Archives of Ontario: Toys from the Early 1900s

The Toys From Our Childhood: Toys from the early 1900s - Page Banner

The first department stores such as Macy’s in New York (1875) Marshall Field's in Chicago (1899) and Eatons established toys as a marketable commodity. Many other stores began to realise that toys were big sellers and not just during the Christmas season, but even then they were generally only available in the larger cities.

Toys became far more accessible with the rise of the mail order catalogue as seen in this exhibit.

Eatons and Sears Roebuck were pioneers in this field and, for many children, spending hours perusing the catalogue was their equivalent to a visit to a store's toy department unless a trip had been planned to the city for supplies or to visit relatives.

Photograph : Eaton's doll department in the 1930's

Eaton's Doll Department
T. Eaton Company Records
Reference Code: F 229-308-0-2138
Archives of Ontario

Christmas Catalogue, 1902
T. Eaton Company Records
Reference Code: F 229-231-0-2
Archives of Ontario

Christmas Catalogue, 1902
T. Eaton Company Records
Reference Code: F 229-231-0-2
Archives of Ontario

Christmas Catalogue, 1902
T. Eaton Company Records
Reference Code: F 229-231-0-2
Archives of Ontario

Christmas Catalogue, 1897
T. Eaton Company Records
Reference Code: F 229-231-0-2
Archives of Ontario

Christmas Catalogue, 1902
T. Eaton Company Records
Reference Code: F 229-231-0-2
Archives of Ontario

Fall Winter Catalogue, 1908-1909
T. Eaton Company Records
Reference Code: F 229-162-0-1215
Archives of Ontario

T. Eaton Company Records
Reference Code: F 229-308-0-2134
Archives of Ontario

T. Eaton Company Records
Reference Code: F 229-308-0-2134
Archives of Ontario

The advent of the home movie camera allowed families to record special occasions as keepsakes for the future. The video clips below are from Christmas home movies created by Norman G. Irwin and document not only the growth of his family through the 1930's, but also show some of the toys enjoyed by his children.

Christmas 1931

Christmas 1935

For Windows Media Player	367K	1.15MB
For Quicktime Player	659K	2.08MB
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G. Norman Irwin fonds
Reference Code: C 92-1-0-6
Archives of Ontario

For Windows Media Player	400K	1.25 MB
For Quicktime Player	722K	2.28MB
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G. Norman Irwin fonds
Reference Code: C 92-1-0-26
Archives of Ontario

Christmas Eve 1938

Christmas Day 1938

For Windows Media Player	435K	1.37MB
For Quicktime Player	785K	2.48MB
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G. Norman Irwin fonds
Reference Code: C 92-1-0-36
Archives of Ontario

For Windows Media Player	449K	1.39MB
For Quicktime Player	798K	2.52MB
Choose the appropriate file format for your computer and select a file size depending on the speed of your internet connection. The image quality will depend on the file size.

G. Norman Irwin fonds
Reference Code: C 92-1-0-36
Archives of Ontario