Delaware Historical Society

Toys and games have been around for as long as people and they have always been a mainstay of Christmas gift-giving. For centuries, children played with home-made versions of toys similar to those we know today. Dolls, board games, cards, and miniature items have remained perennial favorites. Although the earliest Puritan settlers had misgivings about celebrating Christmas, Americans generally accepted it as a gift-giving holiday by the early 1800s and manufacturers took note. Christmas did not become an official federal holiday until June 26, 1870. By the mid-1800s, toy production had become a thriving industry, and new variations on traditional favorites began to emerge in a growing, competitive marketplace. One of the earliest toy manufacturers in America, Francis, Field, and Francis of Philadelphia, began mass-producing tin toys as early as 1838. The first home-grown American board game, a game with a moral theme titled The Mansion of Happiness, was published in 1843 by W & SB Ives of Salem, Massachusetts. The first mechanical piggy banks began to appear in 1868 and by the late nineteenth century, many kinds of children’s puzzles were being produced in wood and cardboard. Toys and games continue to evolve with the times. This exhibit offers a nostalgic look back at some of the amusements and pass-times of yester-year.