office toy
An office toy (also known as an executive toy or a desk toy) is a novelty item typically placed on the desk of a corporate executive or other office worker. They have no work-related function, but are often intended to provide decoration or pleasure, relieve stress or inspire creativity. The Newton's cradle is a classic example of an office toy. • Illustration — A Newton's cradle executive toy
Also recorded as desk toy · executive toy
office toy
- Field
- novelty item · decorative object
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for office toy. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Broader Term · incoming
Crookes radiometer
Term
Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons. Transfer was stated to be made by User:haade .
Broader Term · incoming
double pendulum
Term
Own work
Broader Term · incoming
drinking bird
Term
Own work
Broader Term · incoming
neodymium magnet toys
Term
Own work ( Original text: I created this work entirely by myself. )
Broader Term · incoming
Newton's cradle
Term
Own work
Broader Term · outgoing
novelty item
Term
Own work
Broader Term · incoming
snow globe
Term
Chéries-Chéris avant soirée de clôture (les trophées) III
Broader Term · incoming
stress ball
Term
https://www.flickr.com/photos/22964099@N05/2204059683/
Broader Term · incoming
useless machine
Term
Own work
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q5419952 · wikipedia · Office toy
In this article
Functions
Functions
Different types of office toys fulfill different needs for their users. Although providing pleasure and being decorative could be the two major functions in office toys, there are still some differences between each types of office toys. For example, puzzle-type toys can also help inspire creativity. A fidget spinner is an office toy that is used to reduce stress or boredom. Design curator Donald Albrecht described executive toys as "aspirational" objects, "less tools for provoking creativity than foghorns of identity and status in a sea of corporate homogeneity." Toys with corporate logos act as advertisements, such those distributed by pharmaceutical sales representatives in doctors' offices.
Examples
Examples
• Drinking bird • Fidget spinner • Kinetic sand • Lava lamp • Magic 8 Ball • Newton's cradle • Pin Art • Stress ball • Useless machine • Plasma globe
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Office toy, revision 1363417520 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Hsiang Cheng 'Sam' Wang (2007) The Investigation of Office Toy. National Central Library
- 2.James Plafke (2016) Fidget Spinners Are The Must-Have Office Toy For 2017 Forbes, 23 December 2016.
- 3.Pomper, Stephen. Drug Rush. The Washington Monthly. May 2000.
- 4.Julie Lasky (2015) "Designing Distraction: Executive Toys". The New York Times, 4 February 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
- 5.Jason England (2015) "Executive desk toys explained" Cosmos, 20 July 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
- 6.Rose Hoare (2012) "Toy story: Office playthings come of age" CNN, 4 September 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
- 7.Chris Merriman (2013) "MIT demonstrates a morphing computer interface". The Inquirer, 14 November 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witness
Connections
Knowledge graph
Connections
Each connection was recorded deliberately, with the basis for it kept on the internal record.
Broader subject
5- Crookes radiometerTerminology
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
- double pendulumTerminology
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
- neodymium magnet toysTerminology
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
- Newton's cradleTerminology
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
- useless machineTerminology
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Collectables
20,755 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Off RoadWork
- Off Road ChallengeWork
- Off-PeakWork
- Off-Road Redneck RacingWork
- OfficersWork
- Official Formula One RacingWork
- Officine MeccanicheOrganisation
- Officine PadaneOrganisation
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own an object connected with office toy?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.