From candy canes and mistletoe to trees and reindeer, and from wistful songs and melodies to Santa himself, the holiday season often leaves people longing for more peaceful and whimsical times. The month of December is ideal for reconnecting with loved ones through get-togethers, cards, phone calls, social media or old photographs, all of which can be a part of what journalist Catherine Woodiwiss calls “a season of reassurance in the swirl of modern change.”

Others use the holidays to connect to their own pasts with classic toys. With resurgences in xennial and millennial childhood playthings and generation-spanning favorites, it can be an ideal time to reminisce and share experiences with a younger generation.

“A lot of people, like grandmothers, will remember getting their first Madame Alexander doll, and they loved it and enjoyed it so much,” said Jodi Moisan, owner of Washington Street Toy Emporium in Muncie. “It made them so happy that they want to buy their daughter that or their granddaughter when she’s a child.”

Brandon Mundell, president and owner of Toys Forever Models and Hobbies, Inc., experiences the same thing with his own customers when they see old-school toys they know. Mundell gives the 102-year-old Tedco Gyroscope, for example.

“They’re like, ‘Oh I had one of those when I was a kid!’ and they buy them for their kids,” he said. “It’s just basic physics, but it’s a very cool demonstration of what physics can do, and it captivates, kids and adults…It just triggers that memory and so they get bought for that next generation or two generations down and that experience keeps going,” he said.

In an essay for Skidmore Studios, Design Director Shawn McConnell said buying toys connects past to future and is a way to be sure children have the same fun their parents did, providing a sense of community and continuity, which in turn provides a greater sense of self-worth.

“When it’s time to tug on the heartstrings, you’ll want to be sure you’re speaking the right language,” McConnell said.

It’s no secret that while specific toys experience overnight fame, many of them don’t last much past New Year’s Day. Mundell said he has customers who now bring in broken toys, asking the workers to “make it run again,” and they’ve lost interest in the craftsmanship of building or repairing their own toys.

“We really have an instant gratification mentality in our society right now… They’re just interested in the enjoyment part of it,” he said. “The most important thing is that it engages people… but there’s certain products that appeal to all ages at all times. And that helps with the staying power.”

Moisan and Mundell both refer to the “playability” of a toy being a key factor in sustaining favor long-term. Toys that create learning experiences and emulate “real-life” scenarios tend to be the under-the-radar popular toys that are inherited generation after generation.

“I think the toys that stay, that are the true-blue workhorse toys like the wooden food, the blocks, the Lincoln Logs, the wooden train set, baby dolls, those are the things that are going to be around forever,” Moisan said. “Anything that I have that looks like something an adult can do, they absolutely will gravitate towards it.”

Mundell agrees, noting that learning experiences are key as well, even in “traditional” toys such as the Gyroscope or the building experience of model airplanes and Legos.

“Being exposed to these things, it develops motor skills, it develops critical thinking skills, all kinds of different things so it does help,” he said.

Camp, a hands-on toy shop with locations in New York, Texas and Connecticut, is building on that concept and has a goal of creating “experiences” instead of just racks of toys and products. The Toys R Us reboot is following suit, with a new format of “experiential” at Texas and New Jersey locations that opened just in time for the 2019 holiday season, and with 10 more planned to open throughout 2020.

Mundell has his own nostalgic experience: receiving Balsa wood glider airplanes in his stocking every year, even though, as adults, he and his brother “know where they come from now.”

“Santa Claus is very, very near and dear to me. It’s a really neat concept for everybody,” he said. “Young people, there’s a charm and mystery of that. As you get older, you understand that that mystery changes. But you still have a lot of wonder involved.”

Moisan supports the idea, referring to an episode of Little House on the Prairie, when the children’s mother tells them that Santa is everywhere, emanating from the unselfishness of everyone at Christmastime. Moisan has used the idea with her own children as they’ve grown up to help them hold onto the magical ideas of Christmas.

“I feel like that’s believable,” she said. “If you consider Santa the giving part of your heart, then it’s very real.”

Emily Cunningham is a reporter for a Ball State University arts journalism class.