For arts and crafts, boys and girls could hope Santa would bring.....
a modeling clay set.......a kit to make raffia baskets....
...a story book cottage to build for the three bears....
a metal designing kit...
...sand pictures to create....a layette to embroider for dollie....
...paper dolls to cut out and play with.....
( I have a set of these myself!)
....and even a lesson in horticulture!
There were lots of games to play in the days before television....
......did you play any of these as a child?
S.S. Van Dine Detective Game......and another electric auto race...
...Bargain Day....or Electric Questioner?
How about Balaroo, Cat and Mouse, Spell It, Darts?
Boys and girls also had a choice of Monday Morning Coach, Horse Race, Cavalcade Horse Race and a Combination Game Box with horse racing, poker chips and dominoes. That's 4 racing games....hmmn. Guess parents weren't worried about children learning to "follow the horses".
And...did little boys and girls play dress-up back in 1937?
All of these costumes were available for wishing.....
...from a traffic cop to a queen on a throne....
...a butterfly to a Canadian mounted police...
...a snow princess to an Indian chief.....
....and even a pirate or some cowboys!
And when they weren't dressing up,
what books were the boys and girls reading?
Let's see what was available...and if YOU remember any of these from your childhood years! Several titles and author's names are familiar to me...Laura Ingalls Wilder, Dr. Suess, Margaret de Angeli, Ruth Carroll, Jean de Brunhoff and the stories of Zephir, Chessie, and Silver Chief; but I was surprised to see that And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street by Dr. Suess was around in 1937!
(click on the picture if you want to read synopsis of book)
The catalog has 3 of Disney's Donald Duck toys, but no Mickey Mouse. Was the duck more popular than the mouse in the 1930s?
On the left is a 15" tall plush Scotch Donald
who "played a merry tune".....
on the right is the same size Mexican Donald
who also was musical....$6.75 each.
They also had a 5.5" Donald that winding up
"makes him waddle, open his mouth and quack".
Did you notice that these Donald's have the small eyes, long thin beak, and thinner feet of the early model of Donald Duck?
Castles and Forts and Soldiers, OH MY!
Castles and army forts were well represented along with the soldiers on parade and more soldiers defending their stronghold. Here are some of them...
It looks like one could shoot off the projectile and blow up the castle!
And there were big riding toys to wish for!
a "three-wheeled speed bike....with trailer"
a bouncer horse....
(which explains this "Tommy Horse" made by Acme in the 1940s)
a hook and ladder truck....
and a glorious bicycle...
oh, a "Twinbar Airider" with an instrument panel!
From Santa's Workshop
....and perhaps considered stocking stuffers....
Donald Duck wind-up toy, a tricky taxi, an aero pistol, a parachute set, an auto lift, a mechanical scotty dog, a Dutch violinist..drummer..and boy and girl, a rainbow soap bubble set, a turntable train....
...a miniature racing car, Tootsietoy highways and skyways set of travel toys, a reversible locomotive, a trick railway....
...a command car that stops and starts by voice control (in 1937 no less!), a set of famous ocean liners, Kiddikins, a musical top, a kaleidoscope, a miniature train, a fire engine, a liberty airport, and assortment of boats....
...a set of clever clowns, a mechanical motorcycle, two boxers on sticks...the idea was to knock the head off the opponent, four racing cars, and an automatic picture gun.
And lastly!
...and probably not items that little boys and girls wished for, two artificial Christmas trees...which I was surprised to see as early as 1937, even though I was aware of the miniature feather trees produced in Germany earlier in the century.
Doing a little research, I found that artificial Christmas trees were first produced around 1886. Here is a link (info is gone} to a tree that a lady in Scotland has used yearly since 1928, and also a picture of one purchased in 1886 by the family of the current owner, another Brit, Paul Parker, and still a lovely little tree!
No, I haven't shown you everything in this wonderful old toy catalog...just touched on some of the things that would have interested me....I hope you found something you would have treasured....if you had been a child of the 1930s!
Best Wishes
for a Wonderful Holiday Season !
