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Darren Lebeuf

Author, Illustrator, and Educator
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The 2014 Second Annual Land of Le Beef Christmas Advent Calendar: Classic Toys Edition

January 1, 2015

This year's Second Annual 2014 Land of Le Beef Christmas Advent Calendar: Classic Toys Edition has been a magical journey, and I thank everyone for all of their positive feedback. If you didn't get a chance to appreciate hop the calendar this year, you can get in on the festive awesomeness next year by becoming a fan of the Land of Le Beef Facebook Page, or following me on Instagram (or both). Next years advent calendar is going to be even bigger and/or better, so don't miss it.

View fullsize Dec 1 is brought you by none other then the Slinky! Not only does it walk down stairs, alone or in pairs, but it is also really easy to draw. The Slinky was accidentally invented in the early 1940's by some random naval engineer who carelessly knoc
View fullsize Today's featured toy is Barrel of Monkeys, popularized in 1966. The original game was actually just a bunch of metal S-hooks, until the creators realized that these were about as much fun as, well, a barrel of S-hooks. They then decided to make the
View fullsize The Rubik’s Cube was invented in 1974 by Hungarian architect professor Erno Rubik. It was originally created as a teaching aid, but Rubik soon realized that it could also be used to make millions of people feel dumb for not being able to solve it.
View fullsize Today’s featured toy was one of the very first handheld tablets, introduced in 1960 - it’s the Etch-A-Sketch! Sure, it doesn’t have as much RAM or built in memory, and the quite frankly the graphics are bit poor, but it never runs out of battery, a
View fullsize If you were a dog or a cat in 1998, you had to try extra hard to gain your owner’s affection, because the Furby hit the world by storm that year, selling over 40 million by 2001. As of right now their plan for world domination has yet to be fulfill
View fullsize Although PEZ dispensers are perhaps the most fun and colourful way to dish out fairly generic tasting candy, the original PEZ “dispensers" were much less amusing, and were marketed to adults as an alternative to smoking - somewhere there is an alte
View fullsize The 1930’s were a very different time, when one of the most popular toys of the day was a stuffed monkey fashioned together out of worn-in work socks. Although there are many variations of the sock monkey today, a true Sock Monkey is made from the
View fullsize The View-Master was introduced in 1939 at the New York World's Fair, and was marketed as an alternative to postcards. The full history of the View-Master leading up to this is relatively long and boring, but one interesting fact is that the US mili
View fullsize Magic 8 Balls starting making their mark on the world in 1948, answering all the hard questions that people don't want to deal with.
View fullsize Before I say anything about the Lite-Brite, I should mention that the image on the Lite-Brite that I drew is supposed to be a duck; if you look closely, you might be able to see it. It is hard to find a detailed history of the Lite-Brite online, ot
View fullsize I seem to remember having a Tonka Truck growing up, which probably accounts for my extremely high lev els of manliness.  The Tonka company (originally named Mound Metalcraft) started off making garden tools, but eventually diversified in
View fullsize In 1953 Gumby captured peoples' hearts and minds with his film debut in the short film Gumbasia. Shortly after the film's release, Gumby landed his own TV show, and spent the rest of his days hanging out with A-list celebrities at private clubs. Wh
View fullsize The company the produced that Radio Flyer originally made wooden  wagons in 1917, and after adopting automotive assembly line techniques, started making the classic red metal wagon that we've come to know and love today. Nearly 100 y
View fullsize I’m sure anyone over the age of 25 remembers the Tickle Me Elmo Craze that swept america in 1996 - people went buck nutty over the toy, swarming department stores, injuring shopkeepers and other shoppers, and just wreaking general havoc. Prior to E
View fullsize You would think that the last thing you would want your child to play with is a heated oven, however the popularity of the Easy Bake Oven speaks for itself, with over 16 million sold since it's debut in 1963, and an induction into the Toy Hall of F
View fullsize Out of all of the toys featured this year, Lego is the one that I can’t wait to but for my daughter when she finally becomes old enough to play with things. Legos were invented by a Danish carpenter, who started off making wooden blocks. The name L
View fullsize I thought the history of Army Men would be lot more interesting, but in fact some plastic toy company started making plastic soldiers; end of story. The Army Men first came out in 1938, and were originally painted to look more like collectable figu
View fullsize Mr. Potato Head was born in 1952 when the Hasbro bought the rights to the toy, and became the very first toy advertised on television. At that time the toy consisted only of different facial and accessories, and people had to supply their own potat
View fullsize During World War II rubber was heavily rationed, and so many scientists set out to create a synthetic substitute. In comes Silly Putty. Although Silly Putty had many interesting qualities (as bouncing, stretching, and flowing like a liquid), nobody
View fullsize In the 1950’s Ruth Handler had an idea for a grown-up looking doll (at that time most dolls were modelled after infants). Ruth also happened to be the wife of one of the directors of Mattel. Although her husband and the rest of the directors were f
View fullsize Glo Worms don’t seem to have much of a history. Some dude had an idea for toy - it was a sleepy looking worm whose head would glow when you squeeze it. A bunch of executives sat around a table, took a vote, and decided that Glo Worms would become a
View fullsize Although the history of Rock’Em Sock’Em Robots is unclear, I did learn that each of the robots have names - Red Rocker and Blue Bomber. For reasons unknown, sometime during the 1990’s their names were changed to the more redneck-sounding Gear Grind
View fullsize Cabbage Patch Kids were first created by an art student in 1978, originally just being sold at local markets and craft shows. By 1980 they had somehow made their way to the mainstream market. A couple of the biggest highlights of the Cabbage Patch
View fullsize The Little People became popular in 1952 when they first came out. Originally they were made of cardboard, then upgraded to wood a few years later, and eventually moved to the plastic versions that most people have come  to know and love. In
View fullsize Although evidence of yo-yo’s date back to 500 BC, the modern yo-yo came into being in 1928 in California. Ever since then, people have been doing such tricks as: Walking the Dog, Gravity Pull, Side Winder, Buddha’s Revenge, and the Iron Whip.

There are many toys that didn’t make the cut - not because they’re not awesome, just because they didn’t quite fit with the flow of things. Anyway, here are some of the toys that didn’t make it this year:
• Snoopy Snow Cone Machine
• Pogo Stick, Play-Doh
• Hula Hoop
• Nerf Ball
• Stretch Armstrong
• Care Bears 
• My Little Pony
• Beanie Babies
• Troll Dolls
• Hot Wheels

In holidays Tags holidays, slinky, barrel of monkeys, rubic's cube, etch-a-sketch, furby, pez dispenser, sock monkey, view master, magic eight ball, lite brite, tonka truck, gumby, radio flyer, tickle me elmo, easy bake oven, lego, army men, mr potato head, barbie, silly putty, glo worm, rock'em sock'em robot, cabbage patch kids, fisher price little people, yo-yo, Christmas Advent Calendar, christmas
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    • Dec 27, 2016 the 4th Annual Land of Le Beef Christmas Advent Calendar Dec 27, 2016
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    • Mar 30, 2015 Hey Diddle Diddle Mar 30, 2015
    • Mar 5, 2015 What a Wonderful World Mar 5, 2015
    • Feb 24, 2015 32 Bottles of Beer | part 1 Feb 24, 2015
    • Jan 1, 2015 The 2014 Second Annual Land of Le Beef Christmas Advent Calendar: Classic Toys Edition Jan 1, 2015
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    • Feb 19, 2014 Under the Sea Feb 19, 2014
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    • Jan 17, 2014 the Beef Jan 17, 2014
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    • Dec 25, 2013 Merry Christmas Dec 25, 2013
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    • Nov 28, 2013 a fish out of water Nov 28, 2013
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    • Sep 23, 2013 International Talk Like a Pirate Day Sep 23, 2013
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    • Apr 24, 2013 Rocky XIII Apr 24, 2013
    • Apr 17, 2013 the 4 food groups Apr 17, 2013
    • Apr 8, 2013 the thunder from down under Apr 8, 2013
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    • Mar 17, 2013 a st. patrick's day extravaganza Mar 17, 2013
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    • Mar 6, 2013 what's new, pussy cat? Mar 6, 2013
    • Mar 4, 2013 do the harlem shake Mar 4, 2013
    • Feb 26, 2013 warm-hearted tickle machine Feb 26, 2013
    • Feb 21, 2013 why can't we all just get along? Feb 21, 2013
    • Feb 15, 2013 birthday buddies Feb 15, 2013
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    • Dec 25, 2012 holiday special Dec 25, 2012
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