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Some toys almost always indicate that the child is a boy. Few items are more universally desired among boys than balls. There are of course a wide rasnge of different balls. Some are made for younger boys just to bounce. Others are made for many different sports. Bikes with many of the modern features began to appear in the 1880s and were very poular with children--especially boys. One of the most popular toy with boys are toy guns. Modern parents, mostly the mothers, will refuse to buy guns or let their children play with toy
guns. Interestingly, little boys without toy guns will simply use any handy
object, pretend it is a gun and blast away at his friends. Almost always the children
pictured with guns are boys. I'm not sure just when the first erector sets and chemistry sets appeared, but it was probably sometime after the turn of the century. Almost always the child involved will be a boy. Erector Sets were the serious child architect's version of tinkertoys. Trains were big, powerful, and noisy. All characteristics which attracted the interest of boys. Most of the children interested in model railroads were boys. Sailboats were another hug favorite with boys. Sports until the 1970s was primarily the chummy reserve of boys. This was particulrly true of the late 19th century. (Modern sports were just beginning to evolve at the beginning of the 19th century.) Almost always children pictured with sports equipment are boys. Almost all boys, while they may look askanse at dolls, delight in toy soldiers. For years the toy soldiers were metal, but beginning in the 1950s, plastic soldiers--pale imitations of the metal ones began to appear.
Few items are more universally desired among boys than balls. Many girls played with girls are well, butit was boys who really made the ball a major play toy. There are of course a wide range of different balls. Some are made for younger boys just to bounce. Others are made for many different sports. Like erector sets, it was primarily boys who got chemistry sets.
Bikes with many of the modern features began to appear in the 1880s and were very poular with children--especially boys.
Like erector sets, it was primarily boys who got chemistry sets.
Boys were interested in toys styled on the conveyances of the day. This has included cars, carriages, planes, ships, trains, and trucks. The type and conveyance and style of course varied over time. I am not sure what the attraction has been over time. Conveyances were mechanical devices that were normally, large, loud, and powerful. These are all attributes that attract the attention of boys. Drivers and pilots were also traditionally men. Perhaps there were other attributes that also appealed to boys. These were toys that normally did not appeal to girls, perhaps for the same reasons that they appealed to boys. We note toys done in what ever were the mechanical conveyances of the day. hey were done in various materials and degrees of reality. Some were made to actually work. I'm not sure if there were actual steam engines, if so they would have been rather rare. More common were wind-up motors and n the 20th century electrical motors.
I'm not sure just when the first erector sets and chemistry sets appeared, but it was probably sometime after the turn of the century. Almost always the child involved will be a boy. Erector Sets were the serious child architect's version of tinkertoys. They contained metal girders, nuts, bolts, belts and pulleys... and even an electric motor to run the ferris wheel model! Meccano was made in Liverpool by Frank Hornby, who also made clockwork, and later electric, model trains. Meccano consisted of perforated metal parts, which you could bolt together along with gear wheels, pulleys, and cranks, to make engineering models. There can't be a British man over 40 who didn't assemble a crane out of Meccano ... and then immediately wonder what to do with it.
One of the most popular toy with boys are toy guns. This was certainly the case in America through the 1970s. I recall my six-shhoters were my favorite play toy during the day. They were cap pistols, although I could only use the caps outdoors, not while helping Hoppy out while watching television. For modern readers, caps came in red rolls and fed through the gyn--the hammar falling on a cap making a noise like a gun going off. They were all the rage in the 1940s and 50s. I was always pestering my dad for caps (as well as baseball cards and comic books). Mom was a much harder sell. The guns were of course used in our Cowboy and Indian games. A British reader writes, "I was thinking again about the fact that I don't recall seeing German boys playing with toy guns when I was over there in the 1960s. This was in contrast to our games in England. I assume that was in reaction to the war years. It would be interesting to hear from German readers. Modern parents, mostly the mothers, will refuse to buy guns or let their children play with toy guns. Interestingly, little boys without toy guns will simply use any handy object, pretend it is a gun and blast away at his friends. Almost always the children pictured with guns are boys.
We note toy instruments used in many portrits, primarily portraits of boys. The two most prominent toy instructments are bugles and drums. Portraits of boys with drums seem especially common. Both were popular toys in the late 19th century. They are prominently featured in 19th century illustrations of toys. We wonder to what extent this was influenced by 19th century wars, especially the Civil War in America. A factor here is that boys, sometimes quite young boys served as musicians in 19th century armies. We see quite a few boys during the 19th century photographed with toy drums as props. A good example is Horace Benjamin. We suspect many were studio props. These musical toys seem to have declined in popularity in the 20th century, but have not entirely disappeared.
Pull toys were popular with younger boys. Notethe pull horse on wheels that the boiy pictured here had (figure 1).
Toy sailboats were a huge favorite with American, British, and French boys in the 19th and early 20th century. We are not sure about other countries, in part because we have smaller photographic archives. We see some in 19th century studio portraits showing boys with sail boats. These are probably studio props, not toys the boys brought to the studio. Boys loved to take their sailboats to the nearby park to sail it in the pond. This means that this was an important toy that developed in the mid-19th century, because this is when important urban parks were created throughout Europe and North America. Water features at these parks were very popular. We only begin to see actual images in any numbersafter the-turn-of the 20th century. This is of course the result of the Kodak Brownie and other similar systems like it. What this meant was the creation of the family snapshot. These cameras were so simple that anyone could operate them. And they were so smal, people could not only operate at home, but take them anywhere they went. Thus this is an important part of the park photographic record of the first half of the 20th century. Urban parks with their sheltered ponds were perfect places for boys to actually sail their sailboats. Something that most boys really wanted to do and looked forward to it immensly. There were boat of all sizes and designs. In the early 20th century we see any boys dressed up in sailor suits and other fancy outfits for these park visits. After World War I, boys tended to be dressedv more casually. Here most of the children involved were middle- or upper-class boys. And almost all of the children were bioys. Girls for whatever reasions had an realinterest in sailboats. This was the case for all kinds of vehicles, be it stage cizaches, trains, steam bioats, aircradt, cars and trucks. The French boy seen here is shown trying to sail his sail boat in a small pool (figure 1).
Sports until the 1970s was primarily the chummy reserve of boys. This
was particulrly true of the late 19th century. (Modern sports were just
beginning to evolve at the beginning of the 19th century.) Almost always
children pictured with sports equipment are boys.
Almost all boys past the todler stage, while they may look askanse at dolls, delight in toy soldiers. For years the toy soldiers were metal, but beginning in the 1950s, plastic soldiers--pale imitations of the metal ones began to appear. The living rooms of millions of homes were the scene of bloody battles played out with the toy soldiers of their sons. We note stories about and images of boys playing with toy soldiers from all over the wotld. I especially liked my Red Coats from England. My brother and I staged battles using rubber bands to knock over advancing colums of toybsoldiers. Other boys had different systems. Winston Churchill remembers one of the few long conversation he had with his father Lord Randolph when his father caje into his room while he was playing with his toy soldiers. The two of them discussed historic battles such as Blenheim and Waterloo. We note numerous images of boys playing with toy soldiers. A good example is Polish brothers playing with their toy soldiers during World War I.
Trains appeared in the mid-19th century and quickly became a critical component of the industrual revolution. And as soon as trains appeared, they were quickly followed by toys based on them. (The same proces occured with planes and space ships in the 20th century.) Trains were big, powerful, and noisy. All characteristics which attracted the interest of boys. Most of the children interested in trains were boys. The first toy trains appeared in Germany. The first such toys were trains that the children could pull or push. Gradually an entirely new gype of toy train appeaed--the model train. These were actual scale replical of trains that could acyually move. Lionel in the United States became famous for building electric toy trains. I think this became a popular passtime for boys (of all ages) during the 1920s. I remember bein fascinated by the mosel train set by my father and brother. They had a wonderful set. I was a little to young to work on it myself. One of the problems with model railroading is that it requires a good bit of permanent space. So beyond the cost of the trains and track, you had to hve a house that was big enough to set aside a space for the train set ups. British boys were keen on "train spotting"--identifying individual locomotives. Toy trains were also very popular in Germany. We are less sure about Fance and Italy.
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