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Cultural Effects on Toys of the 1900s

From the earliest wooden soldiers and fashion dolls of the 1700s, to today's movie-linked action heroes, toys have always served as a reflection of a nation's culture and history. Politics, popular culture and technological advances have all inspired toys, which, in turn, have inspired the children who played with them. Little boys who played with 1950's space-age toys grew up dreaming of becoming astronauts, while little girls of that same era played with career-themed fashion dolls and realized that they, too, could have an exciting career outside the home.

Teddy Roosevelt and the Teddy Bear
- The teddy bear was named after President Theodore Roosevelt.
  
  In turn-of-the-century America, a president inspired one of the most beloved children's toys of all time. In 1902, while hunting in Mississippi, President Theodore Roosevelt humanely refused to shoot a bear cub. The event made headlines, and Washington Post cartoonist Clifford Berryman drew a cartoon commemorating the event. Inspired by this, Brooklyn candy store owners Ruth and Morris Michtom made a stuffed bear toy and put it in their window --- and a new toy sensation was born. For little girls, the "Teddy Bear" replaced many a once-favorite doll, while its rugged appearance made it a socially acceptable companion toy for boys too.
Erector Sets
- Construction inspired erector sets, which provided an opportunity for parents and children to play together.
  
  The early 1900s was an era of great industrial architecture in the United States. After the construction of Manhattan's Flatiron Building in 1902, followed by the Singer Building in 1906, little boys suddenly began dreaming of becoming great architects. Inventor A.C. Gilbert fed into this dream in 1911 by inventing the erector set, which provided elaborate metal rods, shafts and gears, along with detailed instructions for building just about anything. When erector sets came on the market in 1913, boys everywhere persuaded their parents to buy them one.
Electric Trains
- Generations of children have treasured electric trains.
  
  In 1869, the famous "Golden Spike" joined the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroad lines, establishing the long-distance train as America's greatest technical marvel of the age. Inspired by his boyhood awe of the railroad, engineer and inventor Joshua Lionel Cowen marketed the first Lionel brand trains in 1900. For generations of children, electric trains have combined the excitement of travel with the wonder of modern technology and showed them that their own dreams could also travel a long way.
Dolls after World War II
- These early milliner's models inspired 21st century fashion dolls.
  
  Before the 1940s, dolls were primarily made to encourage mothering instincts in young girls,or to model the latest fashions during playtime. During the war years of the 1940s, however, women began replacing men in the workforce, and doll manufacturers began to create a new type of career-oriented doll. Soon, dolls were made to represent teachers, business women, and in 1965, even female astronauts --- four years before the actual moon landing and 18 years before astronaut Sally Ride became the first American woman in space.

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