I used to associate bobbleheads with those figures I saw as a child in Florida–dogs, hula dancers, maybe even an Elvis or two, gracing the rear deck of automobiles. They seemed corny at best, certainly low brow. But if I had had the presence of mind (and a weekly allowance) to purchase a bobbling set of The Beatles in the 1960s, I’d be rich.
National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum
Today there’s only one museum in the world devoted exclusively to bobbleheads (thank goodness), and that’s the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum in Milwaukee. I spent a good hour there trying to digest as many of the 7,000 figures lining its shelves as I could (the museum’s private collection includes more than 11,000 bobblers, shown on a rotating basis). I learned everything I never knew about bobbleheads, including their history and pop-culture lure. Pretty much every category you can think of is represented at the bobblehead museum, from sports icons and movie stars to politicans. There’s former president Trump, touting a bottle of bleach. There’s Dr. Fauci, trying to be heard. There are Looney Tunes and Star Wars characters. Virtually every major basketball team and their mascots are on display, along with sports celebrities hailing from soccer and golf to gymnastics and hockey. Who knew bobbleheads could be so much fun?
History of Bobbleheads
China, it appears, was the first to think of attaching a wobbling head to a stationary body, with large numbers imported to Europe and America beginning in the 1870s. Germany grew fond of ceramic bobblehead animals in the early 1900s. In 1960, sports teams came out with bobbleheads of their star players, including Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Willie Mays. Although their uniforms were different, their generic faces all had the same, happy grin.
The yearning for bobbleheads waned in the 1970s, however, with the arrival of star-studded lunchboxes, video games and action figures. It wasn’t until the 1990s, when ceramic heads were replaced with cheaper plastic ones, that the acquiescent figures sprinted to a comeback. In 1999, the San Francisco Giants gave away 20,000 Willie Mays bobbleheads to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Candlestick Park, the last time the Giants played at the historic stadium. Other teams joined the craze. By 2010, a total of 334 different bobbleheads had been given out as promotional items at major league ballparks. Bobbleheads evolved, gracing computers and even air fresheners.
We even have a National Bobblehead Day, January 7, established in 2015. That same year, a 1961/62 14-inch New York Yankees promotional nodder sold at auction for $59,750. That Beatles set? Priceless.
For more about the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum, see my review in this roundup of quirky museums, OFFBEAT SITES AND QUIRKY MUSEUMS IN THE AMERICAS, originally published on gettingontravel.com:
There are also plenty of offbeat museums in Kansas, including these I wrote about in Lucas.
