Clackers, magnets and water beads: how to avoid a trip to the emergency room this Christmas |
We officially started watching Christmas films this weekend gone (alright, three weekends ago). One of them was the hilariously awful Jingle All the Way, starring Schwarzenegger, Sinbad (the comedian, not the sailor) and that kid who played Darth Vader.
Like many festive films, it has become a relatable cult classic. Two dads scrambling for a sold-out superhero toy on Christmas Eve, having failed to get their act together earlier.
It is an ordeal many parents know all too well, including my own. My mum still remembers being harangued to within an inch of her sanity while hunting for a Tamagotchi for me in the 90s. She succeeded where Arnie failed, because she’s brilliant.
All of which raises a valid question. Why do some toys create such desperate demand, especially when a few of them come with very real safety concerns?
People born in the 1960s or 70s may remember the children’s toy clackers. They were two hard polymer spheres attached to either end of a cord. When swung in an up-and-down rhythm, they clacked together repeatedly and loudly. Often unnervingly. See for yourself.
The nervous sideways glances in the commercial make sense. Children had good reason to fear these things. Clackers were capable of causing as many injuries as the Argentinian bolas, the weapon they were........