Antique and Collectible Tin Toys - How Tin Toys Are Made
How Tin Toys Are Made
Tin toys were made from sheet iron that was plated with a protective layer of tin to prevent rusting. Before the Industrial Revolution, tin toys were stamped out, molded and hand painted. The Industrial Revolution led to mass production.
Around 1875, lithography - a transfer printing process whereby a series of dots make up colors - was invented. This eliminated the time-consuming hand painting and increased production.
Part of the charm of tin toys is that you wind them up and away they go. The clockwork mechanism (the mechanical part of a watch that makes it tick) is responsible for this action. In 1945, clockwork mechanisms were replaced by battery-operated mechanisms.