Writing up yesterday’s blog entry started me thinking about the other kinds of “merchandise” that I’ve bought over the past few years since my boys were born, and you know what? There’s quite a lot of it, and it’s not just the Disney workforce that I’m helping to keep employed!
First of all Peter Rabbit moved into our home. Ok, so I didn’t actually pay for this as my sister’s baby had outgrown it and she needed somewhere else to put it at a time I had a need for nursery linens, but it was the introduction of merchandise to our home. Around the same time, Disney’s Pooh Bear and his little friends also started to make an appearance in the form of baby bath towels, crib mobiles and buggy toys.
Just after this Baby Einstein arrived in our home. Now owned by the Disney corporation, Baby Einstein was the first video that we had that was bought just for the baby, and we were so impressed by it that their entire video range was eventually added to our collection – along with assorted hand puppets and books! The subconscious learning value of these far outweighed any costs however – at 2.5 years my eldest looked over my shoulder as I read a magazine and pointing to a picture publicizing an art exhibition said “Van Gogh” – the picture was Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” and he’d seen this on the Baby Einstein Van Gogh video. Both of the boys also owe their early identification and naming of colors to this video.
Bob – the builder that is – came along next in many different guises. From talking dolls, to tools, to machines and of course videos. This is something that entertained my firstborn more than my second, but at 3 and 6, they’re still not too old to put on their yellow “hard hats” and tool belts to “fix” something or other.
Despite the recent influx of “Cars” merchandise into our home, the award for having received the most financial support from my family has to go to the company who owns the merchandising rights for Thomas the Tank Engine. Whether it’s Brio, Duplo, or Tomy – if it’s Thomas, we’ve got it. Clothing, bed linen, bathroom items (up to and including toothbrushes), bags and tableware – the Thomas merchandising machine has endless creativity. With two small boys who are train obsessed, it’s little wonder that my family is keeping at least one person employed at the Thomas factory.
As long as the marketing people churn out publicity on items that appeal to little boys – such as fast red cars, and little blue engines, and little girls – such as Princesses and ponies, parents will be able to mark the passing of years in their child’s life by taking a look at the merchandise brands that were popular in each year!
New Product Video Shopping Carts
Baby Beethoven Symphony of Fun