Hobby, Rocking, and Stick Horses: Chronologies


Figure 1.-- This CDV with a wonderful hobby horse probably dates to the 1860s. It was taken in the studio of J. Oates of Fulneck, England. It is one of the earliest hobby horse photographs posted on HBC. This of course does not mean that hobby horses first appeared in the 1860s, only that with the CDV we begin to get images of them--both because of the numbers and easy of taking images. . The subject is unidentified. Image courtesy of the MD collection. Click on the image to see another boy about the same age on a hobby horse in the 1860s.

We have only limited chronological information at this time. We note photographic portraits beginning about the 1860s, but this is probablay reflection of the much greater number of portaits that appear beginning in the 1860s. Until the 1860s, photographs were relatively expensive and thus less common. In addition, by the 1860s, successful photographic studios were becoming increasingly sophisticated and well equipped. A hobby horse would be a common prop at a well-established studio. We note much larger numbers of portraits of children, mostly boys, on hobby horses during the 1870s-90s. The hobby horse predates photograohy as we have noted paintings depicting them. Just when they first appeared we do not yet know. Of course there wer many kinds of hobby horses and related toys like stick horses and pull toys. Each of these different varriants have a chronology of their own. This chronology may vary somewhat from country to country. We see an English boy, Stanley Clulow, with a great dappled hobby horse in 1899. We note fewer hobby horses in the 20th century, especially after World War I, but they never really disappeared. There is a certain charm with the hobby horse. It is, however, no longer a common toy in European and American homes.

The 19th Century

We note photographic portraits beginning about the 1860s, but this is probablay reflection of the much greater number of portaits that appear beginning in the 1860s. Until the 1860s, photographs were relatively expensive and thus less common. In addition, by the 1860s, successful photographic studios were becoming increasingly sophisticated and well equipped. A hobby horse would be a common prop at a well-established studio. We note much larger numbers of portraits of children, mostly boys, on hobby horses during the 1870s-90s. The hobby horse predates photograohy as we have noted paintings depicting them. Just when they first appeared we do not yet know. Of course there wer many kinds of hobby horses and related toys like stick horses and pull toys. Each of these different varriants have a chronology of their own. This chronology may vary somewhat from country to country. A factor may have been the replacement of the horse with the automobile. We see an English boy, Stanley Clulow, with a great dappled hobby horse in 1899.

The 20th Century

We note fewer hobby horses in the 20th century. A good example is American children from New York, the Fitzroy-Carringtons, in 1906 playing with their toy horse. The hobby horse begins to decline after World War I, but they never really disappeared. There is a certain charm with the hobby horse. It is, however, no longer a common toy in European and American homes. We continue to see some, but not very many. We see far fewer in the photographic record. Of course this is a little complicated to assess because almost all of the 19th century images are studio not home portraits. We rarely see studio portraits with hobby horses after World war I, but we do see some family snapshots. I vaguely remember one in the 1940s.







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Created: July 1, 2003
Last updated: 3:37 AM 4/2/2018