xenith | Toy ads through time & that gender thing (Reply)

There's been much talk lately about the gendering of children's toys and the marketing thereof. I was idly curious about how much division of the sexes occurred in early toy advertising so I wandered over and looked for some ads from a hundred years ago (March 1914).

I searched in advertising with some key words (e.g. toys, dolls) and these are the first ads I came across for a toy shop or department (hence the number of regional publications). So no deliberate selection.

1914-1

The Gundagai Independent and Pastoral, Agricultural & Mining Advocate

1914-2

Northern Argus (Clare, SA)

1914-3

Werribee Shire Banner

1914-4

Rainbow Argus

I went back another fifty years to March 1864. A little harder to find suitable ads because most of ones just had a line or two for toys. This is the first one I found with a "substantial" section of toys (and bricks for boys), and then a toy-only ad.

1864-2

Goulburn Herald

1864-1

Freeman's Journal

Back another fifty years (1814) but the selection was too slim. Only one newspaper.

1814

Sydney Gazette

So I jumped forward to 1824 and found one merchant just advertising toys. (There were two other toy adverts later in the decade, so I put them on the end there, for a bit of completeness.)

1824-1