The Encyclopedia of Toys

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THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TOYS by Constance Eileen King Adults have found it convenient to amuse their children with toys from the earliest times, and examples of bronze miniature furniture, earthenware dolls and animals with simple articulation have survived from the ancient civilizations. The toys of the Middle Ages already had the basic form of today's playthings -children were given kites, balls, toy soldiers, hobby horses and pull- and push-along animals. Few examples of these have survived, however, and it was not until the 18th century, with the growth of the woodcarving industry in Germany, that large quantities of toys began to be produced which are of interest to present-day collectors. This encyclopedia covers the history of antique toys from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. It includes the arks, farms, zoos, doll's houses and shops which with their wooden inmates and furniture and metal accessories form a veritable world in miniature. Soft toys of all kinds are... Tovább

Fülszöveg

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TOYS by Constance Eileen King Adults have found it convenient to amuse their children with toys from the earliest times, and examples of bronze miniature furniture, earthenware dolls and animals with simple articulation have survived from the ancient civilizations. The toys of the Middle Ages already had the basic form of today's playthings -children were given kites, balls, toy soldiers, hobby horses and pull- and push-along animals. Few examples of these have survived, however, and it was not until the 18th century, with the growth of the woodcarving industry in Germany, that large quantities of toys began to be produced which are of interest to present-day collectors. This encyclopedia covers the history of antique toys from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. It includes the arks, farms, zoos, doll's houses and shops which with their wooden inmates and furniture and metal accessories form a veritable world in miniature. Soft toys of all kinds are included, such as the well-loved teddy bear. The entertaining automata and musical boxes which were a speciality of French and Swiss craftsmen are also listed in detail. The wheeled toys included range from the smallest pushalong to the child-sized cars of André Citroën, while another form of children's transport is the pram in all its variations. The history of the ever popular rocking horse is also traced. Germany, long the main production centre for wooden toys, was also the first to produce model soldiers cast in lead, and the vast range of metal toys of all kinds is covered in special sections on the German, French, American and British varieties. A separate chapter deals with the highly collectable category of toy and model trains. Finally there are sections on the more social and educative children's amusements - board and table games, jigsaw puzzles, books and the toy theatre. Items with a specifically educational role include optical devices such as stereoscopes and cinematographs, which were often precisionmade instruments rather than toys, only passed on to the children after their parents had tired of them. A unique and fascinating category is that ofth e cast-iron money boxes, often of grotesque and intriguing form, which were produced particularly in the United States and which have proved so popular that replicas of most of them are still in production. In addition to a general historical description of each category, The Encyclopedia of Toys includes alphabetical entries on the major manufacturers, and these are linked to the illustrations so that the would-be collector can easily find the information he requires about a particular make or type of toy. Specific comments are made on the saleability of the items described, so that the novice collector can avoid making expensive mistakes. There are also general comments on care and cleaning, and the reader is warned of the dangers of amateur restoration work. There are nearly 380 illustrations, of which over 70 are in colour, and these have been selected with a view to presenting as much new material as possible, so that even the most sophisticated expert should find items he has not previously seen. Vissza