Daily Dirt: From Barbie to the Big Wheel, who knew?

You learn something every day, right? Well, I certainly did today. Find out what it was during today’s three thoughts that make up Vo. 124 of the Daily Dirt:

1. The National Toy Hall of Fame recently announced its 2021 inductees, which included the tabletop game Risk and American Girl dolls.

My first reaction was, “Hmmmm …”My second reaction was, “I didn’t even know there was a National Toy Hall of Fame.”Well, there most certainly is and it dates to 1999 and is located in Rochester, N.Y.

Much like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson and Honus Wagner made up the inaugural MLB Hall of Fame class in 1936, the following items represented the foundation of the National Toy Hall of Fame in 1999: Barbie, Crayola Crayons, Erector set, Etch A Sketch, Frisbee, Hula hoop, Legos, Lincoln Logs, Marbles, Monopoly, Radio Flyer Wagon, Roller skates, Teddy bear, Tinkertoys, View-Master and the Duncan Yo-Yo.

Since that time, inductees have included such favorites as the bicycle, Mr. Potato Head, the Slinky, the jump rope, Silly Putty, Tonka Trucks, the jigsaw puzzle, Raggedy Ann doll, alphabet blocks, checkers, G.I. Joe, the Scrabble game, jack-in-the-box, Easy-Bake oven, Lionel trains, Atari 2600, Matchbox cars, Hot Wheels, dominoes, Rubik’s Cube, Big Wheel, Gameboy, the skateboard, The Game of Life, sidewalk chalk, pinball, the Clue game, the wiffle ball, Twister and little green Army men.

How did I not know about all of this until now?

2. At some point in our lives, we all had to start somewhere. Movie and TV stars are no different. Here’s a look at the early commercial gigs some of favorite stars had to take to pay the bills:

Patrick Swayze: Pabst Blue Ribbon. (Long before Demi Moore and “Ghost”, not to mention kickin’ ass and taking names in “Roadhouse.”)

Britney Spears: Maull’s barbecue sauce. (She was young and innocent. She’s no longer either  …)

Leonardo DiCaprio: Bubble Yum. (Leo was about 3 feet high at this point his career.)

John Goodman: McDonald’s. (Roseanne who?)

Brad Pitt: Pringles. (Angelina who?)

Sofia Vergara: Pepsi. (Everyone has to start somewhere.)

Sharon Stone and Bruce Willis: Seagram’s wine coolers. (Bruce had a lot more hair … a LOT more.)

Ben Affleck: Burger King. (Affleck had never even met Jennifer Lopez at this point in his life.)

Drew Barrymore: Pillsbury cookie dough. (She was just a little girl in this commercial.)

Jason Alexander: McDonald’s. (Costanza!)

Sarah Michelle Gellar: Burger King. (Well before her days as Buffy the Vampire Slayer.)

3. Found on Facebook … another week, more social media hilarity. Honestly, there are evenings when an hour’s time spent perusing Facebook is better than anything television can provide. Here are this week’s five examples:

“It’s either serial murder documentaries or Christmas movies. We’re either slayin’ and sleighin’.” (My personal fave of the week.)

“Two potatoes are standing on a corner. How do you know which one is a prostitute? The one that has a sticker that says ‘Idaho’.”

“I wish everything was as easy as getting fat.”

“Do any of you actually eat pickled beets?”

“Two melons go to Las Vegas to get married. One of the melons has second thoughts and says, ‘Wait … we cantaloupe’.”

Steve Fact O’ The Day: Steve could never ever figure out the finer points of the yo-yo.

Order the Steve Eighinger action figure for your kids for Christmas! Comes with pens, notepads and cups of crushed ice. Tiramisu lunch playset sold separately.