Photo: Getty

After centuries of being taken for granted, the swing has finally gotten its due. The ubiquitous playground fixture joined this year’s list of inductees into the Toy Hall of Fame.




While most people with a soul understand that the swing is one of the finest, most durable devices for fun ever created, no one really thinks about the swing. Everyone just expects it to be there, waiting, ready to lift you high above that bar, almost too far, but always gently returning you to safety.

This isn’t just a win for the swing, it’s a victory for all of swing kind. Tire swings, natural swings, rope swings, porch swings, baby swings, canopy swings and many others all share in this honor. But not hammocks. Hammocks are just suspended beds.


Being inducted into The Strong National Museum of Play’s Toy Hall of Fame isn’t easy. The administrators keep a tight grip on who and who doesn’t receive the accolade. This year, only two others made it in—Dungeons & Dragons and Fisher-Price Little People. The list of short-listed losers included Nerf, the coloring book, Transformers, the card game Uno, and Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots. Swing beat the frickin’ coloring book. Gotta shout out Nerf though, you’ll get ‘em next year.

Swing now joins the company of G.I. Joe, Frisbee and the Nintendo Game Boy. As it should be.

[Ars Technica]