No War Toys
Bloodlust in Toyland

GI Joe is on the move... rat-a-tat-tat-tat. Ka-BOOM. Blam. Ka-POW. Gasp...arugghhh! Christmas Day or Doomsday, you say? ‘Tis the season, and the next several weeks will abound with GI Joes, uniforms, helmets, missiles, grenades, and bombs, carrying on the fine American tradition of Christmas peace and profiteering.

Along the same lines are the James Bond creations—attache cases, just like daddy’s, except for the secret compartments and various secret weapons—and the Aston Martin with bulletproof windshields, ejection seats, rotating license plates, just great for the junior Mafia.

We can’t forget Barbie, and her friend Ken, and Midge, and Skipper, and their dream houses, and their dream cars, and their dream wardrobes. “My Barbie has more clothes than yours,” and “My Barbie has bigger boobs than yours.” It should come as no surprise, when the Barbies will be able to puff up and have abortions, or when James Bond and/ or Ken Contraceptive Kits are developed.

Dedicated to ridding the market of these particular creations is the NO WAR TOYS movement. Their prime target is obviously the war toys. In a lesser degree they also make mention of those playthings that lack any need for imagination and creativity and those of violence. Richard Register, a young California sculptor, is the founder and leader of the group. Register edits a paper entitled “The TOY,” which is published whenever possible, and is dedicated to serving the news of the movement. It is an advocate of all creative playthings, and firmly denounces any destruction — oriented toy.

In a published statement of purpose, Register explains that children are of course, greatly influenced by their play time and by their total environment—such weapons, under the guise of toys, foster the belief that to eradicate a particular conflict one need only exterminate its cause. He emphasizes the fact that to fantasize killing someone occasionally is normal, however, “repeating it over and over again with convincingly realistic weapons creates deep-seeded habit patterns, and channels normal aggressions toward destructive rather than creative ends.” By the wide spread use of these “toys,” war and violence becomes easily accepted as a normal state.

Mr. Register is being backed by a number of individuals and groups. Dr. Erich Fromm, Joseph Epes Brown, William Brun, Jerome D. Frank, M.D., Rod McKuen, Shel Silverstein, Mark Spoelstra, and Dr. Isadore Ziferstein are listed as sponsors.

Frank Caplan, head of Creative Playthings, is one of the very few toy manufacturers that has denounced war toys as an unhealthy element in a young child’s development. Most children’s psychiatrists, psychologists and teachers tend to be in agreement. However, most other toy manufacturers, realizing the glorious merit of $$$, deem it necessary to overlook that fact.

On a recent tour of several toy departments, I was impressed by the abundance of such toys. Of particular interest was GI Joe and his cohorts, including a Russian infantryman, an Australian jungle fighter, and a Green Beret. Unfortunately there were no Gooks. ANY WAY, THESE ARE, IN SO MANY WORDS, MOVEABLE DOING.

During these trying times when men are so concerned about their supposedly wavering virility and that of their male heirs, they shower upon their sons inspiring replicas of the American fighting hero—GI Joe, a real man, complete with determined face, strong, square jaw, muscular physique—the whole corny bit. And his wardrobe is simply “dreamy”, as Barbie would say. “My Joe has more clothes than Yours,” “My Joe has a bigger etc. etc. etc. than yours,” actually the comparison cannot be taken that far, for in all honesty, GI Joe seems to have been castrated. (Undoubtedly a dud in Saigon bars.)

Nevertheless, he can be equipped with sand bags, land mine equipment, helicopters, planes, jeeps, an abundance of guns and grenades and army, navy and/ or marine manuals for those not too familiar with the “normal procedure.” Also available for the post-toddler set are numerous and minutely detailed firearms, for example the “trainer” rifle.

All of these border on the ridiculous. Yet they are a very ominous sign of the times. NO WAR TOYS rightfully wants to eradicate this ugliness. A child, an adolescent, may easily become confused between this world of pretend and the world of actuality. He may easily learn that violence is the least frustrating solution for his problems—why waste time searching for any other answer? In play they learn to kill, why not carry it over into real life? It is ironic that we who unceasingly recite our goal and dream of peace, insist upon entertaining our children with plastic napalm.

And this is Christmas...