Youth predominated the culture of the 1960s. The post World War II Baby Boom had created millions of teenagers by the 1960s, and these youth swayed the fashion, the fads and the politics of the decade. California seemed to lead the way - surfers took not only to their surfboards in Summer, but to skateboards as a way to stay fit out of season, and by 1963, the fad had spread across the US. Barbie dolls, based on the Californian beach girl and introduced by Mattel in 1959, became a huge success in the 1960s, so much so that rival toy manufacturer Hasbro came up with G. I. Joe, the first of many action figures for boys.  Another doll, the troll or Dammit doll (named for it's creator, Thomas Dam) was a good luck symbol for all ages. Slot cars overtook toy trains when it came to 'toy' transportation. Hollywood movies became the inspiration for the latest toys - Lost In Space games and dress-up outfits, Roto-Jet Guns, Agent Zero spy toys, Bobbin Head Astronaut figures, Operation X-500 rocket launchers, Captain Amercia and Batman costumes, Action Man figures and Addams Family Card Game. Also popular were Cap guns, Water pistols, Balsa wood gliders, Matchbox and Corgi cars, Old Maid card game, Marbles, Klackers, Kaleidoscopes, Mr Potato Head, Twister game, Hot Wheels toy cars, Silly String, Battleships board game, Vampire teeth and the Mouse Trap game. Battery operated robots (particularly Robbie The Robot from the TV series, Lost In Space) were the most popular boy's toy to be found under the Christmas tree in 1966.

Agent Zero spy movie camera	Twister	Silly String

Dance Crazes: The arrival of rock'n'roll brought a major change to the social art of dancing. Although contact dancing with a partner was still as popular as always, variations and speed became more frantic and less formalised. Non-contact dances and those that could be performed solo became ever more popular, particularly with The Mods. The styles and crazes changed with rapid regularity, in line with new records and the changes in musical styles and tastes that they brought.
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The Twist	Volkswagen stuffing	Phone Box stuffing

Telephone Booth, Mini and Veedub Stuffing: One of the most well known fads of the late 1950s/early 1960s was the art of Telephone Booth stuffing. In taking part in this event, several young people would squeeze themselves into a telephone booth, one after another, until no one else could fit in. Of course, the more people who could make it inside, the better, and universities across the world saw students skipping class in order to try and devise a plan to set a record. The fad had started in South Africa where 25 students were able to pack a phone booth and announce that they had set a world record in so doing. Soon students in other countries were attempting to top that mark. Some students in England went on diets, others used geometry and calculus as a means of determining the precise method to achieve the highest efficiency for stuffing. When they found themselves unable to pile more and more friends into the booths, they began challenging other universities' "credibility" because of supposed violations of rules which should have been adhered to. Some claimed all participants must keep their entire bodies within the booth, while others specified that someone inside was required to place a call. By 1961 the fad had died out, hower it was reincarnated in the form of Volkswagen stuffing a year later. In Britain, it became popular to stuff the Morris Mini (the record, set in 1963, still stands at 24) rather than the VeeDub, and Mini dealers across Britain held Mini stuffing competitions to demonstrate how much space there was inside what was essentially a very small car.

Hippy Communes: Newsweek magazine has declared the year 1969 the year of the commune. A commune could be characterized as a living arrangement in which a large group of people (usually unrelated) came together in a living arrangement and shared chores, food, clothing, and often, each other. The groups would often live together as a family, pooling their resources and abilities in order to coexist in peace and harmony. Often categorized as being a part of the hippie culture, at one point it was believed that more than 500 communes existed in the US alone, housing over 10,000 people. Communes sprang up in nearly every state of Australia, the most well known and highest populated being in northern NSW. For the resident of the commune, everything was about peace, love and harmony. They soon came into conflict with their more straight-laced neighbours, often conservative farmers, who were appalled by the hippies who indulged in illegal drugs, illicit sex and were seen as dangerous to the stability of society. As extreme as many of the ideas were, their ideals ultimately helped to bring about the downfall of many communes as local police were pressured to interrogate and antagonise the commune inhabitants until they gave up and moved away.

Skateboarding	Hippies	Barbie & Ken

Skateboarding: This passtime began as a craze in the areas surrounding Californian beaches in the early 1960s among surfers who skateboarded to keep fit and active during the colder months. By 1965 it had become a huge national craze and an extraordinarily profitable industry. In that year, it spead across the world and skateboarders began appearing around Australian beaches like Southport, Manly, Bondi, Portsea, Glenelg and Cottesloe. The first boards came with four metal wheels attached to a wooden board and offered little in the way of safety or comfort. Magazines devoted to skateboarding popped up as did accessories and clothing lines.
Unfortunately, as with most fads, skateboarding had its critics and these critics looked to curtail the sport's growth and popularity, especially when high school drop-outs or students playing truant began taking up the craze. Parent groups and state and local officials declared the boards safety hazards and public nuisances. Many communities initiated ordinances outlawing the use of the boards, causing a steady decline in their sales. In the 1970s, however, technologies developed which brought about urethane skate wheels, which provided for safer, smoother rides and more control and the craze was revived. By 1980, skateboarding sales had skyrocketed again and communities began building skateboard parks and skateboard bowls in order to accommodate the public's renewed interest.

Slot cars: Slot cars replaced models trains as the must-have toy for boys in the 1960s. In that decade, slot car racing became a major part of popular British culture; many migrant children from Britain brought slot car racing sets with them and popularised them here. By the turn of the decade, the sport had developed well beyond the 2-car domestic Scalectrix racing circuit on the lounge room floor. Larger scale cars, usually 16:1, became available, fanatics built their own cars and racing circuits were opened for competition between players in the rooms above shops in major towns and cities. These circuits were often multi-level, landscaped and allowed for up to eight cars racing at a time; many had their own pit areas. Grand Prix races were held and trophies given to the winners. Strange as it may seen, the popularity of disco brought the era of slot car racing to a close. As slot car racers became adults, their desire to meet and interact with girls got the better of them, and one by one, they left the sport. Many slot car racing centres were in fact turned into disco halls. By the time Generation-X children became teenagers, the slot car racing centres had all closed so the craze was never passed on to that generation. The closest thing to slot cars that Generation-X children experienced was radio controlled model cars, which enjoyed wide appeal in the 1990s.

The Barbie Doll: The most popular doll in the history of the world is Barbie. Since its introduction in 1959, more than 100 million Barbie dolls have been sold in the around the world. Barbie has a fan club and received thousands and thousands of letters. She has also been the subject of numerous fashion columns across the United States. She is also responsible for helping to build the biggest toy company in the world. Not bad for a piece of plastic.
The Barbie Doll was created by Ruth and Elliot Handler, owners of a small toy company in Los Angeles. Ruth noticed that her daughter Barbara tried to dress her paper dolls with cutout clothing. She realised that young girls enjoyed this form of dress up, yet there were no three-dimensional dolls available to dress in different wardrobes. The Handlers spotted a magical opportunity and created an 30cm tall teenage doll, modelled on the typrical blonde Californian beach girl, which they named after their daughter. The genius behind their concept was that even though a Barbie doll sold quite cheaply, the real money was made in accessorising her. The different pieces of clothing cost between $1.00 - 5.00; some young girls could not do without an entire wardrobe which sold for $136.00 in 1963. Their concept was obviously successful as they sold almost $100 million of Barbie merchandise in 1965.
After a while, Barbie fans decided that she needed a man in her life - thus came the arrival of her boyfriend Ken. She was soon joined by friends Midge and Allen and a little sister Skipper. They frolicked around in a Barbie car and resided in a Barbie house. The Handlers were able to retire as millionaires when Barbie and Ken were sold to Mattel Toys. Barbie merchandising opportunities remain endless and Barbie continues to be one of the best-selling dolls and in fact, toys, year in and year out - she is also, perhaps, the most successful fashion icon in history.

Black light dancing	Hula hoop	Matchbox model car

Black Light: In the late 1960s, black light put things in a new perspective - adding a fluorescent glow to any room. White T-shirts and teeth would light up the room with their bright white glow. Black light would reveal secret symbols or slogans on posters located in college dorm room. Initially sold for home use, these lights soon began appearing in night clubs and theatre productions, creating a surreal atmosphere. Coupled with a strobe light, black lights created a disorienting purple haze. Nowadays, black lights are only found in nightclubs.

Hula Hoops: One of the greatest fads of all, the Hula Hoop was developed in 1957 by Wham-O (the creator of the Frisbee). The round cylinder tube was modelled after a wooden toy which was utilised in Australian gym classes. Made of polyurethane, the hoops were placed over a person's head and then spun around their waist. In order to keep the hoop aloft, the users had to gyrate and wiggle their hips much like hula dancers in Hawaii. Wham-O marketed the toys in California and through word of mouth, interest in them quickly spread like wildfire. In 1958, after only four months on the market, Wham-O sold a staggering 25 million units. Sales of the Hula Hoop and eventually knockoff clones ended up exceeding more than 100 million units in the United States alone. Within 12 months, sales in the US had died, but marketing in Europe, the Middle East, Japan and Australasia kept international sales on an upward climb. Remarkable is the fact that the fad lasted less than a year in the United States yet sold such an incredible volume of units. Never before or since has anything approached such a level of huge popularity.

Matchbox Cars: These sturdy little toy cars were first made in England by Lesney Products & Co. The company was founded by Rodney and Leslie Smith in England where they produced die-cast toys. They were called Matchbox cars because they were small enough to be carried around in a match box. The cars were known for their quality of detail and craftsmanship. The first Matchbox cars were made in 1953; each year new models were added, with some being replaced, until there were 75 cars in the range. The first four models were the Muir Hill Site Dumper, the Road Roller, the Massey Harris Tractor and the Cement Mixer. In 1956 Lesney started making the "Models of Yesteryear" range, which were detailed cars of the past and came in yellow boxes.
Throughout the 1960s, Lesney continued to upgrade and expand their range of models. Within a year of a car coming onto the market, a Matchox miniature of it would be put into production. It was very common practice for parents to put at least one Matchbox car in their sons' Christmas stockings each year, and that is how most boys became collectors.
Matchbox Cars remained a leader in the field of die-cast cars until they began losing market share in the late 1960s. The main threat to that market share was Mattel's Hot Wheels cars which entered the market in 1968. The Hot Wheels cars were designed with speed in mind and were marketed as such. The cars contained a special axle and wheel design that allowed them to travel much faster than their competitors. They also had a flashier, hipper design and were painted in bright colours to appeal to the younger children playing with them. By 1982 Lesney Products were in severe financial problems. The company was forced into receivership and Matchbox Toys was sold to Universal Toys. Universal sold Matchbox Toys to Tyco in 1991 who continue to market them today. Along with the cars, Matchbox also makes accessories such as petrol stations. While they are not as popular among children as they once were, collectors are still very passionate about the cars, particularly the now rare earlier models.

Super Ball: When Norman Stingley was experimenting with a high-resiliency synthetic rubber, he accidentally came upon a new object, a small ball which, when compacted under a large amount of pressure, would exhibit incredible abilities to bounce. Stingley named the compound Zectron but the ball become known as the Super Ball. The Super Ball was capable of bouncing 92 percent of the height from which it was originally dropped. It was marketed by the fad toy giant Wham-O and by 1965, more than six million had been sold. The toys even ended up in the White House at Washington DC. as Cabinet member McGeorge Bundy passed them out to staff members.

Super ball	Troll doll	Gonk Dolls

Troll Dolls: Originally known as the "Dammit" doll, the name honoured its creator, Danish woodcutter Thomas Dam. In 1959, Dam could not afford to buy his young daughter a birthday present and instead carved for her a doll inspired by the Trolls which, according to legend, lived in the Nordic forests and would bring luck to any humans who could catch them. Dam's daughter took to the doll and dressed it up and showed it to local villagers. The doll attracted the eye of a Danish toy store owner and soon Dam was selling versions of the doll all over the world.
Part of the doll's charm was that it was so ugly - it had huge ears and a pot belly, no forehead and long strands of sheep's wool for hair. Danes believed the dolls were so ugly that you had to laugh at them and while you were laughing, nothing bad could happen to you. This idea was incorporated into the marketing strategy and the dolls soon were seen as good luck charms around the world. Initially they were favoured by high school and college girls adorning pencil tops and key rings, but soon grown men were carrying them around on their travels. Troll Dolls in fact became the second largest selling dolls in the world during the late 1960s. Even Lady Bird Johnson, the United States' First Lady, bragged that she owned one.

Gonk Dolls: The Gonk doll was a wacky over-size cross between a doll and a Troll. They were very popular in the 1960s with teenage girls stuck at that awkward age between puberty and Davey Jones. The difference between Gonk dolls and ordinary Troll dolls was that the Gonk was covered in hair and were practically all face with little or no body. The Troll was more human like in its proportions and its only hair was a shot of flourescent growth on top, though the two names were often incorrectly interchanged.

Esso promotional fox tail

Fox tails: It was not uncommon to see immitation fox tails adorning the car radio aerials of hotted up cars in the 1950s and 1960s. To complete the "hoon" look, many such vehicles had a couple of giant fluffy dice hanging from the interior rear vision mirror which matched the dashboard shag carpet cover. Often the theme was carried over to the back window parcel shelf. In time, the fox tails were replaced by a clever marketing product created by the Esso petrol company when it launched its brand of petrol and service stations in Australia. Their slogan was "Put a tiger in your tank" and their symbol was a cartoon tiger. Esso's gimmick to promote their brand was to sell a tiger's tale (above) which was attached to the inside of a car's petrol cap to give the impression of having a tiger in one's tank.