Outdoor Play and Games: Wagons--Country Trends


Figure 1.--An American boy's wagon was a prominant feature of childhood activities. For some reason girls weren't as interested. This photo was taken on Christmas Day, December 25, 1907, in Orange, California at the corner of Palmyra Avenue and Center Street. It pictures the Gunther family children with their friends and a presumably red wagon. Usually we of course associate Christmas with cold weather, but in Orange County (southern California) the climate is pleasant even during the winter which is why the movie industry moved to Hollywood. Orage County got its name from the many orange groves there. Notice how lightly the children are dressed. One boy is even barefoot and of course you can see the palm tree in the background.

We note wagons pulled by goats and other animals were popular throughout Europe and America. They were often called goat carts, but if they have four wheels they should be more accurately called waggons. I had thought that the child'd pull waggons were quintessentially American. We suspect that wagons were popular in other countries as well, but we have little information on this. Few Americans can forget the little red wagon which became an integral part of American childhood. I'm not sure when wagons became so popular for boys--and when red became the most popular color. Most children growing up in America wanted their own little red wagon. Herewe see American children with their wagon, probably about 1905. We note them in Little Rascals (Our Gang) movie shorts in the 1930s. We see them in Sears catalogs during the 1940s. A reader writes, "Wagons were very popular for boys in the 1940s." I had one in the early 1950s. Most children got them. We are not sure how cmmon they were in other countries. Australian boys also seem to have had little red wagons.

Australia

Australian boys also seem to have had little red wagons.

America

I had thought that a child's pull waggons were quintessentially American. And they were mostly something that boys wanted. We suspect that wagons were popular in other countries as well, but we have little information on this. Certainly the photographic record shows that they were especially popular in America. Few Americans can forget the little red wagon which became an integral part of American childhood. I'm not sure when wagons became so popular for boys--and when red became the most popular color. The waggon could not only be used for carting stuff around, but there was a way to ride it as well. We see them at the turn-of-the 20th century, but that was when amateur snapshots became popular. We have fewer snapshos from the 1890s, but suspect that boys had wagons then as well. Most boys growing up in America wanted their own little red wagon. Here we see American children with their wagon, probably about 1905. We note them in Little Rascals (Our Gang) movie shorts in the 1930s. We see them in Sears catalogs during the 1940s. A reader writes, "Wagons were very popular for boys in the 1940s." I had one in the early 1950s. Most boys got them. We are not sure how common they were in other countries. Not all families, however, had the money to buy wasgons for their boys. We note two New York City boys with a home-made waggon in the 1890s. They were much less expensive than a bike and thus within the price rane of most families.

Canada

We note the Drummond family in 1885 all dressed up and photographed in a goat cart (waggon). We are not sure where they were headed.

England


France


Germany

We see quite a number of German children with waggons. Until after World War II we only see wooden waggos.

Italy

Wagons do not seem to have been very popular among Italian children. An Italian reader tells us, "I think that it was not a very popular toy in Italy." Our Italian archive is still to limited to really know.

(The) Netherlands

Here we have a an image from a Dutch reader (figure 1). He tells from left to right we see, "The goats, Dicky Kaarsypestein, my brother Lothar, and me in Holland a few years before World War II. Note the English-style school caps. We might have called this a goat cart, but notice the four wheels meaning that it was a waggon. A goat cart in the Netherlands is generally called a "bokkewagen". Another word for cart is "kar" or "karretje". Wagon usually is "wagen". A goat is a "geit" (pronouce gite), but children's goat carts always are called "bokkewagen", even if the geits are female (a "bok" is a male goat). Note that the Dutch go with wagon rather than cart which is often used for goat carts even when the convehance has four wheels.

Russia


Switzerland

We do not know a lot about wagons in Switzerland. We believe that Swiss boy like boys in other countries liked wagons. We are not entirely sure how many biys had them. We think it was mostly boys in rural areas that had them. We think that they were in many cases, utilitarian items, often on farms. And boys took to them. They were often made with a pole fixed to the front so they could be pulled by goats or other small animals. Also through the World War II period we only see wooden waggons in Switzerland. This included waggons with wooden rather than metal-rubber wheels. They look to be great wagons, but the wooden construction meant that they had to be hand crafted. This meant that they were relatively expensive to build, requiring hand labor. And of course expensive construction meant that the wagons were too expensive for many parents to purchase them. We also note wagons in the country with a front beam so they could be pulled by small animals like goats.







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Created: 5:49 PM 3/4/2005
Last updated: 9:38 PM 2/9/2011