Philosophy Is Life
By Tina Benitez -- Playthings, 2/1/2007
The Unemployed Philosopher's Guild saved Stephan Shaw from a life of academia. The guild wasn't a labor union, but it did give Shaw a jolt in the job market back in 1992—it became his own business when he started making products in his parents' basement after he realized he couldn't get a job after graduating college.
The first items Shaw created were a pair of earrings of East and West Berlin that could be worn together or apart—great symbolism indeed—and a musical Freud pin.
Today, Shaw's Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Unemployed Philosopher's Guild offers an entire catalog of intellectual yet quirky items like Tickle Me Freud dolls and finger puppet sets of artists, composers, philosophers, famous playwrights, authors and more. The Great Writers set includes finger puppets in the likenesses of Dickens, Woolf, Shakespeare and Tolstoy, while the Great Revolutionaries puppet set—a new assortment this year—features Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, Che Guevara and Leon Trotsky.
Additional new releases this year include a Scream doll inspired by the famous painting from Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, Napoleon and Gustav Klimt puppets that double as magnets, Bill Clinton and George Bush cards, and various character- and theme-driven pill boxes, mugs and novelty items.
Toys for worldly people"Lots of people buy them for kids, and some are fitting," says Shaw. "But [our product catalog] really talks to people who went to college. There's not much on the market that relates to the world people are studying, and people also have an affinity for things they cannot find anywhere else."
This year, there is "nothing revolutionary" coming out from the Unemployed except for expansions to existing lines. However, product ideas are usually sparked by necessity, Shaw says...and he really needs some Post-It notes lately!
