Age: 70
Occupation: Owner, Victoria’s Toy Station
Hometown: Baton Rouge
In the opening pages of Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas, boomers zoom on a circular track. A wide-eyed, gawking Who girl goes catawampus on stilts. A clown springs. Blocks are stacked askew.
There are nets and Lacrosse kits and trumpets coming out of boxes, with bass drums ready to produce all that NOISE! NOISE! NOISE! NOISE!
It’s Christmas.
But times are changing.
Today, Christmas is all about the BLIP! BLEEP! SWOOSH! on a tiny screen.
Then the crash. The cry. The call to a help desk in the distant corners of Amazon or Apple.
Call it the Googleization of Dec. 25.
“The future worries me,” says the owner of Victoria’s Toy Station.
Culotta sees youngsters gazing at handheld devices for the convenience of their parents and wants to cry.
“The grocery store used to be a nightmare, but it was also a place where kids learned,” says the spry, smart mother of four grown children.
“Children learn the most important things through real play.”
Culotta has been in the toy business for 29 years.
In the last few months, she’s seen many of Baton Rouge’s independent toy shops go, “Poof!” and disappear.
It’ll take chutzpah to thrive.
And a mission.
“We are trying to educate parents about how important it is to sit and play with kids,” she says. “I am determined.”
Culotta is armed with a long-time, dedicated staff, including her youngest daughter, Katie Culotta, and a labyrinth of real toys at her shop. It’s a quant, yellow Mid City house on the corner of Government and Concordia.
Her rallying cry: Unplug on Christmas morning.
Give the little ones something painted, with bells and wheels. Wrap up glimmering parcels of tulle princess gowns or fringed cowboy duds for dress-up. Let Santa drag in a giant seesaw, sure to make the kids shriek. Toss in a few marbles.
Resist that tablet computer with its Candy Crushing blings and whistles.
Just let the children play. So they can become real.
