Games, Playthings and Plush

director of retail operations for Friends of Sutter’s Fort, agreed with Miller that the best way to handle products affected by supply chain delays is to “order other products to make up for that. I always have plenty of workarounds,” he said.

The fort has many visitors around 9 to 10 years of age who come to the site, fourth graders who are learning about California history, Rogowski related. Among the store’s top sellers for this age group are “finger tops which are an accurate replica of 19th century toys; little bottles holding gold flakes which are popular of course because of the Gold Rush era; plush stuffies such as cougars, ravens, and red foxes; musical instruments like children’s flutes and harmonicas; and even pencil sharpeners that are shaped like historic canons.

Continued on page 160

Rachael Burner, director of sales, Dickey Ridge Visitor Center in Shenandoah National Park, Luray, Va., photographed with plush. “The plush items we have had a lot of luck with over the years, especially with finger puppets, but since the pandemic, we’ve had a lot of difficulty getting them and keeping them in stock. They come from an overseas supplier, so it can be impossible to get them in,” the executive director said.