November 1, 2015: Why Aren't You Addicted To Google's Newspaper Archives?

As a fan of the toy and game industry, one of my favorite pastimes is digging into the history of toys and games. Over the years, I have read dozens of books and hundreds of articles about the business. Over the last year or so, I've found the Google News Archive Service to be the best online resource for exploring the past. There are so many archived newspapers waiting to entertain and educate me that I'll never get through them all!

To unwind, I've been collecting and sharing some of my discoveries at my toy site, BattleGrip. For anyone interested in a sample of what you can find in the archives, I present five recent random finds:

• A 1982 Review of the Dark Tower Boardgame
• More on Strawberry Shortcake from the Early Eighties
• SBA Comments on "Careers for Girls" in 1990
• "Big Rush on Critical Assignment Arms"
• Twister and the Tonight Show?

These barely scratch the treasures hiding in those Google newspaper archives, so I suggest taking a little free time to visit the webpage and run a search or two. Trust me, the past is highly entertaining and loaded with surprises.

-- Phil Reed