s u m m e r g u i d e 2 0 1 7 2 4 5 i d i fiLe PHotos a art news the legacy o a brilliant immigrant toymaker echoes through generations o franco american mainers. y rhea C t r inS Play On T ouched by a moment of remem- bering my favorite childhood games, I feel a surge of freedom re- calling toys with the power to expand my imagination and conjure infinite possibili- ties. This nostalgia was induced by a recent story in The Atlantic on the concept of “free play” for children. “Unscheduled, unsuper- vised playtime is one of the most valuable educational opportunities we give our chil- dren,” The Atlantic says. Physical activity and using one’s imagination allows children to apply creativity and gain physical, cog- nitive, and emotional strength. And that’s not just kid stuff. Let your mind wander through Acadia National Park on this level: Maine, the boundless psychic playground. Peeling back the layers of my favorite memory-making toys, I found to my sur- prise that the person responsible for their uniqueness was a survivor of the Holo- caust. Henry Ornstein (right), as depicted in the 18-minute documentary The Man Who Taught America to Play, fostered free play through his ingenuity and his concept of selling affordable, accessible toys. He sur- vived three concentration camps during World War II. Afterward, he emigrated to the U.S. to become one of the most influ- ential toy makers who ever lived, inspiring generations of children with his creations. Ornstein’s is a remarkable tale of triumph over devastation, survival as a rallying cry for an immigrant’s potential for success. His Topper Toys produced Suzy Cute dolls and Johnny Lightning cars. Later, Ornstein created the first Transformers toy. His lega- cy endures as Transformers: The Last Knight sweeps across cinema screens this summer. As children in Maine, our lives were im- printed with this man’s genius. “Supermar- ket dolls,” so known because they were sold almost exclusively in grocery stores, were displayed in the corner store of my Fran- co-American neighborhood. The coveted toys were sold on layaway, ordered, and de- livered to the delight of expectant children. These particular jouets were a constant presence during our childhood in Water- ville. My own children found the Trans- formers to be not only “more than meets the eye,” which spoke eloquently to their cultural identity, but also transformative. Having grown up in Maine as the product of a legacy of immigration, I’m struck by the thought that across time and market di- mension, this Polish immigrant, a survivor and a visionary, touched our lives and those of many others with his remarkable tenaci- ty and contribution to the art of play. ■ hea t obbinsistheauthoro do n ns and editoro o o n o n