Figure 1.--Here we have an American boy, we think in the 1920s, whobhas a great toy airplaane. It looks much like Lindburgg's Spirit of St. Louis.

Archeologists have found toys from ancient civilizations. Toys became modern common as Europe emerged from the medievil era and economic conditions improved. As affluence spread over a larger social base, this meant that children had more time to play. As late as the 18th century and the early 19th century, however, as there was a general consensus that toys and games were wasteful indulgences and that even young children should be involved in more beneficial activities. It was common for very young children to be taught to read and even foreign languages. Of course this was the affluent class. Poor children still had to work from an early age and had little time to play or the ability to purchase toys. Most toys at any rate were still hand made and there was little in the stores of the day because even wealthy parents did just not approve of their children playing as it was considered frivolous. This attitude only began to significantly change in the 19th century and the Victorian era. The popularity of toys increased greatly in the 19th century as modern concepts of childhood began to form and play as an activity for children became more accepted. We have archived many images on HBC depicting the toys children played with in different eras.

Ancient World

Archeologists have found toys from many ancient civilizations. A reader writes, "Today I saw a 7000 year old toy! It was shaped like a bear and fashioned in clay. Archeologists think it may have been made by the child who made the toy animal because there is a visible print of the child's finger. Seeing such a wonder was a magical moment. I took a photograph, but I may not have got the finger print clearly. It was so tiny. A truly wonderful experience" One fun pig made of clay even showed up on the 'Antiuqes roadshow'. It was a fun pig, if I recall correctly from Greece about 800 BC. Roman children played with a wide diversity of toys. Balls, board games, hobbyhorses, kites, tiny models of people and animals. The ancient Romans played with hoops, with pieces of metal on them, like bells, to jingle and warn people in their way. Boys walked on stilts and played games with balls. They played tic-tac-toe, and a game called "knucklebones", which is a lot like jacks, only played with bones. The boys played war-type games. They played war, and fought with wooden swords, quite fiercely. The game of "Troy" (lusus Troiae) was a team thing involving resisting a whole pack of kids outnumbering you, who'd try to drag you across a line. The girls played with rags dolls and dolls of wax or clay. Some dolls even had jointed legs and arms. The girls played board and ball games, and even lifted weights. Romans boys especially loved games. Horace tells of children building small houses, riding on hobbyhorses, and hitching mice to little carts. Kids from poor families had to work a great deal, but they still found a little time to play. Kids from wealthy families did not work or help around the house. They had slaves who did all the work for them, so they had lots of time to play. Dogs were common and favorite pets. Many kinds of birds were pets including pigeons, ducks, quail, and geese. Monkey were known but they were not very common. Cats started to become pets around the 1st century AD, presumably an import from Egypt.

Medieval Era

The 15th Century

We begin to learn more about toys in the 15th century. This is because they begin to appear in art. The art is very important because toys generally do not survive. Children are riugh on things. And the materials used for toys oftem deteroriare over time. This is why the toys we have from the ancient workd are mostly clay figures. Clay figurines unlike most other toys are hard to destoy. Clay is not biosdegradeable and obce baked is more or less permament. They can last not only for centuries, but millennia. Other toys not so much mwgichnis why art is sich an importamt source. Before the Renaissance, art was largely the province of the Church because the Church could aford it. Thus most paintings had religious themes. And toys has no place in religious portraits. With the Renaissance and its hunanist orientation, painters began not only to paint portraits of individuals and not just rpyals, but scenes depicting real life activities. And when children were involved we sometimes see their toys. Such images were not very common, in part because play and toys were not take very seriously. Most parents saw them as a waste of time. Some of the toys we see are tools of the trade. Aristocratic boys might have toy bhirses or toy swords. Girls might have dolls. Toys became more common as Europe emerged from the medievil era and economic conditions improved. As affluence spread over a larger social base, this meant that children had more time to play and mire parebts willing to indulge them. .

The 16th century

There were popular board gane, but these were more for adults than children. Older children especially teens might play them. We see balls, dice-like games, marbles, and tops. Girls had dolls. There were mostly toys of wood and leather.

The 17th Century

The 18th Century

As late as the 18th century and the early 19th century, however, as there was a general consensus that toys and games were wasteful indulgences and that even young children should be involved in more beneficial activities. It was common for very young children to be taught to read and even foreign languages. Of course this was the affluent class. Poor children still had to work from an early age and had little time to play or the ability to purchase toys. Most toys at any rate were still hand made and there was little in the stores of the day because even wealthy parents did just not approve of their children playing as it was considered frivolous.

The 19th Century

This attitude only began to significantly change in the 19th century and the Victorian era. The popularity of toys increased greatly in the 19th century as modern concepts of childhood began to form and play as an activity for children became more accepted. As this was also when when photography developed, we have some wonderfully early images of childeen with their toys. A good early example is unidentified American children wuth their toys. One thing about 19th century toys is many actially worked. This included toy Civil War cannon. The Lincolon boys in the White House had a working, albeit small cammon, which they used to open fire on the President's cabinent.

The 20th Century

A good example of the chronological information archived on HBC is a French 1939 department store catalog. We note a little German boy and his stuffed friends. The portrait is undated, but we would guess about 1930. We have noted a wide range of modern toys. Some very interesting educational toys are produced by Little Smarties. The company's CEO explains the importance of educational toys, "As a mom with three young impressionable children I know the tremendous value educational toys and baby toys bring to a child's life. Because of the developmental impact a toy can make on a child, I began searching for a place to shop for educational toys that catered to parents and grandparents who wish to stimulate their child's learning through toys and fun. When I couldn't find an educational toy web site that suited my needs, I decided that I would start my own (my five year old came up with the site name, LittleSmarties.com). Parents know that if the educational toys or baby toys are not appealing they will likely just sit on a shelf. Finding high quality educational toys that stimulate development and are fun to play with is vitally important. LittleSmarties.com recognizes the importance of providing educational toys for your child. We understand that it can be difficult to choose just the right toy. That is why all the educational toys, software, games and baby toys found at LittleSmarties.com have some unique advantages. Select the perfect educational toy or baby toy for your child, or choose a shower, birthday or holiday gift. LittleSmarties.com offers toys any child will love guaranteed! "

Created: 4:41 AM 3/23/2007
Last updated: 3:06 PM 5/16/2020