Customer Reviews

The Wonder of American Toys: 1920-1950

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The Wonder Of American Toys 1920-1950 by dedicated toy collector and expert Charles Dee Sharp is a beautifully illustrated, full-color photographic showcase of vintage American toys. From toy cars and airplanes; to Popeye figures and Buck Rogers paraphernalia; to science sets and baseball games; each individual toy is featured with an illustration and a very brief caption. An extraordinary range of objects of childhood memories, The Wonder Of American Toys 1920-1950 is a nostalgic and enthusiastically recommendation for toy collectors and 20th Century American Popular Culture reference collections.

Attempting to put out a comprehensive collector's guide to toys has always seemed to me to be an exercise in futility. Still, that doesn't stop many companies from trying to do just that, resulting in a telephone book-sized tome with tiny print to match for the literally thousands of listings inside. This of course means very little room for pictures. Thankfully in Charles Dee Sharp's book "The Wonder of American Toys" there is no pretense of trying to put out a comprehensive guide. Rather that we have is a celebration of toys from the golden age of the 1920's through the 1950's and an eclectic collection of toys accompanied by brilliant, full-color photography. While Sharp does give a price range on all of the toys contained in this 336 page hardcover, it isn't meant to display the rarest or most collectible toys. Rather this is a sampling of the types and styles of toys produced during this era, regardless of value. The price ranges go from under $100 in price up to thousands of dollars.

The book is sectioned in chapters on types of toys such as Farm Toys, City Toys, Planes, Trains, Musical toys, Character toys, and more. There's tin toys, cast-iron toys, wooden toys and paper toys. Nearly color photographs display every toy covered in the book. Women may be upset that dolls and girl toys in general get a bit short-changed. There are some things such as a Mickey Mouse washing machine and tea set from the 1930's and character toys like Little Orphan Annie, but the book mainly concentrates on boy toys. It's filled with classic vehicle toys made by companies like Buddy L, Tootsie, Wyandotte, and Marx. There's Coca Cola Delivery trucks, buses, cabs, coupes, and everything in between. There's even all manner of ships and boats including powerboats featuring the legendary speed boat racer Gar Wood.

Collectors will especially enjoy the section on character toys of early film, radio and animation like Charlie McCarthy, Popeye, Felix the Cat and Betty Boop. Westerns are well represented with a myriad of toy guns including the ubiquitous Red Ryder rifle. Sharp hits just about every are he can including Circus toys, sports, war toys, and construction toys like Lincoln Logs and Tinker Toys. My only complaint is that the section on space and futuristic toys is pretty sparse. Admittedly those are a favorite of mine and given how highly collectible these items are I would have liked to have seen a bit more. Even if you are maybe too young to remember these toys (like me) you'll still enjoy thumbing through the pages and seeing the things that your parents or grand parents played with when they were children. This is a beautiful book!

Reviewed by Tim Janson

What a great book! The extensive collection of old toys, their great designs, colors, packages. I am a Brazilian graphic designer, writing a dissertation about old toys and packaging. The book is a rich resource for exploring, for understanding American everyday life, an accurate reflection of American culture and popular culture. I've been learning a lot from it. The author describes wonderfully games as a mirror reflecting society, a distraction and entertainment of generations. A wonderful book, full of art, creativity, imaginative games and toys. An entertaining journey through the past!

A GREAT BOOK TO READ. I ENJOYED ALL THE INFORMATION AND THE PICTURES ARE GREAT.