During the war years, “real toys” were out of reach for many. Because of rationing and lack of money to spend on such luxury items, many children throughout the USA had to “make do and mend” which meant going without many of the items they may have wanted. Many even voluntarily sacrificed treasured things to the war effort, as things like rayon, rubber, and steel were desperately needed. However, it wasn’t a dreary, barren, life, by no means! It only meant that parents, kids, and toymakers had to get creative.
Dolls were of course among the first to fall. With many of the finest dolls made in countries that were now the enemy (Germany, Austria, Japan) girls would have to do without the lovely porcelain, bisque, and celluloid dolls popular at that time. Materials to make such dolls were now prohibitively expensive here in the USA, which had people turning to materials that were widely available. Paper dolls were printed by the millions and sold or given away free in magazines, newspapers, and sold in sheets for as little as a nickel. Often modeled after comic characters like Little Lulu, and Betsey McCall, or glamorous actresses and women in uniform, these entertained little girls for hours. Cuddly toys were also popular. Stuffed animals could be made cheaply, out of recycled materials, and were loved by children and often treasured for years. Raggedy Ann and Andy were popular stars, both of them starring in short films, along with their popular picture book series. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hezi0ur8b4 One of America’s great minds in the toy world began making cloth dolls that were meant to be loved and played with. Her name? Madame Alexander. Her company still makes dolls that are treasured to this day and considered some of the finest in the world. Toys for boys included lead soldiers (we didn’t know how dangerous lead was at the time), wooden planes, trucks, wagons and more. These toys were modeled after the heroes of the time, our men in uniform, like the girl’s paper dolls. Many of these toys were made from heavy paper or cardboard. Lionel, the famous electric train maker, even made a toy train from cardboard! https://www.museumofplay.org/blog/play-stuff/2013/06/the-home-front-toy-production-during-world-war-ii World War Two gave us many of our favorites too. Board games like Monopoly and Candyland became widely popular, as board games could be made inexpensively and encouraged cooperative play. Another popular toy born from the war years was G.I. Joe. After the war, and with the popularity of World War Two movies, G.I. Joe was manufactured to capitalize on the fascination of the American Boy with the military. In 1963, a total of four different Joes were made, one for each branch of the military, including an African-American variation in the army uniform. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/now-you-know-the-history-of-gi-joe-and-knowing-is-half-the-battle-11506463/ Another popular toy born from the war was the View Master. Originally created by a Nazi sympathizer (who, in his defense, was just out to create an educatonal tool), the View Master was used by the US government to teach our boys how to identify planes with just a few celuloid prints and a bright light. The legend of the View Master travelled home with the soldiers, and it was turned into a popular toy by the end of the 1950s. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/84549/chakka-chhh-hidden-history-view-master If you want to learn about the handmade toys of the war era, you can check out this US issue pamphlet, courtesy of the Ohio State Library System: https://cdm16007.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15005coll2/id/872
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