The Joy of Toys

Merry Christmas from the World's Largest Toy Museum. The other evening I was attending a show in Branson and at intermission a gentleman came up to me and suggested I would make a good "Santa." I was hoping he was referencing my white hair and beard rather than my size. In any case, I feel a little like Santa every day when I get to demonstrate toys to folks in our gift shop. It is a real joy to see little eyes light up to see a particular magic trick or hear a favorite tune on a penny whistle or harmonica.

Sometimes the joy is reflected from older faces that have just seen their favorite doll or tractor or cap pistol. One lady came out of the doll section practically floating above the floor. She had seen her favorite doll that she had played with back in the 1920's. She was almost emotional about the reunion.

The joy is not so much in the toy as it is in the memory that it evokes. We call it a toy museum but we could have just as easily called it a Joy Museum. Even my Dad, who was a little reluctant to go through because he said, "I never had many toys growing up," recognized a lot of toys. Of course he would preface it with, "Harold had one of those." or "Bobby had that." Still, there was joy in recognizing the toy and remembering the experiences regardless of whose toy it was.

While it is true that we may have a number of memories from our childhood that are not always particularly pleasant, but usually the ones surrounding toys - either ours or someone else's - are memories of joy filled experiences. We here at the World's Largest Toy Museum want to wish for you a joyous Christmas season for as the familiar carol says, "Joy to the world, the Lord has come."