Period Toys??

[lukegilly13]

Re: Period Toys??

Paul,
When I posted earlier I could not remember the name of these toys but when I got home to my study I found them. They are called Froebel's Gifts. They were very common in the early 1800's and are still used today! They are basically very simple collections of blocks and different wooden shapes that are geared toward early child development. They were the Leggos and Lincoln Logs of the 1800's. These would make an exceptional addition to an impression as these were commonly given as gifts to home schooled students (more popular in the south for plantation life) and public schooled children as well. Here is a website that gives you some brief history and more information...if you want more, I have tons of research on them.

http://www.froebelgifts.com/

Very neat product and still used today for child development! Let me know what you think of them for our period.

[bizzilizzit]

Re: Period Toys??

http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/full.php?ID=19766

Christmas Eve
George H.Yewell - 1863
Private collection
Painting - oil on canvas

This is a great image of two children looking into a toy store window.
Elizabeth Topping

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Period Toys??

In the Williamsburg Journal that is cited in an earlier post there is a demonstration of the difference in nomenclature and what, at least to me, indicates the author has never played with the toy he is describing. The article mentions a bullroarer and he describes it as a button or slab of wood with a loop of string passing through two holes. He says that pulling on the loop of string will make the button or wood spin with the raucous sound of a bull.

The toy he describes is what is called in The American Boy's Book of Sports and Games a "water cutter" and, on our website, we call a "buzzsaw." Having played with them many times, the sound they make is definitely not a raucous sound at all when playing with them as he describes. If you are just spinning the disk and standing more than 10 feet away, you'd hardly hear it at all unless you were listening very carefully. What I'm used to calling a bull roarer is a flat piece of wood on the end of a twisted string. When whirled overhead, the string will twist more and then start the wood spinning while it is whirled and that spinning of the flat wood will make a loud roar.

While there are many things in the article I agree with, he is a secondary source and on this item and, although published by a highly recognized historic site, the identification and description is of questionable accuracy. Although we don't know about his sources because he didn't them, he may have been copying information on this toy from another secondary source.

Michael Mescher

[Emily Burns]

Re: Period Toys??

"The Boy's Own Book" and "The Girl's Own Book" reproduced from the 1830s is a wonderful source for childhood amusements of all kinds.

[Stonewall_Greyfox]

Wonderful Toy Shop ca. 1852

Wonderful Toy Shop ca. 1852

http://www.victoriana.com/antiquetoys/toyshop.html

Paul B.

[Emily Burns]

Re: Period Toys??

Waveland State historic site in Kentucky has some lovely children's toys. Including a lovely cloth doll with an 1830's style poke bonnet made out of wall-paper. The team of horses shown in the photo is attached to a wooden wagon.

[Indianabugles]

Re: Period Toys??

Silly question perhaps but I did wonder how much relgious inference was on toys, By this I mean that not long before in England it was considered impropper to play on a Sunday with toys, Jacobs ladder and the Ark being exclusions because of the reigious conetations. Quaker values passed on perhaps or is this me overeadng?
I only ask as most events include a Sunday and I have children at events. We currently have toy gun, a scrap ball and a rag doll for my son and daughter respectivly but may want to add to this.

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Period Toys??

Silly question perhaps but I did wonder how much relgious inference was on toys, By this I mean that not long before in England it was considered impropper to play on a Sunday with toys, Jacobs ladder and the Ark being exclusions because of the reigious conetations. Quaker values passed on perhaps or is this me overeadng?
I only ask as most events include a Sunday and I have children at events. We currently have toy gun, a scrap ball and a rag doll for my son and daughter respectivly but may want to add to this.

In our research on toys, we haven't found much on Sunday toys until after our period. We we did find out was that most of the time, "Sunday toys" were toys that were not played with during the week and were also quiet toys. Some that were mentioned were "Sunday Toy Books" which were picture books with Bible themes, blocks, picture cards, box of houses (described like a toy farm), a best doll, or any other nicer toys.

We didn't find Jacob's ladder mentioned as a Sunday toy. Noah's ark was mentioned a couple of times but not as a Sunday toy; one mention was that it was unsafe for babies and young children because the children could break off the legs of the animals and put the pieces in their mouths.

It seems that the emphasis of Sunday toys was a special toy and ones that promoted play. Most of the primary references for "Sunday toys" began in the 1870s and continued into the the 20th century.

We do carry a number of toys that would fit in the quiet play category. We have blocks, endless landscape, flapjack, monkey on a stick, ox yoke puzzle, Chinese puzzle, and pecking bird or chickens.

[Elaine Kessinger]

Re: Period Toys??

So what do you have/ would parents recomend for the under 3 yo crowd? :)

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Period Toys??

So what do you have/ would parents recomend for the under 3 yo crowd? :)

Our blocks are unpainted and probably the safest for under 3 years old. They are made of hard wood so they don't have splinters and could be chewed on without problems. The larger Chinese Puzzle (the one in the cloth bag) would be good for the older range and is good to teaching shapes and making simple images. Unfortunately most of the other toys are for older children. Maybe with parental supervision there would be some of our toys that small children could play with but since they have small parts and due to legal issues we can't recommend any others.

There are a number of toys that could be made at home that we don't carry. We used to sell clutch balls but our supplier no longer has them. Cloth or knitted balls, cloth dolls, toys carved from a single piece of wood and similar other toys would be safe for young children.

[eric marten]

Re: Period Toys??

One toy you shouldn't overlook which also doubles as accompaniment to lively fiddle tunes - nowadays known as a limberjack, but referred to by the quite non-PC name of dancing darky in one of the Christmas season issues (1858) of the "Long Island Democrat"

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Period Toys??

One toy you shouldn't overlook which also doubles as accompaniment to lively fiddle tunes - nowadays known as a limberjack, but referred to by the quite non-PC name of dancing darky in one of the Christmas season issues (1858) of the "Long Island Democrat"

I'm not sure if you were just including them in a list of toys that are period or a suggestion for a specific age group. Limberjacks have been pictures in gendre paintings and seem to be have been a popular toy.

We also have limberjacks but I did not include them in the discussion of Sunday toys as they would have been too lively for a quiet toy. They would not be appropriate for small children either.

[KathyBradford]

Re: Period Toys??

Paul,

DeWitt Wallace in Williamsburg has a great exhibit on historic toys and games. Here is the link to some pictures I took last month. There were several displays and period dollhouses. Sorry for the lack of photographic skills, but I would highly recommend a visit. It's an amazing place.

http://s175.photobucket.com/albums/w129/preservationparcels/DeWitt%20Wallace%20toys%20and%20games%2012%202008/

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Period Toys??

This is Virginia's spouse posting.

The pictures from Colonial Williamsburg show the toys very well. But they also illustrate a problem we have with getting merchandise to sell. If you look at the toys, you won't be able to find any that are reproduced. Quality reproduction toys are a niche market. If you had an original and wanted to use it as a model to reproduce, it is amazing how fast the cost climbs with the small quantities you would be making, oftentimes having to make some of the specialty parts yourself.

That being said, if anyone is in a gift shop for a historic site and sees a toy for sale we don't carry, send us the information about the maker and we'll see if we can add it to our product line at a lower price. We have gotten many leads from other gift shops and sometimes will sell it for less.

Michael Mescher

[Indianabugles]

Re: Period Toys??

My mother in law introduced me to shut the box, not available in UK till mid 1950 but probably dating back to the 12th century in France and maybe Africa. Apparently it had been introduced into Canada and maybe North america in the mid 18th Century. Popular with Seamen? Anybody get anything further on this?