Figure 1.-- There is no doubt what was on this boy's mind-notice the different rains--all steamm locomotives. And note there are no cars, but what looksd like the horse-drawn Well Fargo Waggon. There is also a toy wheelbarrow. Little red waggons would eventually become more important. We think he is holding a school slate, although he looks a bit too young for school.

Vehicles have fascinated children, especuially boys since the dawn of civilization. Untill the 19th century, this mean mostly horse-drawn comveences such as the stagecoach and buggy. Then technology began to take over. A new conveyhence appeared--the tranin, most imprtantly the stean the steam powered locomotive. Toy trains appeared almost as soon as actual trains (mid-19th century). Trains offered everything a boy could want. Trains were large, powerful, amd noisy. It was by far one of a boy's the most prised toys. A few toy trains were self opowred, both weind upo and electric. Most were not. There were also boats and ships, but they were not as common. A few city boys has sailboats that they could test out in park ponds. But than in the 1900s boys' traiin were forever chnaged. American cities at the time was rapidly electrifying. This began in the late-19th century, but by the turn-of-the 20th century, real progress was being made. Inevitably toys appeared running on electricity. And the first and most important were electrric trains. Lionel was founded (1900). It was not the first company to buoild electric trains, but they became the most important. Most toy trains were not self powered in the 1900s, but by the end of the decade, electrain train sets were near the top of the list of what boys wanted. And than in this one decade two new technologies appeared out of nowhere: the air plane and and automobile. These two major developments would funamentally change 20th century society. And of course there was an impact on children's toys, mostly boys' toys. The Wright Brothers flew the first heavier than air craft (1903). There must have been some toy air planes, but as far as we can tell, toy planes were not all that common--at least for the time. Few children had actually seen an air plane in the 1900s. Next, Henry Ford unleashed the Model-T Tin Lizzy on America (1908). Before Ford, the automobile was a play thing for the rich and not very important, both to thesocity and chilkdren. This is why horses continued to be so important in the 1900s. The Model-T Ford was a car average people could aford and in the process changed the world. As a result, toy cars and trucks would become an impolrtant boy's toy for the rest of the century. There were many specialized vehicles, fire trucks were especially popular. America would would never be the same. We also do not see many cars in the 1900s, but they would be a mainstay beginning in the 1910s. Actually, this is a helpful in dating images. If toy planes and cars are in an image, it probably not the 1900s, but the 1900s decade is when these toy standards began. The dominant transportation in the 1900s decade was the train.

Created: 4:39 AM 2/19/2022
Last updated: 4:39 AM 2/19/2022