What would childhood be without toys? It would certainly be a lot more boring. Toys have always evoked an innocence and nostalgia as we think back to playing as kids. But even the most seemingly innocent toys can have dark secrets hidden beneath their bright colors and smiling faces.
Some toys have backstories that might be hard to believe. From creators sanitizing history to make their toys seem more child-friendly to recalls and hidden NSFW images, here are the childhood toys with pretty disturbing stories.
Teddy Bear
Our cute and cuddly bear plushies can be linked back to President Theodore Roosevelt and a hunting trip. In 1902, Roosevelt went bear hunting with a few friends and assistants. He hadn’t had success, so the others captured a bear and presented it to Roosevelt to shoot. Seeing the bear tied to a tree, he refused, saying that it would be unsportsmanlike.
This story spread through the news and inspired Morris Michtom to create a stuffed bear doll, naming it after the president. The dark part of this tale, however? Roosevelt might have declined to shoot the bear, but he did order it killed. The bear wasn’t shown mercy until the very end, having been beaten with clubs, tied to a tree, and then “put down” to end its misery.
Slinky
Richard T. James created the Slinky by accident while trying to create a spring for naval ships. He and his wife, Betty, started the James Spring and Wire Company to mass-produce their children’s toy, and they became ultra-wealthy. But in the late 1950s, James felt disillusioned by material things and joined a religious cult.
James donated almost all of his Slinky profits to the cult and then left his wife and children to move to Bolivia with the rest of his congregation. Betty James was able to salvage the company and build it back up, but she never saw her husband again.
Barbie
Barbie has been a symbol of female empowerment for almost 70 years, but she definitely did not start out that way. The doll we know as Barbie was first Bild Lilli, a character from a German comic strip. Bild Lilli was not so family-friendly. She was an overly sexualized doll, often sold in adult toy shops.
After Mattel bought the rights to Bild Lilli, Ruth Handler was able to turn her into Barbie by giving her fashionable clothes instead of racy outfits and actual feet instead of legs ending in black stilettos.
Cabbage Patch Kids
Cabbage Patch Kids were all the rage in the 1980s, and their popularity has continued today. But their creator, Xavier Roberts, wasn’t as innocent as his cute baby dolls. First, the idea that made Roberts a billionaire was not his. He stole the concept from folk artist Mary Nelson Thomas’s “Doll Babies.” He bought a few of her dolls, using them as a blueprint for his own toy.
Also, Roberts was very specific with the marketing of the Cabbage Patch Kids. He would not allow people to call them dolls, saying they had to be referred to as babies or kids. Stores were adoption centers, and the kids were being adopted for a fee, not sold.
This insistence that these toys were real becomes concerning when you realize that Roberts stamped his signature on the buttocks of each doll. Plus, he thought that a grown man taking a bath with one of his “babies” was a good marketing strategy? Yikes.
Furby
If you were a ’90s kid, chances are you had a Furby. They were weird and slightly off-putting, with their technology allowing them to “learn” with every interaction with their kid. This technology was especially worrisome for government agencies. The FAA said Furbys could be taken on planes only if they were turned off due to interference with the plane’s systems.
The NSA banned Furbys from their offices because they thought the toy would record sensitive information. Tiger Electronics, Furby’s manufacturer, disputed the rumors of recording capabilities and had to come out with the statement, “Furby is not a spy.”
Aqua Dots
Aqua Dots, or sometimes called Bindeez, had all the fun of Perler Beads without the worry of burning your fingers with the iron. But the Aqua Dots held a secret that was much more dangerous than a few minor burns.
In 2007, Spin Master recalled 4.2 million units of Aqua Dots after reports of children vomiting, losing consciousness, and even falling into comas. It turned out that the chemical that allowed the beads to bond with each other once wet would break down when ingested, and once it broke down it became GHB. GHB is a notorious “club drug,” and depending on the size and age of the child who swallowed the Aqua Dots, they could overdose.
Elmo Knows Your Name
There have been several different talking Elmo plush dolls over the years. He is, after all, one of the most popular Sesame Street characters. But the quality of the audio technology inside the dolls has led to concerned parents.
In 2008, after changing the batteries in her son’s Elmo Knows Your Name doll, a Florida mother was shocked to hear Elmo exclaim, “Kill James” instead of the regular “Hi, James.” It became more problematic when 2-year-old James began repeating the phrase.
Fisher-Price replaced the doll and investigated to see if any other dolls contained sinister messages, but then discontinued this Elmo later the same year.
Evilstick
Evilstick provided parents with a valuable lesson: be wary of bootlegged, discount toys. This dollar store princess wand toy might have initially seemed like a good deal until the creepy laugh sounded and the foil was removed to find an inappropriate picture underneath.
Images underneath the foil were sometimes sexualized fan art of anime characters or bloody cyborgs screaming. The most famous image was the one of a demon girl harming herself. We’re not saying you should never buy toys from the dollar store, but please pay attention to what you’re purchasing. If it has a name like “Evilstick,” maybe choose something else.
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