If you haven’t been by Toad Hollow in the early evening, just as dusk approaches, you are missing out on a real treat! Come soon for a visit! The lighting is truly magical, and if you are lucky you may
The Toad’s Collectible Tip: The Board Games of By-Gone Days
The Board Games of By-Gone Days For this post, I will be focusing on vintage board games. One might think of board games as being quite recent, such as Monopoly or Snakes and Ladders, but history tells us that a
The Toad’s Collectible Tip – Battery Operated Toys!
With the majority of my toy playing years taking place in the 1950s, I am surprised at how few battery-operated toys I had, and yet, their history is quite interesting. Immediately following World War II, Japan found itself in deep
The Toad’s Collectible Tip – The Drum Major Number 27
Pictured here is a 1930’s version of the Wolverines Drum Major Number 27. I thought this a fitting subject for Remembrance Day. This particular toy is from my own collection. It was purchased from a good friend of mine, from
The Toad’s Collectible Tip – Decorating with Antique Toys
In so many of the homes I tour and on the pages of decorating magazines, I am increasingly seeing old toys. I am quite certain that all these homeowners are not serious collectors but are just enjoying the toys for
The Toad’s Collectible Tip – The Mystique of the Magic Lantern
In the mid to late 1800s home entertainment consisted of parlour games and not much more. A major achievement then was the introduction of the magic lantern which was an optical toy that projected an image onto a wall. This
The Toad’s Collectible Toy Tip – Space the Final Frontier:
These are the voyages of the nutty toy collector. Many think Star Trek to be the beginning but in fact, Gene Roddenberry was preceded 100 years by a gentleman named Jules Verne. In his novel from Earth to the Moon
The Toad’s Collectible Toy Tip – Unique Art
Founded in the 1920s this company capitalized on designs from various German firms such as Lehmann and Straus. The art of tin lithography had reached its peak and the colours in these toys remain spectacular even today. Most toys from
Fisher-Price: Collectible Toys with Local History!
Almost every household that had children will remember a Fisher-Price toy in the toybox. Bright colourful and loaded with play value this company’s low price point ensured their toys made it home to most children. What many people do not