It’s the holiday season, which for Forever Ago host Joy Dolo means one thing: DEALS! Help Joy check off her holiday shopping list with a game of First Things First, where she and co-host Petra guess the order three classic toys were invented in.
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ANNOUNCER: Now entering Brains On! Headquarters.
PETRA: Hey, Joy. Whoa. What's with all the shopping bags?
JOY: Hey, Petra. It's officially the holiday season. You know what it's all about.
PETRA: The joy of spending time with loved ones? Making cookies? Walking under bright string lights in the crisp winter air?
JOY: Yeah, that was definitely what I was about to say. But also, gifts. Driving around the mall parking lot 17 times, horns blaring, sales.
PETRA: Oh.
JOY: We just did a whole episode over on Forever Ago about the history of Black Friday, which inspired me to get some early holiday shopping done, which then inspired me to challenge you to a little game of--
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MULTIPLE VOICES: First Things First.
JOY: This is the game where we take three things and try to put them in order of which came first, second, and most recent in time. Today, we're playing with some of the toys I got for my little cousin. We've got a Barbie Dreamhouse, a Razor scooter, and a LEGO set. So what do you think, Petra? Which came first, second, and most recent in history?
PETRA: I think LEGO set is first because it's just plastic put into a mold. So I feel like that would be easy to make.
JOY: Yeah, technically, it seems like it'd be quick, easier to make. I hear that. OK, so we got LEGO set first. OK.
PETRA: And then, I think-- well, I know that Razor scooter is, like, really popular, because all my friends-- all my friends have them, and I have one. But then Barbie Dreamhouse. Barbies are also popular. But I know that they were also popular back in the day, a little like-- I don't know.
JOY: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's some good logic is from a while ago. Yeah.
PETRA: So maybe LEGO set, Barbie Dreamhouse, and then Razor scooter.
JOY: I would go with that. So we have the LEGO set first because of the plastic molding, and then we have the Barbie Dreamhouse because that seems like it was from a while ago. And then the Razor scooter, because all your friends have one.
PETRA: Yeah.
JOY: And you have one too.
PETRA: Yeah.
JOY: Do you like to go really fast on your Razor scooter?
PETRA: Yes. I love playing on my scooter.
JOY: OK, Petra. Are you ready to hear the answers of First Things First.
PETRA: I think so.
JOY: Drum roll, please.
[DRUMMING SOUND]
Oh my-- oh no. You got it all right.
PETRA: I did?
JOY: You nailed it. You nailed it. You nailed the whole thing. Yeah, yeah. That's incredible. What great guesses. So number one, the LEGO set, that was created in 1958. So the LEGO began as a wooden toy company in 1932 in Denmark.
PETRA: A wooden toy.
JOY: Yeah, it was wooden. So it was-- you were right, kind of, with the molding. But it started in wood. And oh yeah. The name LEGO is an abbreviation of the two Danish words [DANISH], meaning, play well. So LEGO, play well. Yeah.
PETRA: That's cool.
JOY: True. So since 1958, the system of LEGOs hasn't changed. Meaning a LEGO brick from 1958 can interlock with a LEGO brick of today.
PETRA: That's cool.
JOY: That's-- wow. That's like, so you can have a brick from 1958, and get one from 2024, and put them together, and be like, they just belong together. Aw. That's kind of beautiful. And then next up, you were right again with the Barbie Dreamhouse. That was created in 1962. So this first design was a studio apartment, where a strong, independent Barbie lived on her own. And it had a funky plaid couch, a huge, old-fashioned combination TV record player, and even mini productions of popular records at the time. And since then, over 20 models of dream houses have been made. Have you ever played with a Barbie Dreamhouse?
PETRA: Yes. I think so. Because one of my friends has them. And so one time when I went over, we played with it.
JOY: Oh, that's cool. I played with one when I was little too. And it had, like, a little stereo, like a little radio in it. It's--
PETRA: That's cool.
JOY: I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Helps with the imagination. And last but certainly not least, we have the Razor scooter. You were absolutely right. And that was launched in the year 2000 by an entrepreneur named Carlton Calvin. They had actually been invented a year earlier in Japan and were already a trend in Tokyo by the time Calvin heard about them. And in the first six months, Razor sold over five million scooters in the US. That's more than the entire population of Los Angeles.
PETRA: Wow.
JOY: Yeah, that's--
PETRA: That's a lot.
JOY: That's a lot of scooting going on. They're just scooting all over the place.
PETRA: Yeah.
JOY: Did you find anything interesting about any of these facts?
PETRA: I think it's really cool that the old version of LEGO can still fit with the 2024 version of LEGO.
JOY: Yeah, that's pretty neat. I wonder if we could find an old LEGO and put them together, like the old block like wooden blocks with the new colored plastic ones, and see-- I bet you could create something really cool and really crafty.
PETRA: Definitely. That'd be so cool.
JOY: Well, congratulations. We should start handing out medals for these. You did such a great job.
PETRA: Yay.
JOY: What do you say we get started on a batch of my famous dolo doodle cookies?
PETRA: Yum.
JOY: Dolo doodle. Doodle dolo. Doodle doodle.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
This Smarty Pass episode was made by Aron Woldeslassie. Our executive producer is Beth Perlman. And the executives in charge of APM Studios are Chandra Kavati and Joanne Griffith. Bye, bye.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
PETRA: Hey, Joy. Whoa. What's with all the shopping bags?
JOY: Hey, Petra. It's officially the holiday season. You know what it's all about.
PETRA: The joy of spending time with loved ones? Making cookies? Walking under bright string lights in the crisp winter air?
JOY: Yeah, that was definitely what I was about to say. But also, gifts. Driving around the mall parking lot 17 times, horns blaring, sales.
PETRA: Oh.
JOY: We just did a whole episode over on Forever Ago about the history of Black Friday, which inspired me to get some early holiday shopping done, which then inspired me to challenge you to a little game of--
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MULTIPLE VOICES: First Things First.
JOY: This is the game where we take three things and try to put them in order of which came first, second, and most recent in time. Today, we're playing with some of the toys I got for my little cousin. We've got a Barbie Dreamhouse, a Razor scooter, and a LEGO set. So what do you think, Petra? Which came first, second, and most recent in history?
PETRA: I think LEGO set is first because it's just plastic put into a mold. So I feel like that would be easy to make.
JOY: Yeah, technically, it seems like it'd be quick, easier to make. I hear that. OK, so we got LEGO set first. OK.
PETRA: And then, I think-- well, I know that Razor scooter is, like, really popular, because all my friends-- all my friends have them, and I have one. But then Barbie Dreamhouse. Barbies are also popular. But I know that they were also popular back in the day, a little like-- I don't know.
JOY: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's some good logic is from a while ago. Yeah.
PETRA: So maybe LEGO set, Barbie Dreamhouse, and then Razor scooter.
JOY: I would go with that. So we have the LEGO set first because of the plastic molding, and then we have the Barbie Dreamhouse because that seems like it was from a while ago. And then the Razor scooter, because all your friends have one.
PETRA: Yeah.
JOY: And you have one too.
PETRA: Yeah.
JOY: Do you like to go really fast on your Razor scooter?
PETRA: Yes. I love playing on my scooter.
JOY: OK, Petra. Are you ready to hear the answers of First Things First.
PETRA: I think so.
JOY: Drum roll, please.
[DRUMMING SOUND]
Oh my-- oh no. You got it all right.
PETRA: I did?
JOY: You nailed it. You nailed it. You nailed the whole thing. Yeah, yeah. That's incredible. What great guesses. So number one, the LEGO set, that was created in 1958. So the LEGO began as a wooden toy company in 1932 in Denmark.
PETRA: A wooden toy.
JOY: Yeah, it was wooden. So it was-- you were right, kind of, with the molding. But it started in wood. And oh yeah. The name LEGO is an abbreviation of the two Danish words [DANISH], meaning, play well. So LEGO, play well. Yeah.
PETRA: That's cool.
JOY: True. So since 1958, the system of LEGOs hasn't changed. Meaning a LEGO brick from 1958 can interlock with a LEGO brick of today.
PETRA: That's cool.
JOY: That's-- wow. That's like, so you can have a brick from 1958, and get one from 2024, and put them together, and be like, they just belong together. Aw. That's kind of beautiful. And then next up, you were right again with the Barbie Dreamhouse. That was created in 1962. So this first design was a studio apartment, where a strong, independent Barbie lived on her own. And it had a funky plaid couch, a huge, old-fashioned combination TV record player, and even mini productions of popular records at the time. And since then, over 20 models of dream houses have been made. Have you ever played with a Barbie Dreamhouse?
PETRA: Yes. I think so. Because one of my friends has them. And so one time when I went over, we played with it.
JOY: Oh, that's cool. I played with one when I was little too. And it had, like, a little stereo, like a little radio in it. It's--
PETRA: That's cool.
JOY: I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Helps with the imagination. And last but certainly not least, we have the Razor scooter. You were absolutely right. And that was launched in the year 2000 by an entrepreneur named Carlton Calvin. They had actually been invented a year earlier in Japan and were already a trend in Tokyo by the time Calvin heard about them. And in the first six months, Razor sold over five million scooters in the US. That's more than the entire population of Los Angeles.
PETRA: Wow.
JOY: Yeah, that's--
PETRA: That's a lot.
JOY: That's a lot of scooting going on. They're just scooting all over the place.
PETRA: Yeah.
JOY: Did you find anything interesting about any of these facts?
PETRA: I think it's really cool that the old version of LEGO can still fit with the 2024 version of LEGO.
JOY: Yeah, that's pretty neat. I wonder if we could find an old LEGO and put them together, like the old block like wooden blocks with the new colored plastic ones, and see-- I bet you could create something really cool and really crafty.
PETRA: Definitely. That'd be so cool.
JOY: Well, congratulations. We should start handing out medals for these. You did such a great job.
PETRA: Yay.
JOY: What do you say we get started on a batch of my famous dolo doodle cookies?
PETRA: Yum.
JOY: Dolo doodle. Doodle dolo. Doodle doodle.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
This Smarty Pass episode was made by Aron Woldeslassie. Our executive producer is Beth Perlman. And the executives in charge of APM Studios are Chandra Kavati and Joanne Griffith. Bye, bye.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
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