All Aboard! for the largest exhibition of antique toy trains, and other metal toys the Museum of American Heritage has ever mounted. Opening on Friday December 9th at MOAH, Antique Toys, 1870-1930 showcases exquisite and rare toys from local collectors. In addition to early American toys, the exhibit also features turn-of-the-century toy trains and their accessories from fine European toymakers such as Marklin and Bing. Visitors young and old will delight in discovering playthings from an earlier age.

The Victorian Age was one of the most prolific periods of invention and technological development. At the beginning of the era, there was no toy industry and few distribution channels for toys: it required the development of mass production, industrial molding and stamping, reliable heavy duty sewing machines, improved packaging and tinplate lithography to become the industry we recognize today. Most early Victorian-age children played with home-made toys: Rag or peg dolls, hoops, wooden tops, tin or wood whistles, stick horses, or whatever came to hand. By the end of the era, children had access to manufactured toys, many of very high quality, representing most aspects of contemporary society. Many of these toys or their derivatives were available well into the 20th century.

Come revisit the adolescence of an industry and its creations that amused, delighted and educated our parents and grandparents with "A Child's World: Antique Toys, 1870 - 1930", our holiday season exhibit. You might even find one you remember.