Child’s Play on the Crabgrass Frontier:

The Baby-Boom Cartoons of Stan and Jan Berenstain

Once upon a time, before the lovable, shaggy-haired Berenstain Bears clan came to live down a sunny dirt road in Bear Country, their creators—Stan and Jan Berenstain—were starting out in their artistic careers, drawing witty cartoons and magazine illustrations on the joys and foibles of parenting.

The Berenstains’ early work, inspired by their own experiences as parents in the post-war baby boom era, can be seen, savored, and chuckled at in this new exhibit produced by Strong National Museum of Play in partnership with the Berenstain Family.

On view are 86 original Berenstain drawings and Collier’s magazine covers from the 1950s and 1960s that evoke an era when the baby population exploded, American prosperity soared, and more and more families were escaping cities to live the suburban American dream. The early Berenstain artwork is complemented by quotations about family life from popular books and magazines of the time, demographic statistics and facts about the baby boom era, and cases filled with such nostalgic items as Davy Crockett memorabilia, toy robots, space toys and lunch boxes. Children will enjoy playing with cartoon-inspired puzzles, creating their own cartoons at a light table, and participating in an “I Spy” computer interactive game.