Top Ten Toys of Yesterday: 1900-1920

It is amazing that so many toys sold in stores today were created a hundred years ago and were the "IT" toy of their time. Several toys from the Turn of the Century are standards in every toy box of every modern day child.

Top Ten Toys of Yesterday: 1900-1920

1. Teddy Bears

Most people have heard the story about President Teddy Roosevelt being the inspiration for modern day teddy bears. For those who haven't heard, the story goes that while on a hunting trip in November of 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt's frustration over not finding any worthy game prompted his staff to capture a black bear cup and tie it to a tree for him to shoot. President Roosevelt refused to shoot the bear, spared it's life, setting it free. A political cartoonist (Clifford Berryman from the Washington Star) used that incident to illustrate how The President dealt with another issue in the news (a boundary dispute). The story then follows that a toy store owner in New York, Morris Michtom, created a stuffed bear for his store to match the bear illustrated in the cartoon. After that bear's sales took off, Michtom got permission from The President to use his name on the toy, and there we have the Teddy Bear.

Michtom took the proceeds from those sales to start the famous Ideal Toy Company in 1903.

Teddy Bears became famous across the Nation and by 1915, every child had to have their own Teddy Bear. That much has not changed much in all these years. Practically every child in the United States has at least one teddy bear in their toy collection.

2. Erector Set

The Erector Set is one of the most popular toys of all time and has managed incredible staying power throughout generations.

Created by former Gold Metal Olympian (Pole Vault in 1908) A.C. Gilbert, the Erector Set made it's debut in the very first toy advertising campaign in 1913. Then, it was called The Mysto Erector Structural Steel Builder.