The 8$ Sheep Doll Would Be 200$ Today

July 20, 2015 9:00 AM

With F. A. O. Schwarz's iconic 5th Avenue store closing for good last week (Gothamist photos), why not look back at the 1911 Spring And Summer catalog and the conversation effort to preserve the catalog at the Cooper Hewitt design museum..
posted by The Whelk (15 comments total)

Growing up, a family tradition was to spend an afternoon during the holiday season walking down Fifth Avenue to see the window displays, ending with a trip to the Macy's flagship to see Santa. And, of course, one of the stops was to gawk at the toys in FAO Schwartz.

To hear that they are closing makes me sad, as it's another bit of my childhood becoming just a memory.

.
posted by NoxAeternum at 9:12 AM on July 20, 2015 [1 favorite]

"How much is that sheep doll?"
"$8, same as in 1911."
posted by GenjiandProust at 9:20 AM on July 20, 2015 [7 favorites]

In today's dollars, FAO's baseballs range in price from $3.75 to just under $40 each. Not even MLB uses $40 baseballs.
posted by phunniemee at 9:29 AM on July 20, 2015

This makes me sad - I don't live in NY but we were going to take our kids next time we were in town. I hope the make a puppet workshop pops up somewhere else.
posted by piyushnz at 9:30 AM on July 20, 2015

You decide which is more horrifying: the phrase REAL HANDS, which appears repeatedly on the doll page, or the quaintly racist Aunt Sally game on page 18.

in any case I would trade my own REAL HANDS for a copy of A Voyage Through The Clouds: The Game of To-day.
posted by theodolite at 9:30 AM on July 20, 2015 [1 favorite]

You decide which is more horrifying: the phrase REAL HANDS, which appears repeatedly on the doll page, or the quaintly racist Aunt Sally game on page 18.

They really missed a marketing opportunity with REAL HANDS Hans.
posted by phunniemee at 9:37 AM on July 20, 2015

The Motor Ride Game was pulled off the market when several families were overcome by toxic levels of jolly.
posted by dr_dank at 9:50 AM on July 20, 2015 [1 favorite]

Slightly related: The Best Restaurant in New York Is: FAO Schwarz. This was one article in Gawker's (facetiously-named) series where Caity Weaver and Rich Juzwiak reviewed restaurants located inside tourist destinations.
posted by mhum at 10:04 AM on July 20, 2015 [3 favorites]

in any case I would trade my own REAL HANDS for a copy of A Voyage Through The Clouds: The Game of To-day.

the board and pieces look gorgeous, but sadly the gameplay itself sounds about the same as candyland.
posted by dorian at 10:26 AM on July 20, 2015 [1 favorite]

"CLASSIFIED LIST OF KINDERGARTEN OCCUPATIONS" sounds irretrievably sinister.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 10:33 AM on July 20, 2015 [3 favorites]

You decide which is more horrifying: the phrase REAL HANDS, which appears repeatedly on the doll page, or the quaintly racist Aunt Sally game on page 18.

Not quite so quaintly racist, considering that the point of the game was to throw clubs at the figure until you knocked it over....
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:44 AM on July 20, 2015

Shouldn't that be "conservation effort"?
posted by key_of_z at 11:11 AM on July 20, 2015

And the last twenty pages consist of: "WARNING: May Contain Small Parts (choking hazard), Pinching Hazard, Lead and Mercury Based Paints, Multiple Allergens, Not Responsible For Improperly Constructed Equipment, Requires Adult Supervision, Not Suitable For Children Under 3 Years Of Age.....etc, etc....."
posted by TDavis at 11:47 AM on July 20, 2015

I hope the make a puppet workshop pops up somewhere else.

I took a day trip to New York a few weeks ago, just to visit the Muppet Whatnot Workshop before it closed. I wanted to get one that looked just like me, with a big black beard. I'd dress it up and we'd have all kinds of adventures... I was so excited to get a Whatnot of my own that when we arrived at the workshop I didn't even mind that a lot of the parts were out of stock; I'd make do with what was there. I picked up one of the demo puppets...

...and it didn't fit on my hand.

The Whatnots at FAO Schwarz are designed for children. I struggled to cram my massive man-mitt inside, and it took more effort than I care to admit to extract my hand without damaging the puppet.

I bought nothing, and was bummed out for the rest of the day.
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:58 AM on July 20, 2015 [1 favorite]

Slightly related: The Best Restaurant in New York Is: FAO Schwarz. This was one article in Gawker's (facetiously-named) series where Caity Weaver and Rich Juzwiak reviewed restaurants located inside tourist destinations.
posted by mhum at 6:04 PM on July 20

Fantastic quote from that article:

Rich: I can't believe we woke up at 6:30 in the morning to experience a live commercial for FAO Schwarz.

Caity: I can't believe all the toys weren't alive, seeing as the toy store was not yet open.

posted by essexjan at 5:27 AM on July 21, 2015 [2 favorites]