So sue me. It turns out I did not invent fatherhood, and Daddy Types is not the first search for gear for kids.
Kid Size: The Material World of Childhood is an exhibit at the Wadsworth Atheneum that explores three centuries of objects from around around the world designed for children. The show includes a 19th century Chinese bathtub and African sleepmats, Prouve schooldesks and seemingly the entire children's line designed by Ray and Charles Eames.
My pick (until I get up there to see the Gerrit Rietveld rocking horse, anyway) is this Eames mechanical horse, which would lumber forward as a kid swayed side to side. This thing's too rickety-looking to get through the legal department of any manufacturer today, but it's pretty cool.
Check out the show, which will travel on to Oklahoma and Pittsburgh, or get the catalog which, unfortunately, doesn't have ordering information.