ABSTRACT
Design for children encompasses a broad variety of serially manufactured and handmade things from the most elite embroidered receiving blanket, engraved silver cup, and architectdesigned treehouse to the common plastic sippy cup, safety seat, play clothes, action fi gure toys, and Happy Meal. Human beings have probably always made things for children’s use and thus the objects and spaces designed for childhood are potentially vast in number, and have long had very little prestige. Most often neither the designer nor the manufacturer is known. Yet, as the social value placed on children rose in the modern era, the goods and things that formed their world also gained signifi cance, and design for children became charged with social importance. As children became the “priceless” fi gures, not just of their parents’ world but also in culture and society generally, the types of goods and the market for things designed for them grew exponentially ( Zelizer 1985 ).
