Sigal Museum to Tell Vintage Toy Story

'Playtimes Past' exhibit opens at Easton's Sigal Museum on Friday.

Long before the Furby, centuries before kids pitted Batman and Bane action figures against each other, there was Punch and Judy. The violent/comic puppet show dates back to the 1500s and is still performed today. You can see a set of these puppets starting Friday at the Sigal Museum as it begins its "Playtimes Past" exhibit. "Taken from the collections of the Northampton County Historical & Genealogical Society, this exhibit offers adults and children a rare opportunity to experience childhood toys, games and activities from Victorian times to the early 1900s," the museum said in a news release. The exhibit features vintage dolls, old sleds and skates, games such as jacks and dominoes, and the Punch & Judy puppets, complete with a theater…

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Moms Talk

Is That a Girl’s Toy?

Dolls are for girls. Trucks are for boys. And, they seem to know it.

Moms Talk is a weekly feature on all Lehigh Valley Patches in which local parents, caregivers and other members of the community are invited to share opinions and advice on parenting issues. This week’s Moms Talk topic relates to gender-specific toys: The holiday season has finally wrapped up and, if you have kids in your house, you probably have a few more toys in your home too. This week’s Moms Talk relates to the kinds of toys you let your kids play with, and, more importantly, whether or not it matters. Studies have shown that boys as young as nine months old gravitate toward “boy toys” like cars and balls while baby girls pick dolls and tiny kitchen sets. But, other experts say the jury is still out on the whole nature vs. nurture …

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Jennifer Marangos

5:02 pm on Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Before I was a MOB (mother of boys) I would have said, "oh no, there is no such thing as a boy's toy." There are many incidents that have proven otherwise to me. One was after I gave my boys my Rub-a-dub Dolly (anyone remember her?). They took her into the tub to bathe her, since I explained to them that's what I used to do. I was listening to them in the tub, thinking how sweet it was. Then I …   more ›