Rock-a-Stack is a

toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pet ...

by Fisher-Price with colorful rings that have to be placed in order of size onto a tapered pole mounted on a rocking base. When stacked correctly the hollow plastic rings follow

ROYGBIV ROYGBIV is an acronym for the sequence of hues commonly described as making up a rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. There are several mnemonics that can be used for remembering this color sequence, such as the ...

color progression. The Rock-a-Stack is designed to teach young children about colors and to help them develop their hand-eye coordination and shape perception. Since the introduction of Rock-A-Stacks in 1960, over 40 million have been sold. While Ernest Thornell was the Fisher-Price designer of this toy (from a phone conversation on 8-31-16 between Ernest Thornell and Eric Smith), the Rock-a-Stack is stylistically similar to the earlier Rocky Color Cone wooden stacking toy designed in 1938 by Jarvis Rockwell (brother of

Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...

) for Holgate Toys.

Production history

The Rock-a-Stack was produced at Fisher-Price's production facility in

Holland, New York Holland is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 3,401 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from the Holland Land Company, the original title-holder to most of the land of Western New York. Holland is one of the ...

from 1962 until the factory's closing in 1990 when production was moved to other facilities in Murray, Kentucky and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Former employees of the Holland, New York factory each received a Rock-a-Stack as a parting gift on the final day of operations at the factory.

Versions

Since the Rock-a-Stack's initial release in 1960 some key design changes have taken place: * Until 1966 the Rock-a-Stack was made with a painted wooden base rather than the all-plastic construction of later versions. * From 1960 to 1979 the toy was released with six rings, colored in the order of (largest to smallest) red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. * From 1980 to 1989, the number of rings was reduced to five, the color order on the remaining rings was reversed and the color purple was no longer used. * Beginning in 1990, the number of rings remained at five but the color order was again reversed to the original minus purple. * As of 2020, Fisher-Price offers the toy in a giant version, a 15-inch (38 cm) tall exact copy of the regular version. The giant toy also has six rings, including the top red/clear ring/rattle with three rolling balls inside.

Cultural references

In 1985, the Fisher-Price Rock-a-Stack,

Chatter Telephone The Chatter Telephone is a pull toy for toddlers 12 to 36 months of age. Introduced in 1961 by the Fisher-Price company as the "Talk Back Phone" for infants and children, which was updated to the name Chatter Telephone in 1962, is a roll along p ...

and Activity Center narrowly missed being included in

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

weightlessness toy experimentation due to the lack of time to perform safety tests prior to the March 1985 launch of the Space Shuttle ''Challenger''."POOR GARN, HE WON'T HAVE TOYS OF HIS OWN IN SPACE". ''Akron Beacon Journal'' (OH), p. A-1. Associated Press (24 February 1985). Retrieved from Access World News.

References

External links

Fisher-Price's site
{{Toy-stub Fisher-Price 1960s toys Products introduced in 1960