade toys and trucks to be lovely. Yet, I know every kid with one of these boy-built toys would trade it in a second for a mass-produced plastic truck. This example comes from the Solomon Islands. I found the picture on the UNICEF Childrenssite.
There's so much more imagination that goes into this than ever goes into a branded piece of plastic. Makes me wonder if we in the so-called developed world realize how much we actually take away from children when we engage in seemingly benign capitalistic activities (and sometimes blatantly transparent, as with Hummers in Happy Meals). Then again, the people trying to turn a buck probably don't have either the concern or the imagination to realize that possibility.
Posted by csven on August 19, 2006 at 5:45 PMBob,
Do you happen to have any photos of those toys from back then?
Posted by Kevin Kelly on September 7, 2006 at 5:22 AM
Those were quite common in Thailand about a generation ago, before manufactured toys became plentiful. When I was a boy growing up in Thailand, they had home made tops, cars, lorrys, alas -- now it's a lost art.
Posted by bob on August 16, 2006 at 9:46 AM