TOYS FROM WORLD WAR TWO ARTEFACT PACK (WW-TOY)

Almost as soon as the Second World War started in 1939, even the most
basic of raw materials were in great demand and soon under strict
control by the government of the day. Very quickly toyshops ran out of
stock, the metal, wood and paper once used to make toys was
instead, being used for munitions, aircraft, ships and military vehicles
plus the equipment and supplies that millions of service personnel
would require.

All toys and games during and just after W.W.II were manufactured
during severe restrictions on the use of almost all materials, what
professionally made items existed were often shoddily made and
poorly finished. Most other toys and games were made in the ‘Make
Do and Mend’ spirit of the times by adults only too anxious to give their
children a little pleasure; many of the items were made by children
themselves.

Almost any discarded scrap material or item was put to good use as
the toys in the pack demonstrate.

MODEL BOAT

Many toys may have been made from wood. This was an easy
resource to find as many shops used wooden boxes and would have
broken ones round the back. Old nails would be straightened and re-
used, and any old paint put to good use. These particular versions are
known as a ‘Waterline’ model, meant to be played with or displayed
on a table or shelf and not floated on water. It is painted in typical
‘Battleship’ Grey.

People of the time were able to recreate realistic and accurate

models of boats as they knew what they looked like due to the
newspaper pictures and cinema reels of the day. Many off duty
soldiers or sailors may have produced similar toys for their younger
relatives knowing first hand what the boats looked like. Wooden toys
like these could also be made under licence at Christmas time by
selected manufacturers (especially in the USA).

BLOW FOOTBALL

This is another of the cheap games available to most children during

the war years. Sometimes it could have been purchased from a
toyshop at Christmas but many sets of blow football were made from
materials that were found by children themselves. The general idea of
the game was for the ball to be blown back and forth on a table top
pitch. A pair of goals was made from bent wire or even strips of wood
which would have been bent into a goal post shapes. A very light ball
could be made from rolled up tissue paper and glue. The commercial
ball was made from a papier-mâché type mixture; likewise the blow
tubes for players. This homemade set uses drinking straws for hygiene’s
sake. The game can be played on any large table with as many
players as necessary. To prevent the ball rolling out of play, a series of
tent-like cardboard advertising boards could be placed all around the
table-top pitch.

COTTON REEL TANKS

These were an all time favourite for many children because they
actually worked despite the simple materials used for their
construction. During the war and for some years afterwards traditional
wooden cotton reels were widely available; nowadays they are made
from unsuitable plastic. To make a tank, a penknife would have been
used to cut the V shaped tracks around the raised edges on each side.
To assemble the tank, a child would require a short length of drilled
candle, a suitable elastic band and a pin or small nail, a short length of
thin stick/skewer and a length of wire formed into a hook that fits into
the hole in the reel. Firstly a child would hammer the nail partly in to
one end of the reel, then put the wire hook through the holes in the
candle and the reel, then loop one end of the elastic band over the
protruding nail, hook the other end and pull it right through both reel
and candle, then quickly push the stick through the loop to prevent the
elastic band shooting back. The tank would then be ready and the
elastic band would be wound up by turning the stick in a clockwise
direction, thereby twisting up the elastic band. After it has been
released the tank would roll steadily along. These tanks were very
powerful and could climb over obstacles and ramps of up to 45
degrees. Two or more of these tanks could be raced over set courses
or obstacles, or even set to push each other off a table.

KNOCK DOWN WOODEN SHIP

This is another example of a wooden boat model. Sometimes a knock-

down ship of this kind was made to explode if struck by a rolled marble
or wooden torpedo, a set mouse trap would be utilised to create the
exploding forces. The latter was rather dangerous for children. The
version included is a simpler and less dangerous ‘Elastic Band’ powered
version. This has two numbered arches and when a rolled marble strikes
one of these firmly a funnel will pop up. The numbers can also relate to
the score.

FIVE STONES
This is a very ancient game which was also known as ‘Knucklebones’
(plus many other names). This can either be played with pebbles or
cheaply brought blocks from a toy shop. There are many different ways
to play this game, varying from the complicated to simple. One version
is to throw the cubes into the air and catch them on the back of the
hand.

DRESSING DOLLS

Invariably a favourite pastime of girls during World War Two. The flat cut
out figures were made from thin ply or strong cardboard. Children
would then draw on their hair and faces. The cut out paper clothes
had tabs all around the edges so that they were temporarily held in
place. Magazine and newspaper pictures inspired many a fashion
show. Many girls may also have owned wooden or rag dolls that they
or a parent may have made for them. A wooden doll is easily made
from an old wooden spoon and whole families could be made from
‘Dolly Pegs’

GUN NOISE MAKER

A realistic looking toy gun made from scrap timber, with a double
crank handle that turns a small square of hardwood against a thin
tongue of wood fixed inside a slot mortise, thereby making a loud
staccato noise. Many different versions of this toy weapon were made
and played with on bombsites all over Great Britain during the war. It is
painted to look like a camouflaged gun.

PARACHUTES

Parachutes were another familiar item of wartime newsreels and comic

stories and were very simple to make. These were easily made from a
discarded hanky or headscarf, a lead soldier or even a heavy pebble
would be tied at the end of four separate cords, the other ends of
which were tied to the four corners of the hanky or scarf. The
parachute would only work if the heavy passenger/item were left
outside the all but the last folds. The whole thing would be thrown
upwards as high as possible (or dropped from a bedroom window) to
float gracefully down just like the real thing.

MODEL SPITFIRE

This model reflects the many toy or model fighting planes of the day,
made by carefully copying or studying photographs and drawings in
newspapers and magazines. The fuselage of the one shown has been
shaped from a standard 2” by 1” block, the wings, fin and tail-plane
cut from thin ply (could be very thin pine). A sharp knife has been used
to round off and to model the curves and to take off the sharp corners.
The four machine guns are very short lengths of suitable wire or even
panel pins inserted into the pre drilled edges of the wings.
The revolving three bladed propeller is cut with strong scissors from a tin
lid; a simpler single bladed one can be fashioned with a sharp penknife
from wood. Another way to make a realistic looking revolving airscrew
is to use small circle of thin Perspex. After sandpapering the model,
planes were painted in the colours and camouflage of the air force
and squadron of choice. They were usually camouflaged on all upper
surfaces and pale grey or sky blue underneath.

ELASTIC BAND TARGET SHOOTER

Even during great shortages a few elastic bands could be found, they
were used to help create some of the most exciting toys. This toy can
give hours of pleasure if used exactly as advised. It is not merely a gun
but a ‘Target Shooter’ and it is a great item for developing good
hand/eye co-ordination and for taking turns. The general idea is that
elastic bands are fitted into the gun and are then fired at the targets.
The essentially pistol shape is cut from standard ¾” or 18mm board,
please note the small raised bump close to the top of the butt, this
makes the wooden strip trigger rock back and forth to hold the
ammunition elastic bands in place until fired. The trigger strip is held in
place by a series of suitable elastic bands stretched from the bottom
groove at the front of the shooter and around the top of the trigger
strip.

CLOMPERS

These were simply blocks of scrap softwood which were then drilled
and rough ‘Binder Twine’ or rough parcel string which was available
then was looped through them. They were a very easy toy to make
and if wood was unavailable; tins could have been used instead. The
general idea was that children put one of each clomper under their
feet and walked along holding the strings up. If there was more
material available children would also make stilts.

MODEL TANK

Another popular plaything of children during World War Two would

have been toy tanks. Again, this would have been a familiar sight in
cinema news reels and newspapers. This tank has been simply
constructed from a block of planed 3” by 2” wood with a curved cut
on the underside. The waste from the cut out piece becomes the layer
beneath the revolving gun turret. Thick boards are shaped and
grooved to look like tracks. The revolving gun turret and the gun itself
are both shaped from dowel. On completion the toy is painted in the
then obligatory camouflage colours used by the armed forces. Also
the brigade and regimental devices and numbers are also painted on.
A short thick length of wire makes an ideal radio aerial. All of the
wooden models are representative of what could be made by people
with very few tools and materials.

OTHER ITEMS OF WARTIME PLAY

There are many other games and toys which were popular amongst
children during the war which we have not covered above. Cigarette
cards were avidly collected and swapped by children. As the war
progressed they became harder and harder to find, so the waxed
cardboard, ‘Milk Bottle Tops’ took their place. There were thousands
available at the time because all milk bottles were sealed with them,
including the 1/3rd pint bottles of free milk supplied for all school pupils.
A great skimming game was played with both; two or more players
would take turns to skim a card or top towards a wall or fence. If a
player’s card or milk top landed squarely on top of another he or she
could claim all cards in play at the time.

Paper Planes, Ships, Hats and Kites would also be made from any scrap
of paper including newspapers. Kites could be constructed from
newspaper and with the help of willow-wands, cotton, string and flour
paste they could also be flown.

A pair of tins could be connected by a longish thread, via centrally

placed holes, to make a working telephone; as long as the thread was
taut, conversations could be heard loud and clear.

Tile or brick (chalk was scarce then) would be used to mark out a
game of ‘Hopscotch’ on pavements or in playgrounds. The tile could
also be utilised as the ‘kicker’ to negotiate the numbered squares.
The same tile or brick could also be used to mark wall targets for a
whole series of wall and ball ‘Catch’ games. Normally tile or brick could
be easily found at bomb sites.

Most wartime children avidly collected shrapnel (scrap metal from

exploded bombs, shells and bullets). During an air raid, lots of red hot
anti aircraft shell fragments would rain down on streets and fields or
sometimes a relative on leave would bring home a variety of shrapnel
and spent ammunition.

Completely free to use were the many ‘Hedgerow toys’ that could be
made from the branches and twigs of different species of tree.
The common Elder Tree had new growth branches with soft (pith filed)
centres, short lengths of the stick had the soft centre pushed out to
make really loud whistles, bubble pipes and pop guns. Alternatively a
child might drill into the end of almost any stick to make them.

One of the simplest wartime toys to make was the ‘Playing Card
Windmill’ which was also a great favourite as children could make
them very easily. A standard playing card is cut into an H shape (long
ways) with a sharp knife or scissors. It is then nailed or pinned on to the
end of any stick or ‘Dolly’ clothes peg so that it spins freely. Give it a
slight twist and it will happily spin in the slightest breeze.
Children would fix them onto the handlebars of a bike or just ran
around with them in their hands or mouths with arms outstretched
playing at being bombers or fighter planes.

Researched and devised mainly from personal experiences by Cyril

Hobbins (born January 1938)
Toy Maker/ Researcher of Kenilworth