Behind the Scenes: Making Toys that Make History

In 2017, Uncle Goose launched a historical set of toy blocks. The Women Who Dared blocks quickly became our number one best seller.

For a long period of time, the Women Who Dared set outsold our Uncle Goose Classic ABC Blocks! In our entire history as a company, no other product has ever outsold our flagship ABC block toys. 

With the Women Who Dared Blocks, we had a hit on our hands. The demand for this product was fierce and remains strong. We predict demand will flourish during March: Women’s History Month.

And while Women Who Dared is a widely beloved block set, people have often asked why we selected the women we did. Answer: it wasn’t easy!

There are billions of daring women throughout history. And yet, Women Who Dared is only a 32-block set. We had to narrow the list considerably.

Your Uncle Goose wanted a diverse cross-section of women from the far and near past. We also wanted to include women from different backgrounds.

Each block also features a quote. We made sure to select a quote that was both inspirational - yet short enough to fit on the side of a block and still be legible. 

You’ll also see a short summary of each woman’s achievement on these blocks. But the featured women are so accomplished; how could we condense their achievements into a few short words? We had to ask ourselves a key question:

“What will this person chiefly be remembered for 100 years from now?”

Because these are heirloom toys, the Women Who Dared blocks will still be around in 100 years. We needed to make sure that we provided a short summary of a historic achievement that’s meaningful today — as well as 100 years in the future.

The blocks also feature a puzzle with the slogan and colors of the suffragette movement. It spells DEEDS NOT WORDS in purple and green. This simple but powerful slogan inspires us. We often like to display the completed puzzle in its handsome basswood display case. 

Even though this is a historical block set, the Women Who Dared have a bright future. The women on these blocks persevered. They dared. And in their daring, they made advancement possible for women today and tomorrow.