Toy Horse History Lore Shopping

Toy Horse History

Toy horses date back to antiquity, with the Egyptians bequeathing us a number of toy animals. It is natural that the horse was recreated as a toy in primitive cultures where it had economic importance. Small horse figures have been one of the most popular playthings throughout the history of toys. There is a strong similarity between the clay horses of the ancients, and the more modern wooden folk-toys.

The static toy horse progressed to the toy horse figures on wheels, and then to the pull along toy horse. These ancient pull along toys, dating as far back as 500 BC, are remarkably like today's pull along toys. Many horses found from this era have pierced noses, indicating that they could have been threaded through to be a pull-along toy.

The hobby horse was a play toy of the Ancient Greeks, as mentioned by Horace.

Also appearing in Ancient Greek and Roman toys was the terra cotta toy horse, apparently a favorite, as well as wheeled chariot toys made of clay. Roman children played with a reproduction of the Trojan Horse, perhaps filled with toy soldiers.

The horse toy trend continued into the Middle Ages, where the toy soldier on horseback, made of fired clay, was popular.

In Europe during this period, most of the man-on-horse figures were made of silver, gold, and lead, expensive toys that only children of wealthy families could afford. The hobby horse remained popular in Medieval times.

And what of the rocking horse? While a few crude examples exist from the 17th century, it was during the 18th century that the rocking-horse became a characteristic toy. Keats wrote that children of this age: "Sway'd about upon a rocking-horse; And though it Pegusus". These first examples of rocking-horses were on wheels and made of red cowhide. The carved rocking-horse as we know it today was first introduced in America around 1800.

The 19th century brought a popularity of the toy soldier apart from the horse. Lead was the popular medium as well as paper mache.

Wooden toys flourished in the 19th century. In England, the wooden horse was very popular. The rocking-horse was a nursery favorite during the Victorian era.

Spring horses are among the most modern class of toy horses. The oldest spring horses appear to be made by Wonder Products Company of Collierville, Tennessee. The company manufactured wooden rocking-horses in the 40's and switched to molded plastic horses on springs with metal frames in the 50's. The Wonder Horse was the popular model by this company.

Today, the Hedstrom Corporation is the most well known manufacturer of spring horses in the United States. Hedstrom, who has been manufacturing toys for more than 80 years, began spring horse production in its Ashland, Ohio plant in 1988. The spring horse operation was moved to the Bedford, Pennsylvania plant in the spring of 1997. The spring horses are roto-molded and the material used is LLDPE, Linear Low Density Polyethylene.

If you would like to own a classic toy spring horse from Hedstrom, please visit the Hedstrom toy spring horse page at Un4Gettable Toys where you can purchase any of the six Hedstrom toy spring horse models currently on the market. Un4Gettable Toys also offers classic wooden rocking horses. Click this link to go to the Radio Flyer Classic Toy Rocking Horse page; click here to go to the Radio Flyer Liberty Spring Horse page, or you might be interested in the Radio Flyer Wooden Riding Pony. At Un4Gettable Toys, you can also purchase Derby, a classic wooden rocking horse from KidKraft, manufacturers of fine children’s furniture. Please click here if you’d like to visit Derby, Classic Toy Wooden Rocking Horse.