Atlanta Antique Gallery - Tin Type Toys

In 1848, the "Philadelphia Tin Toy Manufactory" began producing one of the first of many lines of commercial tin toys. Thin, tin-plated sheet steel was hammered into molds, forming blank toy sections and parts. The toys were assembled by clamping the parts together with metal tabs or soldering.

Finally, the toy was hand-painted and stenciled. Ingenious moving clock mechanisms were introduced to tin and other toys in the 1850's by a Connecticut clock-maker turned toy-maker, George Brown.