Tin Toys: Info from Schylling

*The following is information provided by Schylling on their "Collector Series" of tin toys, as found on the back of the box for the Pedaling Penguin on Tricycle toy*

In the early 1900's, tools and techniques had been developed to make possible the mass production of toys. Plastic was yet to be invented and all toys were made out of wood, paper, cloth or metal. Some of the most popular were tin toys. Powerful stamping machines cut and formed their pieces out of beautifully printed sheets of tin.

Rocket Ride Carousel Tin Toy

Considered old-fashioned and unsafe by today's standards, tin toys were the most exciting thing that could be made. It was a different time, a time before video games, when a child's imagination could be sparked by a simple toy.

After WWII, the rapid introduction of plastics signaled the end for tin toys. Cheaper, safer and easier to produce, plastic toys soon flooded the market, forcing tin toy factories to either change their ways or close forever. It seemed as though the art of the tine toy would be lost forever.

Fortunately, a handful of factories kept this artform alive. That's what the Schylling Collector Series toys are all about, preserving the tradition of the tin toy. Tin Toys make great gifts for grown-ups. Elegantly designed and carefully hand assembled, each Schylling Collector Series toy is a memory of what toys used to be.