Before embarking on any discussion of multicultural products, it is important to recognise that they fall into two different groups. The first contains products that depict people from a range of ethnic backgrounds - jigsaws, books, dolls, small world toys and the like.
These items are not, strictly speaking, multicultural, because they give no insight into ways of life and thought in non-western societies. On the contrary, their aim is inclusion, so the people usually appear in clothes and settings that the majority population would regard as 'normal' - parks, schools, living rooms, firefighters' uniforms, white coats.
The second subset, the truly multicultural one, consists of items that teach children from the majority population about other societies - clothes, cooking utensils, ceremonial objects, musical instruments and so on. Here, the emphasis is on difference, but it's a positive emphasis. By playing with these objects, children learn to appreciate the wonderful variety of human experience and, if the teaching is good, to understand and value the people whose cultures the items represent.
In a perfect world, the first type of multicultural item would not need a separate category - people from a variety of ethnic groups would be represented as a matter of course. No one would expect a doll manufacturer to give all its creations red hair and freckles - why, then, should it be any less eccentric to concentrate exclusively on the lighter end of the skin-tone spectrum? Things are definitely improving on this front.
The inclusion of people from varying ethnic backgrounds has become much more widespread, and less self-conscious. Black dolls are now much more likely to have appropriate features, rather than Caucasian features made from brown plastic (an excellent example of an Afro-Caribbean baby doll appears opposite). However, we are still some way off perfection. Several companies still shy away from inclusion, and non-Caucasian small world people still tend to cost more than their white counterparts.
As for the second group of products - these are becoming ever more popular. In fact, a whole generation of parents is learning about other cultures from their children. Hands up how many of you non-Hindus knew about Diwali before your children came home with those lamp-decorated cards?