Nor Iron Bars a Cage By Ken Foust

Nineteenth Century American tin toys often raise so many questions that even the most experienced collectors end up scratching their heads. Why the confusion? First, the great majority of those toys carry neither a maker’s name nor a patent date. Second, many of the toys each company made could be quite similar to what their competitors offered. Third, only a few catalogs from some manufacturers have been reprinted, and from others, none at all. Fourth, while the design of a toy could change over time, the catalog illustration of it might not. Finally, when a tin toy company closed, the dies and molds might be bought and reused by an established toymaker or one just entering the business.

The two circus cage wagons pictured in this article illustrate the problem. The one drawn by horses measures 131⁄2” long, likely dates to the 1860s, and was made by George Brown of Forestville, CT. We know the toy was one of his thanks to a large, colorful picture of it that Brown created for his famous Sketchbook. The toy features a pair of white horses, a seated driver, a cage composed of narrow strips of painted tin, and a clockwork motor that made the spotted leopard inside slide forward and backward.

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