Toys R Us Corrected
The logo for Toys R Us typically includes a backwards R. But when a Toys R Us opened in Cerritos, California in 1972, the local city council insisted that the store spell its name with the R the "correct" way around on the front of the building, so that it wouldnt confuse young children who might be struggling to learn the alphabet.
The store had to keep the corrected R until 1981 when the city council finally voted to allow it to switch to the backwards R. Noted a council member: "All the bags, the price tags in the store had the backwards 'R.' It really wasn't accomplishing anything to have it correct on the outside."
Of course, as Steve Harvey noted for the LA Times, if you really want to be grammatically correct, the name should be Toys R We.
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a single picture of the store with the corrected R.
The store had to keep the corrected R until 1981 when the city council finally voted to allow it to switch to the backwards R. Noted a council member: "All the bags, the price tags in the store had the backwards 'R.' It really wasn't accomplishing anything to have it correct on the outside."
Of course, as Steve Harvey noted for the LA Times, if you really want to be grammatically correct, the name should be Toys R We.
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a single picture of the store with the corrected R.
Los Angeles Times - Mar 3, 1981
The normal logo
The corrected version
Comments
The dissenting councilman was Barry Rabbit?? Then, those voting for the measure must have been B'rer Bear and B'rer Fox.
Posted by Virtual on 03/18/17 at 10:55 AM
Originally, the store was named "The Children's Supermarket", with both Rs reversed.
Zoning regulations limited the size of their sign, which rendered it hard-to-read.
They decided to use a shorter name, so they can use larger letters in the same-sized sign. Hence, "Toys R us", again with the "R" reversed.
Or, maybe it's the Cyrillic (Russian) letter "Ya", which looks just like a reversed capital "R".
Zoning regulations limited the size of their sign, which rendered it hard-to-read.
They decided to use a shorter name, so they can use larger letters in the same-sized sign. Hence, "Toys R us", again with the "R" reversed.
Or, maybe it's the Cyrillic (Russian) letter "Ya", which looks just like a reversed capital "R".
Posted by Joshua Z. Levin on 03/18/17 at 06:41 PM
Reminds me of a local store that used to be called "Just 'F' Kids." They recently changed their name, suggesting that someone pointed out the name could be misunderstood.
Posted by Nick Edwards on 03/19/17 at 08:28 AM
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Category: Regulations | 1970s