Daily Dirt: Stick, cardboard box are members of Toy Hall of Fame

Daily Dirt for Thursday, June 15, 2023

Babe, Ty, Christy, Walter and Honus would all be proud I’m sure … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 637 of The Daily Dirt.

1. I now have a new destination to add to my bucket list. It’s the National Museum of Play, also known as the Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester, N.Y. My favorite “inductee,” which was part of the 2008 hall of fame class, is the stick. Here’s part of the description of the stick on its plaque: 

“The stick may be the world’s oldest toy. Animals play with sticks, and we use them to play fetch with our dogs. Children find sticks an endless source of make-believe fun. Sticks can turn into swords, magic wands, majorette batons, fishing poles, and light sabers. When children pretend with sticks, they cultivate their creativity and develop their imaginations. They explore as they search outdoors for just the right one. Children build with sticks, bat balls with them and walk with them. They are the original building blocks for creative play.” 

The 2022 inductees were the Top, Lite-Brite and Masters of the Universe figures.

The first class of inductees back in 1998 were the marble, Legos, the baby doll, Monopoly, Play-Doh, the Tinkertoy, the Frisbee, the Barbie Doll and Etch-A-Sketch.

In case you were wondering, one of the 2005 inductees was The Cardboard Box.

It all kind of brings to mind that first Baseball Hall of Fame class in 1936 that included Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson and Honus Wagner.

2. Here are the celebrity birthdays we’re celebrating this week:

• Actress Courtney Cox of “Friends” fame is 59 Thursday. Please, Courtney, no more cosmetic surgeries.
• Actress Joan Van Ark, part of the long-running prime-time soap opera “Knots Landing,” turns 80 Friday. One of the top 10 network TV programs of all-time.
• Singer Barry Manilow will be 77 on Saturday. He’ll see you at the Copa, Copacabana.
• Beatles legend, Sir Paul McCartney, will blow out 81 candles on Saturday. Ah, the long and winding road.
• Errol Flynn, my favorite actor ever, would have turned 114 on Tuesday. The swashbuckler died at age 50 in 1959. I had my own personal Errol Flynn film festival earlier this week. I watched six of his best westerns, including “Dodge City.” I actually prefer his films where he was a pirate or sea captain or whatever a little better than the westerns. He also was a quality pilot in some of his military-themed movies. 

3. Speaking of halls fame, six MLB mascots are members of the National Mascot Hall of Fame in Whiting, Ind.:

• Phillie Phanatic
• Southpaw (White Sox)
• Slugger (Royals)
• Slider (Guardians)
• Mr. Met
• The Oriole Bird

Of those six, only the Phanatic and Mr. Met are worthy. The other four must have had a relative on the voting committee. 

Steve Thought O’ The Day
I never played with a stick as a wee lad. I preferred a bag of chips.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. Playing with a stick would have meant he would have gone outside to play, which meant he would have been hot and sweaty. Not going to happen.