All of us have memories of playing with toys. We may have been rich or poor, thin or fat, sick or healthy, precocious or withdrawn in our childhood but we all have memories of playing with toys. As children, we loved toys and this was a universal trait that bound us with all other children irrespective of race, caste, sex, religion, geographical and cultural differences. And many of us, despite reaching adulthood, still love to play with toys.
So let us take a peek into the history of wooden toys. A look back reveals that all civilizations of the past had made toys for their young ones. Since the beginning of time, the children of mankind have spent many happy hours amusing themselves with toys.
Give a child a doll or a ball and he or she will come up with a game around it. That is the reason why wooden balls painted as well as unpainted, tops clay, wooden or stone, toys pulled by a string, dolls and animal figurines were popular toys of the ancient world.
Today, the archaeologists have uncovered various toys from the excavations that suggest that the children of all the civilizations from the Roman Empire to the Egyptian civilizations played with toys. Apart from the toys mentioned above, children played with wooden blocks, hoops, rattles, kites, marbles and even small chariots.
The history of toys reveals that wood was the most popular raw material used to make toys. In fact, it is only in the past two hundred years that wood has lost its prime position. Till then, wood was the preferred material for making toys. The Industrial Revolution made it easier and safer for metals to be used as toys.
Wooden toys are popular for obvious reasons. Wood is very easy to mould and manipulate. All you need is a chisel and a hammer. Wood is light. You can be assured of the safety of the children if you use wood. Wood is easily available. All you need to do is cut a tree, although cutting tree is not as simple as it was in the past. Wood can be painted and made attractive without any difficulty. Wood can be shaped into objects of different shapes and sizes. Blocks and tops can be made very easily. Wooden toys are non toxic. Parents can be assured about the health of their children.
Toys were simple in the ancient times because of the absence of technology. As mankind learned to do things in new ways, it learned to make better and more complex toys as well. Wood continued to remain the favorite raw material and was manipulated in more complicated ways to come up with amusing toys for the small as well as the big boys.
18th century witnessed wooden alphabet blocks, sleds and miniature animals, puzzles and cars. Wooden block, as we know it, was introduced in the 20th century.
Development of new technology made it easier to mould metals and plastic into toys. However, wood has never gone out of fashion.
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