Figure 1.--Kiddie or pedal cars have been popular since the late 19th Century. This image probably dates to the 1890s. The boy wears a winter coat with I think a sailor cap. This photograph would have been taken about 1900, we think in America. |
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Kiddie or peddal cars were a popular child's toy. The first automobile was assembled by Karl Benz in Germany during 1886. In Europe it was considered a novelty for the rich. Americans took it more seriously and by the turn of the Century, American companies were producing autos in phenomenal quantities. Kiddie or peddal cars appeared almost as soon as automobiles. Boys like their fathers fell in love with the automobile. These cars began to appear in the 1890s and the clothes boys wore in the available images are a good reflection on the clothing styles and fashion conventions of the day. A good example of an early kiddie car is the one photographed with an American boy, Wayne Curtis, about 1905.
These toys were much more popular in America than Europe. The images associated with these cars provide a glimpse at how children were dressed at the time. Early images of children with kiddie cars show children in quite formal dress. This is in part because children at the time dressed more formally, even for play. They were also dresses formally to have a portrait taken. So it is a little difficult to know precisely how they would have dressed to play with their cars. Later images beginning in the 1920s show boys in increasingly casual clothes. This is in part because of the increasing informality of modern life. In addition the ease of taking snapshots mean that more and more photographs were snapshots and not formal portraits.
The first automobile was assembled by Karl Benz in Germany during 1886. In Europe it was considered a novelty for the rich. Americans took it more seriously and by the turn of the Century, American companies were producing autos in phenomenal quantities. Henry Ford's assessmbly line production of cars was a major step in the industrial expansion of 20th century America. This allowed Ford to sell a car that the average wirker could afford. The model-T was a modestly priced car, but Ford made money by selling them in enormous numbers. It was the automobile more than any other single product that would propel the Uniterd States to its position as the world's preminent industrial power by the time of World War I.
Kiddie or peddal cars were a popular child's toy. Kiddie or peddal cars appeared almost as soon as automobiles. We do not have a lot of information here, but the photograph here shows a peddle car based on the design of a very early automobile. These cars began to appear in the 1890s and the clothes boys wore in the available images are a good reflection on the clothing styles and fashion conventions of the day. A good example of an early kiddie car is the one photographed with an American boy, Wayne Curtis, about 1905. Another example is John Conway in 1906.
Boys like their fathers fell in love with the automobile. These toys were much more popular in America than Europe.
We have seen kiddie cars in many different countries. They seem most common in America where of course automobiles were most common. It was also where because of economic affluence that parents had the money to but relatively expensive toys like bikes, trikes, and kiddie cars. We see them made in all kinds of shapes in America. The most common of course was the autmobile style, but we see other styles like airplanes as well. The UJnited strates was not the only county where they were populasr. We see them in many European countries as well. We know less about kiddie cars in Europe, especially because we have been able to find far fewer photograohic images than in America.
The images associated with these cars provide a glimpse at how children were dressed at the time. Early images of children with kiddie cars show children in quite formal dress. This is in part because children at the time dressed more formally, even for play. They were also dresses formally to have a portrait taken. So it is a little difficult to know precisely how they would have dressed to play with their cars. Later images beginning in the 1920s show boys in increasingly casual clothes. This is in part because of the increasing informality of modern life. In addition the ease of taking snapshots mean that more and more photographs were snapshots and not formal portraits.
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