''Penny toys'' is a name used for inexpensive

tin toy ''Tin Toy'' is a 1988 American computer-animated short film produced by Pixar and directed by John Lasseter. The short film, which runs five minutes, stars Tinny, a tin one-man band toy, attempting to escape from Billy, an infant. The third sho ...

s mostly manufactured in Germany between the 1880s and 1914 that were sold in the UK, Europe and America in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Made in Germany Tin clockwork toy train from around 1900 pic-018

Made in Germany Tin clockwork toy train from around 1900 pic-018

Description

Penny toys, also known as

tin toys ''Tin Toy'' is a 1988 American computer-animated short film produced by Pixar and directed by John Lasseter. The short film, which runs five minutes, stars Tinny, a tin one-man band toy, attempting to escape from Billy, an infant. The third sho ...

, were made of tin metal with painted surfaces that typically included excellent detail. Most penny toys were manufactured in Germany and were originally sold to

wholesaler Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In g ...

s by the gross for 8

shillings The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence or ...

allowing the seller, often street

peddler A peddler, in British English pedlar, also known as a chapman, packman, cheapjack, hawker, higler, huckster, (coster)monger, colporteur or solicitor, is a door-to-door and/or travelling vendor of goods. In England, the term was mostly used fo ...

s to sell them for a substantial profit. Typically the toys were miniatures, that is; under 10 cm and often included elements that facilitated movement, adding to their charm. In the United Kingdom, the toys were sold for one

Penny A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is t ...

, hence the popular name of ''penny toys.'' The advent of penny toys broadened the market for children's toys, by making them accessible and affordable for working-class families. Although penny toys were manufactured into the first decades of the 20th century, the period 1885 -1914 is the peak period for their production. Today, penny toys are highly collectible. Publicly accessible examples can be found in museums in England, North America, Scandinavia and across Europe; including Birmingham Science Museum in England,

Royal Ontario Museum The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is a museum of art, world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the largest museums in North America and the largest in Canada. It attracts more than one million visitors every year ...

in Canada, Plassenburg Zinnfiguren Museum in Germany and Museo des Soldados de Iberica in Valencia, Spain.

Types

Individual toys were manufactured for specific markets. Examples include; London omnibuses and ambulances destined for the British market; French postal delivery vans for Continental Europe and American locomotives intended for sale in America. Types of penny toys included toy

doll A doll is a physical model, model typically of a human or humanoid character, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have also been used in traditional religious rituals throughout the world. Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and ...

s, whistles,

trains In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often know ...

, motorcars, public transport and emergency vehicles, trucks,

soldiers A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

, animals and even a small Bible.

Manufacture

Offset color

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

enabled fine detail and color to be applied to sheets of

tin plate Tinplate consists of sheets of steel coated with a thin layer of tin to impede rusting. Before the advent of cheap milled steel, the backing metal was wrought iron. While once more widely used, the primary use of tinplate now is the manufacture ...

quickly and economically. Shapes were machine-cut and stamped and then assembled by unskilled workers, sometimes in

cottage industries The putting-out system is a means of subcontracting work. Historically, it was also known as the workshop system and the domestic system. In putting-out, work is contracted by a central agent to subcontractors who complete the project via remote ...

.Solis-Cohen, Lita ''These Little Toys are Penny Toys No Longer'' ''The Baltimore Sun'' August 02, 1992 Many were manufactured by the Johann Philip Meier company of

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

Gallery

File:Züricher Spielzeugmuseum 1000742.jpg, Train carriage, 1895, Züricher Spielzeugmuseum 1000742 File:Mechanical Toy Locomotive with Gong Bell, 1900.png, Mechanical tin toy locomotive with Gong Bell, as advertised in wholesale catalogue, 1900 File:Guildhall Museum Collection 2-7 Tinplate limousine 1916 Whiteley Tansley & Co, Liverpool 3177.jpg, Toy tinplate limousine, 1916 Whiteley by Tansley & Co, Liverpool File:Tin Baby in Highchair Penny Toy.jpg, Baby in highchair, tin toy with moveable parts, German manufacture, before 1914 File:Antique tin toys (24433039180).jpg, Collection of antique tin toys, n.d. File:El circ, museu dels Soldadets de Plom l'Iber de València.JPG, Tin flat Circus figures, Museo dels Soldadets de Plom l'Iber de València File:GKN-Blechhahn, um 1948 (Foto Sp a).JPG, Toy rooster by GKN-Blechhahn, c. 1948 File:Polo a l'Índia, museu dels soldadets de Plom, València.JPG, Toy polo players by GKN-Blechhahn, c. 1948 File:Tin Model Leipzig.jpg, Diorama of Leipzig with tin figures, n.d., Stadtgeschichtliches Museum

Description

Types

Manufacture

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading