toy soldiers or toy trains

Siri Kirpal · Sep 3, 2014

Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

I need an activity for a 13-14 yo boy (MC's younger brother) who's very masculine to do indoors with two other boys, similar age. Date is 1913.

I'm thinking either a train set or toy soldiers, but am wondering if boys that age are too old for toy soldiers. If a train set, what would they do with it?

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

alleycat · Sep 3, 2014

The location (city, rural) might have had a lot to do with the common toys in 1913.

I suspect cars and airplanes were a fascination with boys that age in 1913. Maybe playing with the metal models that were manufactured, or else making their own models using simple materials. I can see boys wanting to make their own toy airplane (glider) back then. I don't know if any of this is correct, but it seems like something boys would have done, kind of like boys wanting to be astronauts in the late 1950s and 60s.

King Neptune · Sep 3, 2014

Of those two, trains, but, as Alley mentioned, location would come into play, and the level of wealth would also be a consideration. Target shooting in the basement might be popular.

Gringa · Sep 3, 2014

Build a fort out of furniture. Play jacks.

alleycat · Sep 3, 2014

I can also see boys sharing and trading their treasures on a rainy day at that age; arrowheads, knifes, marbles, etc.

King Neptune · Sep 3, 2014

They are 13-14, not 7 or 8, so they would be well beyond jacks and marbles, and arrowheads would be iffy, unless they lived in Indian country and there had been a significant battle nearby. Guns, machinery, and girls would be higher on the list.

blacbird · Sep 3, 2014

I'd go with trains. They were definitely around and popular at that time. Airplanes were still a novelty; it had been only ten years since the Wright Brothers managed their first puny and awkward flight. The use of planes really proliferated during WWI, just after the date you mention.

And we still have an active community of adults who push around toy soldiers on make-believe battlefields, so that undoubtedly was around for kids at the time, too.

There would also have been games, chess, checkers, card games. And don't forget the most popular game of all for kids: Tormenting parents.

caw

alleycat · Sep 3, 2014

It was a different time though. Unless they were from a particularly wealthy family, kids weren't overwhelmed with stuff like they are now. I can see 13-year-old boys back then playing marbles (but I have no historical knowledge that they did).

My grandfather still had a toy from his youth; an iron hoop that kids would push around the yard with a stick (that was all there was to it). That was an outside toy, of course, but it goes to show how kids entertained themselves back then.

King Neptune · Sep 3, 2014

With the train set they would run the thing around the track. model trains were first introduced in the 19th century, and the motors were included not long after.

King Neptune · Sep 3, 2014

alleycat said:
It was a different time though. Unless they were from a particularly wealthy family, kids weren't overwhelmed with stuff like they are now. I can see 13-year-old boys back then playing marbles (but I have no historical knowledge that they did).

My grandfather still had a toy from his youth; an iron hoop that kids would push around the yard with a stick (that was all there was to it). That was an outside toy, of course, but it goes to show how kids entertained themselves back then.

Hoop and stick is something that 8 year olds would play. Older guys would be playing mumbletypeg or darts indoors. If they were still in school, and many children left after the eighth grade, they might be working on algebra or Latin translation or something else.

What economic class?
Are they still in school?
City or country? If country, then they might be working on some project related to horses. Automobiles were a complete rarity until after the Great War.
If not in school they would have had jobs.

ElaineA · Sep 3, 2014

At that age...I don't think trains or soldiers are viable pastimes. Maybe if there is an elaborate train set or as someone mentioned, building the models, I could see it. When my kids were that age, of course it was video games indoors, or reading, but extrapolating backward in time, what about a board game or cards?

Siri Kirpal · Sep 3, 2014

Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Thanks, guys! Always interesting to think I've given sufficient data and watch what you folks come up with.

Family is seriously wealthy for the area, lives on small acreage (2+ acres) on the outskirts of a smallish town in Western Oregon. It's June right after school is out, but in the evening. Too late for outdoor activities, a little too early for bed.

They're in a large attic play room that has a tower room off it. Purpose of scene is make it difficult for older sister and brother to have a quiet talk in the tower room. I also want to foreshadow the kid's death as a result of WWI.

Would having them load toy soldiers onto toy train cars work? Or would something else be better?

Thanks.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

snafu1056 · Sep 3, 2014

Toy trains were either electric or alcohol powered at that time. Tin miniature wagons and automobiles were popular too. I saw one ad for an auto garage with two cars. Mini fire wagons, milk wagons, etc were always popular.

Board games were also popular. Actually one of the first board games "Messenger boy" came out in the 1880s and was probably still being played in 1913. There were also board game versions of baseball.

Cars and "aeroplanes" were new, but already popular toys. He's a plane set you could make at home (a lot of toys were still home made at the time)

And here's a neat little novelty item I found. Its an air-powered boxing set from the turn of the century.

King Neptune · Sep 3, 2014

Siri Kirpal said:
Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Thanks, guys! Always interesting to think I've given sufficient data and watch what you folks come up with.

Family is seriously wealthy for the area, lives on small acreage (2+ acres) on the outskirts of a smallish town in Western Oregon. It's June right after school is out, but in the evening. Too late for outdoor activities, a little too early for bed.

They're in a large attic play room that has a tower room off it. Purpose of scene is make it difficult for older sister and brother to have a quiet talk in the tower room. I also want to foreshadow the kid's death as a result of WWI.

Would having them load toy soldiers onto toy train cars work? Or would something else be better?

Thanks.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Have them play cards. They would yell at each other and make a meryy lot of noise.

Siri Kirpal · Sep 3, 2014

Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Thanks for the photos, snafu! And thanks for all the suggestions, everyone! I'll think those through. Some of them may find their way into other scenes, if they don't make it into this one.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

blacbird · Sep 3, 2014

It may not be germane to your story, but be aware also that the toy soldiers, and possibly things like trains also, weren't made of tin, even though they often got labeled as tin toys. They were mainly made of lead, which is less expensive than actual tin, and easier to melt into molded forms. Needless to say, the knowledge of the toxicity of lead was nonexistent in 1913.

caw

BDSEmpire · Sep 3, 2014

I'd be pretty surprised if strong young men were wasting time inside with the little kids instead of going out and learning a trade or helping with the other work. It turns out in 1913 Oregon was the first state to enact a minimum wage law to protect the number of hours that women and minors could be worked. Kids got to work at a very early age back then. Here's a neat pic of some newsboys in Florida. The eldest, at 14, has already been selling papers since he was 5. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Child_labor_in_Florida_United_States_1913.jpg

While I'm sure you can find reasons for them to be indoors it would probably be more likely to have them playing cards like King Neptune suggested. Heck, they could be sneaking drinks too.

King Neptune · Sep 3, 2014

BDSEmpire said:
I'd be pretty surprised if strong young men were wasting time inside with the little kids instead of going out and learning a trade or helping with the other work. It turns out in 1913 Oregon was the first state to enact a minimum wage law to protect the number of hours that women and minors could be worked. Kids got to work at a very early age back then. Here's a neat pic of some newsboys in Florida. The eldest, at 14, has already been selling papers since he was 5. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Child_labor_in_Florida_United_States_1913.jpg

While I'm sure you can find reasons for them to be indoors it would probably be more likely to have them playing cards like King Neptune suggested. Heck, they could be sneaking drinks too.

Was there a minimum age for buying booze in Oregon then? Some states didn't pass minimums until after prohibition was repealed, or that's what it looks like from the data I can find.

So they probably bought a quart of Old Overholt and were having a drunken game of poker.

snafu1056 · Sep 3, 2014

Bear in mind most working children worked because of poverty. The children of more well-to-do parents would've still been in school at 13 or 14.

Trebor1415 · Sep 3, 2014

The toy soldiers of that era were typically lead "flats" that, while 3D, weren't as round as later toy soldiers. There's actually a lot of info on toy soldiers on the web if you want to go that route so you can get more detailed on the research.

Personally, I don't have a problem with a 13 year old playing with toy soldiers or a toy train. Not all kids develop interests at the same level and it wouldn't suspend my disbelief if, for an "indoor toy" a 13 might pull out the train set and/or toy soldiers some rainy afternoon. The same kid may be out playing war with his friends some other day.

And, I kinda like your proposed scene of him putting the soldiers on the train. I think it would work, if done subtley, and not overdone.

Siri Kirpal · Sep 3, 2014

Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Family is strongly prohibition, and the scene's in the house with other family members present, so nix on the booze. Some areas of Oregon were dry by then. Monmouth was dry until sometime in the 1980s or 1990s, the last dry town in the US.

This scene is after a party, so working (for pay) is out too. Papa owns a lumber mill, so if they're gonna work, it will be with him. And it's dusk, so they won't be in the orchard or vegetable patch.

I think I'll go with soldiers in and around the train. That'll take up enough space to make it difficult for my MC to get to the tower room.

But I'm grateful for all the comments. Definitely helps.

Blessings,

shadowwalker · Sep 3, 2014

1913 was the year the Erector set came out - if the family was wealthy, I would imagine that would definitely be on the "list" of possible toys.

Also, remember that 1913 was a different age in more ways than one. Children didn't grow up as quickly as they do now, at least those, as noted above, who were wealthy enough not to have to work. Toys that seem "young" for today's kids were just right back then.

frimble3 · Sep 3, 2014

They might be too old to 'play with toy soldiers', but under the names of 'recreating famous battles', or 'studying military tactics', it can be a lifetime interest, especially if they're interested in the military, or they've recently heard something that brought it to mind.
Same with trains: too old to 'play', but they might be making or 'improving' models, or 'recreating' famous crashes or robberies.

King Neptune · Sep 4, 2014

Siri Kirpal said:
Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Family is strongly prohibition, and the scene's in the house with other family members present, so nix on the booze. Some areas of Oregon were dry by then. Monmouth was dry until sometime in the 1980s or 1990s, the last dry town in the US.

Rockport, Massachusetts didn't legalize alcohol sales until 2006. And there's probably some town that still has prohibition. And don't think those kids weren't sneaking booze on a regular basis.

This scene is after a party, so working (for pay) is out too. Papa owns a lumber mill, so if they're gonna work, it will be with him. And it's dusk, so they won't be in the orchard or vegetable patch.

I think I'll go with soldiers in and around the train. That'll take up enough space to make it difficult for my MC to get to the tower room.

But I'm grateful for all the comments. Definitely helps.

Blessings,

That makes snes, but I do think that cards would be better than toy soldiers, but there are some adults who continue to play with train sets.

Siri Kirpal · Sep 4, 2014

King Neptune said:
Rockport, Massachusetts didn't legalize alcohol sales until 2006. And there's probably some town that still has prohibition. And don't think those kids weren't sneaking booze on a regular basis.

That makes snes, but I do think that cards would be better than toy soldiers, but there are some adults who continue to play with train sets.

Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Ah, I stand corrected on our last dry town being the last in the nation.

And yeah, nearly all the train sets I've seen have belonged to adults. That's what gave me the idea.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

toy soldiers or toy trains

Siri Kirpal

Swan in Process

alleycat

Still around

King Neptune

Gringa

alleycat

Still around

King Neptune

blacbird

alleycat

Still around

King Neptune

King Neptune

ElaineA

All about that action, boss.

Siri Kirpal

Swan in Process

snafu1056

King Neptune

Siri Kirpal

Swan in Process

blacbird

BDSEmpire

Kindly Bumpkin

King Neptune

snafu1056

Trebor1415

practical experience, FTW

Siri Kirpal

Swan in Process

shadowwalker

empty-nester!

frimble3

Heckuva good sport

King Neptune

Siri Kirpal

Swan in Process