Toy advertising

Toy advertising is the promotion of toys through a variety of media. Advertising campaigns for toys have been criticized for trading on children's naïvety and for turning children into premature consumers. Advertising to children is usually regulated to ensure that it meets defined standards of honesty and decency. These rules vary from country to country, with some going as far as banning all advertisements that are directed at children.

The commercial sale and marketing of children's toys only became popular in the mid-18th century. Before this, children had access to relatively few toys, and of those toys in use, most were hand-made, either by the child or a close relative. Toys that were in common use from at least medieval times were basic items such as hoops, tops, balls, and dolls, which could be turned out by local carpenters or coopers. A scattering of toy shops traded in 17th-century London but were virtually unknown outside the capital. A small number of mechanical toys were imported from France and Germany, but these were expensive and beyond the reach of all but the wealthiest families.

A broader interest in children's toys and games coincided with the emergence of a middle class when fewer children were expected to work. The 18th-century attitude towards toys was that they should be educational. Accordingly, toymakers designed their products to prepare children for adult life. For example, a rocking horse taught children to balance and prepared them for horse riding. A doll prepared girls for motherhood and child-rearing, while toy soldiers taught young boys about the military. From the outset, commercially produced toys were remarkably gendered.

By the mid-19th century, technological developments such as the invention of sheet metal stamping machines facilitated the mass production of inexpensive toys, notably tin toys or penny toys. Other technological developments included the advent of paper mache and "India" rubber molding machines, which effectively lowered the costs of manufacturing dolls. To stimulate demand for toys, it was necessary to encourage parents to purchase them for their children. However, to do that, it was necessary to shift attitudes towards toys, to promulgate the idea that children were children rather than 'adults in training' and that toys were developmentally useful.

Toy manufacturers were latecomers to modern marketing and advertising techniques. The earliest commercial toymakers relied on standardized mass-production manufacturing techniques, with an emphasis on achieving economies through long production. Designs and models were rarely changed. Toy design was conservative and always aimed at securing parent approval. Toymakers rarely attended the international exhibitions. Early advertising appeared in wholesale and retail catalogs, where advertisements appeared alongside mousetraps and match holders. Advertising messages were targeted at parents and spoke of the toy's educational value as well as its durability. Toy advertising rarely showed children using the toys. The tenor of toy advertising and marketing was that adults decided what toys were appropriate for children.

Demographic and social changes were beginning to affect attitudes toward toys and children's play throughout the 19th century. The decreasing size of families meant that children had fewer siblings and that toys became an important diversion and source of entertainment. Rising living standards and wages meant that parents had more disposable income. Middle-class children remained in education for longer periods, with the implication that they had less time to make their own toys and were more reliant on commercially manufactured toys. By the late 19th century, parents were beginning to appreciate the special needs of childhood and that toys were more than just preparation for the real world; they could also offer a retreat from mundane realities.

In the 1890s and early 1900s, a toy trade press emerged on both sides of the Atlantic. In England, the Toy Trades Journal first appeared in March 1891; the Sports Trader appeared in 1907; and the short-lived Games, Toys and Amusements journal appeared in 1908. In America, Playthings magazine was launched in 1902. These trade-oriented journals began to publish articles advising toymakers and toy retailers on methods for optimizing sales of children's toys.

By the late 19th century, toymakers were beginning to adopt modern marketing practices. Manufacturers and distributors began using mail-order catalogs to reach consumers directly. Montgomery Ward, for example, produced a catalog listing 23,000 items, including toys. The new department stores began to include toys in window displays in which goods were featured as part of an artistic fantasy. Toymakers began to develop a unique style or personality that could be linked to a company name or brand. Advertising for toys began to appear in consumer magazines. Advertising messages encouraged mothers to take their children shopping with them and to watch how they interacted with toys in order to identify the child's preferences.