How to Identify Antique Toys

Look first to see how the toy is made. Materials to look out for are wood, lead (best known for its use with toy soldiers, and distinctive because it is heavy, brittle and doesn't hold much detail), pressed steel (where the toy is cut and molded from heavy sheets, employed mainly on larger items such as pedal cars) and tinplate (like pressed steel, only with thinner sheets and on a smaller scale). Any one of these techniques would date a toy to the 1950s at the latest.

Examine the decoration. Many wood, steel and lead toys of 1900 to 1920 vintage were hand-painted, while others from the same period were covered in a thick black varnish (a process known as japanning that was also used on bicycles and sewing machines). By the 1930s colorways were being applied lithographically to tinplate sheets before they were cut and molded into the finished toys. Decals stuck on post-manufacture became popular in the 1950s.

Consider any mechanisms the toy might have. The two most important before World War II were clockwork and steam. The first electric toys came in during the 1950s; the huge size of their battery compartments should give them away.