Greencastle, PA

‘Thank you’ to
Vic and Sherry Moon,
State Line, Pennsylvania for
sharing their collection.

Walking through the delightful August exhibit of antique sand pails and sand toys, from the collections Vic and Sherry Moon, State Line, Pennsylvania, will evoke memories of the carefree summers of your childhood.  About 90 pieces, dating from the late 1800’s to the mid 20^th Century, are on exhibit that will remind you of sand between your toes, the smell of salt air, sunshine, and water lapping at your sand creations. 

The appeal is found in the colorful and charming graphics on the tin-plated steel toys.  The graphics were applied through the chromolithography process which was developed about 1930 and revolutionized the toy industry.  Prior to that, the graphics were applied by using offset lithography which used a rubber composition roller to print the designs onto tin-plated sheets.

Popular themes included beach scenes; cartoons, such as Mickey Mouse and other Walt Disney characters; familiar stories, like the “Three Little Pigs”; red, white, and blue patriotic graphics; annual holidays; and the circus.  Sand pails and toys can be identified and dated through manufacturers’ logos or trade marks, old advertisements in dated publications, by comparing a particular toy with other toys made by the same company, and, as with many types of collecting, there are collectors’ catalogs.

TIN-LITHO

I.  What is Tin-Litho?

Many of the toys referred to as “tin-litho” are actually tin-plated steel.  The colorful designs on the tin are what give the toys their appeal and revolutionized the toy industry around 1930.  The colorful designs were applied through a process known as chromolithography, which gets its name from the Greek language meaning “stone drawing.”  This was an ancient process whereby stones were carved and then used to produce the picture on paper.

In the late 1800s a process called offset lithography was used to print designs from a rubber composition roller onto tin-plated sheets. By the 1930s the process was further advanced and machines were developed that could lithograph over fifty tin-plated sheets per minute. Overlapping hues produced new colors, and varying applications of color density resulted in different shades as well.  Thus “living color” emerged on the scene to brighten up a child’s toy.

II. Identification and Dating.

Some toys are next to impossible to identify and date.  Where no manufacturers’ identification is found, one must rely on old advertising publications and comparison with other toys made by the company.  Fortunately, many manufacturers, such as Ohio Art, Walt Disney, and Chein, put logos or trade marks on their products making them easy to identify.

Dating a toy can be a harder task than identifying the manufacturer. 

·             With very few exceptions, the makers never dated their products, and from 1930 to 1960 the technology used to make the toys remained unchanged.

·         Even with a manufacturers’ identification mark or logo, it can still be difficult to date because the same toys were made over long periods of time. Example:  Wolverine produced a tin-litho carousel, No. 31 in 1936.  It remained unchanged until 1950.

·         Sometimes recognition of the “subject matter” used in the graphics can be used to date a certain toy.

·         Sometimes, logos are helpful in dating a toy.  From time to time, manufacturers would change the appearance of their logos.    For example, from 1939 to 1945, Ohio Art changed its logo twice, and between 1945 and 1978, the logo changed four times.  In instances such as this, you can date the era of the toy.