What was the first toy?

Welcome to History's Not Boring by kidopoly.com. I'm Mira. And I'm Finn. A huge shout out to Warner, Nathan and Hallie in Montreal, and Grijan in Bangalore, who is turning six this month.

We also want to say a big hi to seven-year-old Dahlia in Malaysia. Amy Rose and Harry in Norwich. Mary, who is turning seven in Baltimore, and eight-year-old Mabel in Oregon.

You all asked us to cover the very first toys in the history of dolls, so this one is for all of you.

If you haven't already, tap follow wherever you're listening so you never miss an episode.

Today we're travelling back thousands of years. Long before tablets, video games or plastic existed, kids were still playing.

We're going to dig up 4,000-year-old dolls from ancient Egypt and find out how Roman kids lost their marbles in dirt and ash.

Plus, we'll discover how the yo-yo travelled the world, where the rocking horse came from, and how a famous president who refused to shoot a bear gave us the teddy bear.

So, what is the absolute oldest toy in the entire world? Was it just a rock? I bet it was a rock.

Well, rocks are fun, but archaeologists have actually found spinning tops that are over 5,500 years old. That's from the 35th century BCE.

Whoa, 5,000 years? Did they have bay blades back then?

Not exactly. They were carved out of baked clay and wood in ancient Mesopotamia. But let's talk about the history of dolls, since our listeners asked. Picture this: you're standing on the sandy banks of the Nile River in Egypt 4,000 years ago.

It's super hot, and there are pyramids in the distance.

Exactly. And in the hands of a little child, you'd see a paddle doll. They were made from a flat, carved piece of wood, usually about eight inches long, shaped literally like a modern ping pong paddle. A ping pong paddle? So no soft, cuddly arms or legs? Nope, but the craftsmen painted them beautifully, with intricate patterns that look like fancy clothes.

And they strung hundreds of tiny clay and faience beads onto linen threads to make thick, heavy hair. Wait, hair made of beads? Yes. When the kids played with them, or shook them, the beads would make a loud clacking sound against the wooden paddle, almost like a musical instrument.

That is so loud! Parents probably got annoyed, just like today. Definitely.

They also had clay rattles shaped like little pigs and birds filled with pebbles. But jump over to modern-day Turkey around the year 3000 BCE, and archaeologists found something even crazier. Was it an ancient tablet? It was tiny, terracotta clay models of chariots pulled by animals. And Finn, these chariots had real working spinning wheels on tiny axles.

Wait, so 5,000 years ago, kids were basically pushing around ancient hot wheels in the dirt.

Exactly. It proves that kids have always loved things that roll and go fast. Now let's fast forward a bit to the Roman Empire, about 2,000 years ago. Imagine huge stone arenas, roaring crowds, and massive villas with perfectly polished marble floors.

Those floors must have been super slippery.

They were incredibly smooth, which made them the absolute best place to play a game called Nux.

unknown Ha!

NUX? That sounds like a sneeze.

Uh, Nux! Nux is actually the Latin word for nuts! Long before glass marbles were invented in the 1800s, Roman children played games by rolling perfectly round walnuts, hazelnuts, or smooth stones across those floors. Wait, so they just flicked walnuts at each other? They played games of aim, trying to knock the walnuts or clay spheres out of a circle, just like modern marbles.

Hundreds of these ancient playing pieces have been excavated from dirt and ash, in ruins where kids lost them 2,000 years ago.

Oh man, imagine losing your favourite lucky walnut in the dirt. That would be devastating.

Right? Now, what if I told you another favourite toy was born around the exact same time, but in ancient Greece? The year is 440 BCE.

Is it the yo-yo? You mentioned yo-yos earlier.

Yes, we actually have an ancient Greek vase that is 2,400 years old, showing a boy wearing a robe and perfectly flicking a yo-yo.

Ew, wait, was it made of clay? Wouldn't a clay yo-yo just shatter into a million gross dusty pieces if it hit the floor?

It was made of painted terracotta clay, so yes, they probably broke all the time. But the yo-yo didn't really explode in popularity until it travelled to the Philippines. How did it get there? We aren't entirely sure, but it became a huge part of their culture. In fact, the word yo-yo comes from the Tagalog language in the Philippines, and it literally means come come!

Come come, because it comes back to your hand. That makes total sense.

In 1928, a Filipino immigrant named Pedro Flores opened a little toy factory in California. He hand-carved wooden yo-yos and started showing kids how to do incredible tricks. A businessman named Donald F. Duncan saw the crowds, bought the company, and sold millions of them.

Okay, so we have dolls, ancient hot wheels, marbles, and yo-yos. What about the rocking horse?

Let's travel from America across the ocean to England. The year is 1605. Picture massive castles, cold stone walls, and knights riding huge war horses.

Kids must have really wanted to ride horses too, right? They did.

During the Middle Ages, kids played with hobby horses, which were just a carved wooden horse head stuck on a long broomstick.

You just put it between your legs and gallop around the muddy yard.

Exactly. But around 1605, someone had a brilliant idea. They built a heavy wooden horse and attached it to large, curved wooden bow rockers, so it could actually rock back and forth safely. The very first rocking horse? Who was it for? It was built for a royal toddler who would grow up to be King Charles I.

Little Charles was a very sick baby, and his legs were incredibly weak.

So they gave him a toy to help him get stronger?

Yes. His guardians gave him this beautifully carved rocking horse to exercise his leg muscles. By the time he was a teenager, he was an expert horseback rider.

That is the coolest physical therapy ever. But what about the teddy bear? You said it started with a president.

I did. The year is 1902. November 14th, to be exact. President Theodore Roosevelt, whose nickname was Teddy, travelled down to the dense, muddy swamps of Mississippi for a bear hunt.

Did he find a huge, scary grizzly bear?

Actually, he couldn't find a single bear for days. The president was part of a five-day trip to settle a boundary dispute, and he had newspaper reporters following him everywhere. He was getting frustrated.

Uh-oh, did they finally find one?

His guide, a very famous tracker named Holt Collier, took his hunting dogs and tracked down an old tired black bear that weighed 235 pounds. Holt actually tied the bear to a willow tree. He tied it to a tree. That's totally cheating and super mean. That's exactly what President Roosevelt thought. Holt called the president over and told him to shoot the bear.

But the president looked at the tied-up bear, put his gun down, and flatly refused. He told the crowd it was completely unsportsmanlike and that he could never be proud of himself if he shot a defenceless animal tied to a tree.

Phew! That was really brave of him, especially with all those reporters watching. But how did that become a toy?

That moment of kindness made national news. On November 16th, a famous cartoonist named Clifford Berryman drew a picture of the president refusing to shoot the bear, and it was printed in the Washington Post. So the whole country saw it. Millions of people. And up in Brooklyn, New York, at 404 Tompkins Avenue, a husband and wife named Morris and Rose Micktum owned a small candy shop.

They saw the cartoon and got an amazing idea.

Did they make a bear out of candy?

No. Rose was amazing at sewing. She stitched together a small, soft, stuffed bear out of velvet. They put it in their shop window with a sign that said, Teddy's Bear.

That is so cute. Let me guess, it sold out instantly.

People went crazy for it. But Morris was worried he might get in trouble for using the president's name. So he actually mailed one of the bears to the White House and asked for permission. No way. Did the President write back? He did. He gave his permission, but he added a funny note. He said, I don't think my name will mean much in the toy bear business.

Wow. President Teddy was completely wrong about that one.

He really was. The Micktum started the ideal toy company, and within a few years they were selling millions of teddy bears all over the world. It completely changed the way toys were mass-produced.

I love that. It shows that sometimes the best toys come from totally unexpected moments in history.

Absolutely! And speaking of unexpected, I promised you one more amazing fun fact about those ancient clay marbles we talked about earlier.

Oh right, the ancient games found in the ruins.

Well, before the Romans, ancient Egyptian kids played a board game with their clay marbles called Mehen. Mehen was the name of a snake god, and the entire game board was carved to look like a giant coiled-up snake.

Ugh, a snake board? That sounds like a game of snakes and ladders, but way creepier.

Some boards had up to 400 spaces on the snake's body. You rolled your marbles starting from the tail and spiralled all the way into the snake's head in the centre.

I think I'd rather stick to cuddling my teddy bear, thanks.

Alright, Finn, it's time for our history quiz. Are you ready?

I think so. Lay it on me.

First question. What did ancient Egyptian children use as hair for their wooden paddle dolls? Next one. What language does the word yo-yo come from, meaning come come? Question three. Which English king used a rocking horse as a baby to strengthen his legs? Here's number four. What year did President Theodore Roosevelt refuse to shoot the tied up bear?

Last question. What was the name of the ancient Egyptian marble game played on a snake-shaped board? Great job, let's see how you did. The first answer is they used strings of tiny beads. For question two, it comes from the Tagalog language in the Philippines. Number three, the answer is, it was King Charles I.

Question four, that happened in 1902. And the final answer is, it was called Mehen.

I still can't believe the oldest spinning tops are over 5,000 years old. I'm going to look at my toys totally differently now.

History is full of surprises. Hey, if you loved learning about the very first toys with us, please leave us a 5-star review.

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And if you haven't already, tap follow wherever you're listening so you never miss an episode. Oh, and we have sister shows too. Science and philosophy's not boring, and matters not boring.

Go give those a listen and a follow as well. Want your name shouted out on the show? Send us an email at hello at kidopoly.com.

See you next time on History's Not Boring. Bye, everyone.

What was the first toy?

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