Elvis, the doll

How in the world did I ever make it through girlhood without a doll bearing a very strong resemblance to Tina Turner? (Just think of the hair play!) Or better yet—Elvis Presley?

Talk about icons who could be considered "aspirational" by today's toy industry standards. Tina and Elvis would certainly have to be on the short list.

But I can just imagine the conversation in my home had I asked for such a plaything…

Me: "Oh please, please, I just want the Elvis. Everyone is going to get a Rocker doll. They are so 'neat.' Puh-lease?"

My mom: "I'm not spending hard-earned money on any hoodlum-looking, singing doll with sideburns. I don't care if the hips do swivel. Or that he comes with a guitar, a leather jacket, a comb, a tube of Brill Cream and a pet hound dog."

Me: "Well if I can't have a rocker, can I have—uh, I mean—may I please have a Flower Child? Or a Greaser?"

If ever there were an age of kids waiting on the cusp of compression, it was the boomers. Infatuated by television, movies, the Top Forty and state-of-the art technology like high fidelity, portable record players and transistor radios, boomers were truly impacted by the lifestyle evolution—make that, revolution—going on around them.

Nevertheless, no realistic aspirational lifestyle toy made it into a boomer's toy box. There was no Greaser doll complete with hot rod; no Flower Child, protest signs included.

Yet somehow boomers passed through childhood and into adulthood—or at least the appearance of adulthood—seemingly unscathed by not having their wannabe pop culture plaything.

Sure, boomers wanted to grow up fast just like the kids of every other generation. But no one bought into the concept; least of all, their parents. And neither did the toy industry. Matchbox cars were about as close to an aspirational toy as an early boomer could get.

Perhaps, back in the day, parents and toy makers had more of a partnership. Perhaps, too, imagination—rather than aspiration—was the buzzword.

We have to wonder if the toy industry—the same industry that broods over age compression—isn't shooting itself in the proverbial foot: creating toys for 6- and 7-year olds who make them want to be 15 year olds.

Do you agree? Please e-mail me with your thoughts at: mweiskott@reedbusiness.com.