{"id":3782,"date":"2025-05-02T16:34:15","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T16:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nau.edu\/anthropology\/?p=3782"},"modified":"2025-05-02T16:34:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T16:34:15","slug":"apex_boy_toys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/department-anthropology\/apex_boy_toys\/","title":{"rendered":"Planes, Trains, and Automobiles: Boy Toys from Apex"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Devony Martell<\/h3>\n

May 2, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Devony is a senior majoring in Anthropology at NAU, and she attended the Apex field school during the summer of 2024. After graduating in Fall 2025, she plans to become a Historical Archaeologist in the Southwest, focusing on telling the history and stories of those often left out of the historical narrative. Check out Devony’s NAU Undergraduate Research Symposium poster,\u00a0 Planes, Trains, and Automobiles; Boy Toys in the 1930’s Apex Logging Camp <\/a><\/span>for more information on her research.<\/span><\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n

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For more about Apex or the Apex, Arizona Archaeology Project, visit our website<\/a> or email Dr. Emily Dale at emily.dale@nau.edu.<\/p>\n

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Children’s toys, often overlooked in historical research, offer valuable insights into the cultural and social norms of a given time and place. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, toys were distinctly gendered, reflecting societal expectations and influencing childhood upbringing. This blog post examines toys primarily marketed to boys in the Saginaw-Manistee logging camp in Apex, Arizona, revealing how these toys embody the social norms of the period. Through the analysis of physical artifacts, my research explores how children\u2019s play in the camp not only reflects entertainment preferences but also reinforces gender roles and societal expectations. By analyzing these toys, we gain a deeper understanding of childhood experiences and the shaping of social identity within this unique historical context.<\/p>\n

Boy Toys of the 1930\u2019s and Earlier<\/h2>\n

Play didn\u2019t become a regular children’s activity in the West until the 1700s, when multiple toys with which children could play became common. These toys let the children have imagination while playing, though, toys became heavily gendered as the years went on. For boys, toys promoted group play and competition while girl toys were more geared towards domestication with tea sets and baby dolls.<\/p>\n

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During the late 19th century and early 20th century, toys were made from cheap materials like glass, lead alloy, and metal. Popular toys at the time for boys were trucks or cars, train sets, and planes. We can also see which types of toys were marketed towards a specific gender by looking at catalogs and advertisements and seeing a boy or girl posing with a specific toy.<\/p>\n

At Apex there were about 10 toy parts that showed gendered boy toys. Interestingly, while marbles were a popular toy during this period, there is an absence of marbles at the site.<\/p>\n

The Boys at Apex<\/h2>\n

The 1930 census recorded approximately 18 families at Apex with 41 children. Oddly enough, there are more boys around the age of 9 than any other age for both boys and girls. Many of the children were from management and more permanently-employed families who lived on the west side of the tracks, where the schoolhouse was also located. The 2024 Apex field school recorded three of these houses and found numerous toys, more than had been found in the previous two years of survey.<\/p>\n

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About 10 toys from 2024 were stereotypically boy’s toys, four of which had either a maker’s part or a patent number that allowed us to identify the type of toy, the manufacturer, or advertising, even on just part of a broken toy.<\/p>\n

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A cast iron Avery tractor, produced by the Hubley Manufacturing Co, promoted their new model that had a traditional train engine instead of a steam engine. According to a 1919 advertisement, the toy sold for 25 cents.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n

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The Louis Marx & Co climbing tractor, designed in 1930 and licensed under Patent 1,334,539, came in three different types at three price points, ranging from 48 cents to $1.29.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Hubley Manufacturing Co also produced multiple types of die-cast cars and trucks under their 1932 Patent 1,895,968, often modeled after real cars such as the 1934 Chrysler Airflow. Our variation resembles a 1930 Ford Coupe.<\/p>\n

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Lastly, a lead-alloy Tip Top Toy Company plane is a bit of a mystery. Little is known about the San Francisco-based company, and the writing on the plane marks it as both a Lockheed Air Express, first produced in 1928, and a Cessna C-165 Airmaster, introduced in 1938, after Apex was abandoned.<\/p>\n

Why Boy’s Toys?<\/h2>\n

I wanted to research boy toys found at Apex for two reasons: to find out what kids wanted to play with at the time and what the societal norms were for children to grow up to be through toys. Children are often overlooked or ignored in the historical record, but they can provide so much information needed to get a good idea of what happened and how people lived at Apex and their respective time. These toys from Apex, for example, were manufactured while Apex was in operation, suggesting the children received new toys while living there. It\u2019s also so cool and cute to compare toys from back then and think about the evolution of toys while also looking at the change in societal norms.<\/p>\n

Mystery Artifact<\/h2>\n

Our Mystery Artifact for May is another toy! A glazed, three-dimensional terra-cotta horse figurine is labelled “GERMANY” on one side. Nearby, and possibly related, a small metal stand, approximately 12cm long by 4cm wide, is also labelled “GERMANY” in the upper left corner. We are unsure if the toy is from Germany, or if it’s meant to represent a common animal from the country. Google Image searches suggest it’s a long-lost Hittite empire statue, though we are obviously skeptical. If there are any Germanophiles out there, let us know if you have any insights!<\/p>\n

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Sources<\/h2>\n

1930s toys: What did kids play with? (n.d.). https:\/\/www.retrowaste.com\/1930s\/toys-in-the-1930s<\/p>\n

Calvert, K. (1992). Children in the House: The Material Culture of Early Childhood, 1600-1900. Northeastern University Press.<\/p>\n

Mahmoudi. (2021, September 1). Gender Roles in the 1930s and 40s \u2013 G. Jang (Week 2) | Comparative Studies 1100 Autumn\u00a02021_Mahmoudi.4.\u00a0https:\/\/u.osu.edu\/mahmoudi-4\/2021\/09\/01\/gender-roles-in-the-1930s-and-40s-g-jang-week-2\/<\/p>\n

Marx Toys by Peter – Marx 1930 Tractor. (n.d.).\u00a0https:\/\/www.marxtoysbypeter.com\/tractors\/marx-1930-tractor<\/p>\n

United States Census Bureau. (1930). Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930, Population Schedule. Census for Grand Canyon Election Precinct 7, Coconino County, AZ.<\/p>\n

Wikipedia contributors. (2023, September 4). Avery Company. Wikipedia. https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Avery_Company<\/p>\n

Wikipedia contributors. (2023a, February 14). Hubley Manufacturing Company. Wikipedia.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hubley_Manufacturing_Company<\/p>\n

Yamin, R. (2002). Children\u2019s Strikes, Parents\u2019 Rights: Paterson and Five Points. International Journal of Historical Archaeology, 6(2), 113\u2013126.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Devony Martell May 2, 2025 For more about Apex or the Apex, Arizona Archaeology Project, visit our website or email Dr. Emily Dale at emily.dale@nau.edu. Children’s toys, often overlooked in historical research, offer valuable insights into the cultural and social norms of a given time and place. In the late 18th and early 19th […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":874,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[19],"class_list":["post-3782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-apex","tag-apex"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/department-anthropology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/department-anthropology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/department-anthropology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/department-anthropology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/874"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/department-anthropology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3782"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/department-anthropology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3832,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/department-anthropology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3782\/revisions\/3832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/department-anthropology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/department-anthropology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/department-anthropology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}