Wooden toys were among the earliest homemade toys in America. A few companies began commercially making wooden toys before the Civil War (1861). We don't have many examples of these toys or much information about these companies.

After the Civil War, from about 1865 to 1900, the commercial manufacture of wooden toys flourished in the United States. Many toys, such as the small blocks displayed here, were embossed-this means they had raised letters or images. Others, such as the large blocks and the fire engine, were covered with highly decorated paper. The decoration was applied to the paper by a printing technique called lithography.

The large-scale production of wooden toys gradually gave way, first to toys made of iron and, later, to plastic toys. Nevertheless, the appeal of wooden toys is enduring, and they can be purchased in almost any modern toy store.