been done to improve overall health.
Rabin, Robert L., ed.Regulating Tobacco. New York:
Oxford University Press, 2001. A collection of
wide-ranging essays written by law, political, and
public health scholars concerning the regulation
of tobacco through politics, taxes, marketing,
and litigation.
Snell, Clete.Peddling Poison: The Tobacco Industr y and
Kids. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2005. Overview of
the tobacco industry’s efforts to attract young
consumers and the government’s efforts to cur-
tail them. Focuses on the tobacco settlements of
the 1990’s, various individual and class-action law-
suits, and antismoking programs.
M. Casey Diana
See also Demographics of the United States; Drug
use; Health care; Health care reform; Joe Camel
campaign; Nicotine patch; Wigand, Jeffrey.
Toys and games
Definition Objects used in play, especially by
children, and structured recreational activities
with goals, rules, interactivity, and often a rivalry
or contest
During the 1990’s, there were must-have toys and fads ev-
er y year, as the toy and game industr y grew. Many classics
remained popular, and traditional kinds of toys and games
were reinvented, often based on popular films, television
shows, or the new technology. In the video game industr y,
generations of hardware and software development oc-
curred, and video games became an established and lucra-
tive part of mainstream America.
The 1990’s were a productive and important decade
for toy manufacturers and consumers. Mattel (Tyco,
Fisher-Price, Pleasant Company), Hasbro (Tonka,
Kenner, Tiger Electronics, Milton Bradley, Parker
Brothers, Galoob, OddzOn), Nintendo, Sega, Sony,
and other companies created thousands of different
products to meet consumer demand. Toy and game
development was impacted by the new technology,
television, films, advertising, and e-commerce.
Traditional Toys and Games During the decade,
traditional kinds of toys such as action figures,
dolls, and stuffed animals continued to be popular,
though often with a new twist or style. Action fig-
ures based on the filmTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
(1990) were best sellers that year. The most popular
toys of 1993 included Hasbro’s action figures and
dinosaurs fromJurassic Park(1993),Star Trek: Deep
Space Ninefigures, Pleasant Company’s American
Girl line of dolls, and Hasbro’s Street Fighter action
figures, based on the popular video game. The
global toy craze of 1994 was the Mighty Morphin
Power Rangers action toys, based on characters in a
children’s television show produced in Japan in
1975 and later airing in the United States from 1993
to 1996. By 1995, sales in the United States were
more than $400 million, and they became the best-
selling action figures of the decade. The other best
sellers of 1995 were Hasbro’s action figures based
on theStar Warsfilms, Mattel’s dolls and action fig-
ures from the Disney filmPocahontas(1995), and
action figures based on Pixar’sToy Stor y(1995),862 Toys and games The Nineties in America
Tickle Me Elmo was the must-have toy of the 1996 Christmas
season.(AP/Wide World Photos)