This story is from the 1986 Yearbook of the Bruce County Historical Society.
By Olive Hepburn
Bruce County Historical Society
Little boys played with beautiful rocking horses, either one large horse astride his rockers with stirrup and saddle, or two horses with a seat between them for a smaller child.
Then there was the Gee Horse—a stick with a horse head on the end with a strap from the mouth for the child to hang onto. The child ran with the stick between his legs. Some sticks had a wheel on the end, and some were just a plain stick, but the gallop was enjoyed just the same.
Drums and tops were favourite toys for boys. There were lovely big tin tops in bright metallic colouring. The handle went up and down to wind them. They spun around and around making a musical humming sound.
Boys also enjoyed coaster wagons or sleds which oft-times poor Rover was asked to pull about. The little kiddie car gave hours of pleasure. It had three wheels, one front and two back. The child sat on it and pushed it with his feet. This was the forerunner of the tricycle.
Tops could also be made at home from the half of a thread-spool whittled to a point and a pointed stick stuck through it. These tops, along with a whistle, also often made by Father out of basswood, and a bag of marbles, were usually found in a boy’s pocket. A pocket knife could be found there as a rule too.
It was, for some reason, thought “sissy” for a boy to play with a doll, but along came the Teddy Bear and they were deemed fit companions, as were the drum, lead and tin soldiers, and the Jack-in-the-box. The Jack-in-the-box was a dandy to frighten the girls, as sometimes in place of Jack, a horrid green snake popped up. To a small brother’s warped sense of humour this was great fun.
Balls for children in the early days were often homemade by wadding cloth and sewing and wrapping it with waste cord or yarn until the desired size and roundness were achieved. These balls were discarded when the India-rubber ball came. This was a very hard ball and a good bouncer. It was usually dull red or green in colour and was very easily lost in the long grass during a game of Anti-Anti-Over. Later came lovely rainbow-coloured balls. They were hollow and alas they would strike on something sharp and even a pinhole was enough to deflate them. When the sponge rubber ball came into being it was hailed with delight and games were much more fun.
Do you remember Noah’s Ark with Noah and his family and all the animals two by two and the hollow tin green and red monkey that ran up and down the string as you held it, if he was threaded correctly?
During the early 1900s one of our favourite toys was the “Nimble Jack” dancing wooden doll. Jack’s ancestors go away back to the time of the early settlers who brought the idea with them. Nimble Jack was popular because he was of wood and made at home. I understand the toy was called “Limber Jack” in Quebec, and in some parts of U.S.A. “Stomper Doll”, but by whatever name it was known, it was a well-loved toy of that era.
Our Nimble Jacks were made by Father, out of cedar, a soft wood more easily whittled with a jacknife. The head and body were of one piece with the arms and legs jointed at the body, elbow, knees and ankles for more action. Holes were made for the joints by burning with a hot rod then threading through a wire and looping it on the outside. I can still in my memory smell the sweet, acrid scent of burning cedar.
A cedar shake or shingle, about 8 inches by 3 feet was used as a dancing board. The entertainer sat on one end of the shingle, with the other end extending about 2 feet past the edge of the chair, held the 18-inch stick which fitted into Jack’s back in one hand and tapped the shingle in time to the music with the free hand. One could, with practice, become very adept and put Jack through all sorts of fancy steps and contortions. Music for the dance was supplied at our house by my father’s violin or by whistling or sometimes by a simple lilting of a jig, clog or reel. Later Father bought us a little wind-up portable Victrola, which we could carry about from house to house.
Many lovely books were available to children, besides the Fairy Tales. There was Chatterbox and The Boy’s Own Annual, also an annual for girls, Christmas books and Bible Stories. For the little one there were books made of cloth and gaily coloured. These books were made to be chewed, washed and ironed and still they came out looking almost as good as new. The Brownie books were much loved. Red Cap, Blue Coat, and Yellow Shoes were vying with the Pitter Patter books in the children’s affections.
Blocks were much the same as we see today; beautiful picture puzzle blocks, A.B.C. and number blocks, building blocks and Tinker Toy and a metal Meccano set which could be added to each year.
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Robin Hilborn
for the Bruce County Historical Society
