December 2005

Toy Story

It’s a small world, after all. These tiny costumed ceramic characters from Spain are at home in Lucia Worthington’s collection of international toys.

By Marlene Ledbetter
Special to FYI Online

Once upon a time, in a land far away, a little girl wished for a doll.

There seemed little hope her wish could be granted, however, for her country had been through a devastating war. There was barely enough food to eat and fuel for warmth, no money for a frivolous toy.

But Christmas morning, as if by magic, the doll was there.

Lucia Worthington

“It really was magical,” recalled UMUC professor Lucia Worthington. “I know my family sacrificed to make my wish come true. I even managed to fashion a doll bed from a wooden box, also a sacrifice during a time when wood was scarce and saved for fuel to cook meals and take the chill off a cold house.”

Worthington was living in post-World War II Germany when she received her precious doll from her grandmother and older brother, her family. Eventually she moved to Canada, then the United States.

Today, Worthington is a professor of management at UMUC and a consultant for companies throughout the world. But she still enjoys toys, although in an adult world it’s called collecting rather than playing.

Toys represent love and caring, said Worthington. “As I matured,” she explained, “I took a great interest in the types of toys children have and how they were used and appreciated because they symbolize the relationship between the child and the toy giver. Children develop a value system as they play.”

How has child’s play changed over the years? “Today’s children have more plastic and mechanical toys,” Worthington responded. “There seems to be less bonding with a favorite toy. Toys tend to be discarded quickly.

“A toy should introduce a child to claiming ownership and becoming a caretaker of a precious thing. It should provide hours of pleasure and allow a child to express emotion and create scenarios. And it should be great fun.”

The best toys can be simple. And free. “In my travels I have spent many hours watching children play hopscotch with stones, use newspapers for a paper game, ride down snowy slopes on a flattened cardboard box, or toss stones in a lake and watch the water circles they make.”

Worthington thinks modern mechanical toys provide a good introduction to technology but they are limiting and children outgrow them quickly. Toys should fun, and if they also have a learning component or are good for a child’s emotional development, then they have great value for society as well as the child.

“Personally,” she continued, “I love technology but prefer to see a child use a real computer, rather than a plastic imitation he or she quickly masters.”

Worthington’s professional accomplishments include directing a career center that established a base with international organizations to recruit and support programs for UMUC-Europe. She’s designed courses, both face-to-face and Web-based, and served as a project consultant for educational institutions in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Her travels to advise companies such as Mercedes-Benz AG have provided an opportunity to collect toys from many countries. Like modern corporations, toys are global in that people all over the world see value in play and create toys for their children.

Worthington expressed surprise at the lack of local toy manufacturers and the large numbers of toys offered by American companies: While working in Korea, she “looked everywhere for an Asian doll but could only find a Caucasian doll selection.”

Worthington’s toy collection numbers more than 100. “I collect small toys that are easy to carry and store.

“I like ethnic dolls in regional costumes, building blocks, puppets, marionettes, and small vehicles. I have toys from around the world, including a toy castle from England, marionettes from Prague, puppets from Korea, wooden toys from Russia, tiny costumed ceramic characters from Spain, and a rag doll from Senegal.”

And which is her favorite toy? “It’s my first doll, the one I wished for and found under the Christmas tree when I was four years old, the toy that represents my family’s love and caring and sacrifice.”