Figure 1.-- This French 1908 Christmas postcard shows a little boy with a wonderful collection of toy soldiers. Also notice his trumpet. He wears a large whire Peter pan collar with a floppy bow.

Toy soldiers and toy guns seem to have been a real favorite, at least before World war I. We see numerous images of French boys with toy soldiers. We note that they were done in various styles and sizes. Most were dome in a realistic style. This was especially true of the metal soldiers which were hand pinted. There were also wood soldiers. The soldiers were done for various wars and representing different armies. I am not sure, but I think they were made in France. Would French parents buy soldiers made in Germany? I recall as a boy prized toy soldiers made in Britain. There are wonderful images showing boys playing with these soldiers. We notice a commercial post card with a boy in a Zouave costume olating with his toy soldiers. We think that the elaborate costume was not common, bur boys playing with toy soldiers we believe was very common. These were beautifylly finished toys. Today we notice in America all that is available is shoddt platic soldiers that ate not even paunted. We wonder if French parents may have had second thoughts about military theme toys after the World War I, but we are not sure. We do not see postcards with tiy soldiers after the War, but that may reflect postcard them selection and not actual child play. We are not sure about modern trends, but we do not think toy soldiers are very popular any more in France. We suspect this reflects parental attitudes more than children's preferences.

Created: 5:45 AM 1/6/2007
Last updated: 5:46 AM 1/6/2007