If you're a parent, you may want to put your kids somewhere safe and sit down with a stiff drink in your hand before reading this list by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission of toy hazard recalls dating back to 1974. It's quite a shocking list, topped by many lead paint standard violations that I thought would have been taken care of two years ago during the Thomas the Tank Engine recalls.

Companies you don't normally associate with toys, such as Victoria's Secret and LL Bean, had recalls in the latest report from the 2008 fiscal year. LL Bean's recall was for sand and snow castle kits that could break and cut a kid. More on the Victoria's Secret recall down below, giving you reason to read on.

Two-thirds of the 43 million products recalled in the year ended Sept. 30 were children's toys, nursery items and clothing, according to Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine. Overall recalls rose by 19% to 563 during the 2008 fiscal year.

Just in time for Easter, new toy recalls have popped up, sufficiently scaring both parents and the Easter Bunny. I spoke with the Easter Bunny earlier today and he said he's really exasperated with the situation. After all the publicity about unsafe toys containing lead and detachable parts, he's confused about why toy companies aren't being more careful.

A group of college chemistry students in Ohio examined 45 toys, and found that lead paint was present on 13 of those toys. (That's almost one-third of them!) Obviously, the risk with these toys is that the lead paint could chip off and be ingested by kids.