Vigo County Historical Society
Historical Treasure Article

October 3, 1993
By Tim Weir and Cindy Weir
Vigo County Historical Society

Farm sets much loved family toys

Red pigs, blue horses, yellow and black spotted cows, houses with matchstick roofs and barns roofed with heads of wheat--all are items found in early children’s farm sets. Along with these were usually a farmer, his wife, and many times, several children, all carved in wood.

The historical treasure this week is a wonderful, make-believe farm set with animals as large as the people.

The trees included in this set are made from bits of reindeer moss on a small, toothpick-size piece of wood with a foot.

Most of these farm sets were made in the Black Forest area of Germany.

Some feel they came into being by being copied from finely carved 18th century crèche sets.

Along with the farm sets were Noah’s Arks filled to the brim with exotic purple elephants and tiny funny-looking rhinos. Some sets we have seen include birds in all forms and insects in a few forms. One set even had a green spotted snake (from the Garden of Eden).

Many times the farms were only played with after church on Sunday and at no other time. The children were guided by an adult to explain the sort from the Bible. Thus came the name “Sunday toys.” They were reserved for the Sabbath.

Wooden farm sets are known to have been made as early as the end of the 18th century and were still in production as late as the 1930s.

Then farm sets of tin and rubber began to appear. Some sets from the 1860s were made of composition because it could be easily molded into very realistic forms.

Also, a great surge of gathering many animals into great zoological gardens made more realistic renditions of exotic animals much easier. Most early wooden sets were done in a cottage industry type setting, with men doing the carving and children doing the painting while the women helped assemble buildings and painted details on some finer sets.

The animals sometimes were called “penny beasts” by their purchasers, but they were called “misery beasts” by the peasants who created the sets in their dark, poorly lit homes, working long hours for a mere pittance.

Fences many times were included with sets along with tiny figures with rakes and shovels carved in their wooden hands. Sometimes a milkmaid is found sitting on a tiny three-legged stool.

Some of the sets are large elaborate things with a hundred animals, while others are small with as few as 10 figures. They were much loved then as they are now. The sets are becoming very hard to find so be sure to enjoy the at the museum. It’s a real treasure.

The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.


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