[printfriendly current='yes']

Safe for Kids? Consumer Complaints and the Regulation of Toys

Between the end of World War II and the early-1960s, the Baby Boom fueled the rapid expansion of the toy industry. While most of these toys were perfectly safe for kids, others attracted negative attention from physicians, consumer advocates, and the parents of injured children.

Read the following letters sent to federal regulatory agencies and excerpts of letters that were introduced into the Congressional record about toy safety. Answer the questions that follow in the appropriate student response box.

Name

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Questions

Answer the following questions in the next available blank text box.

How did the writer describe his/her experience with unsafe toys? How were these experiences different from similar accounts of product-related accidents from doctors, lawyers, engineers, and lawmakers?
Why did this writer decide to complain to the government about risky toys? What were his/her other options?
What can we learn from looking at these letters that would be difficult to learn from a summary or even a word-for-word transcript?

Letter from Mrs. Frank Morgan to Consumer Research Bureau

View Primary Source Details

Enter Your Response

Questions

Answer the following questions in the next available blank text box.

How did the writer describe his/her experience with unsafe toys? How were these experiences different from similar accounts of product-related accidents from doctors, lawyers, engineers, and lawmakers?
Why did this writer decide to complain to the government about risky toys? What were his/her other options?
What can we learn from looking at these letters that would be difficult to learn from a summary or even a word-for-word transcript?

Letter from Evelyn Buckley to Buffalo District Office of FDA

View Primary Source Details

Enter Your Response

Historical Context

When the House Subcommittee on Commerce and Finance took up the Child Protection and Toy Safety Act of 1969, Arnold B. Elkind, the Chairman of the National Commission on Product Safety, filed seven pages of examples of dangerous but currently legal toys with eighty related comments from the public (excerpted from letters received by the commission like seen above from Mrs. Frank Morgan and Evelyn Buckley).

Questions

As you read some examples of excerpts, consider the following. Answer the following questions in the blank text box that follows the document.

What information and quotations did the National Commission on Product Safety choose to push for the act? Would you have used the same evidence to convince Congress to intervene? Why or why not?
Look closely at the complaints cited by the Commission. Where did these letters come from? Who were the intended recipients of these messages? How did the staff of the Commission edit their tone and content?
What do these letters and the Commission report show about the ways ordinary Americans can influence the policymaking process?

Selections from the Hearings before the Subcommittee on Commerce and Finance

View Primary Source Details

Enter Your Response

When you're done

Based on your analysis of the above documents, choose one of the following:

Option A: Imagine that a child has been injured playing with one of the following toys: an archery set with pointed arrows, a miniature electric iron, or a baby rattle filled with small beads.
- Write a letter to the Consumer Product Safety Commission describing the accident and pushing the agency to remove the toy from the market. As you write, reflect on how you would feel about the injury, the businesses selling the toy, and your role as an informed citizen-consumer.
Option B: Browse the list of recalls and safety warnings on the Consumer Product Safety Commission website (CPSC.gov/recalls).
- Choose one of the items on the Commission “product safety warnings” webpage. Prepare a short (5-minute) presentation explaining why this product might be hazardous, where the product was sold, any reported injuries involving the product, and what consumers should do to prevent future accidents.

Name(Required)

From (My Name)(Required)

To (My Teacher's Email)

My Assigned Group

New Group Name

Enter Your Response(Required)

Interactive Data

To the extent possible under law, National Archives Foundation has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to “Safe for Kids? Consumer Complaints and the Regulation of Toys”

Letter from Mrs. Frank Morgan to Consumer Research Bureau

Letter from Evelyn Buckley to Buffalo District Office of FDA

Selections from the Hearings before the Subcommittee on Commerce and Finance

When you're done

Explore Primary Sources

Discover Activities

Create Activities