Notes from Toyland: 100 years of Toys and Games in Montana Main Menu

In the 1900s

37914 1910s
By the 1900s, many towns in Montana were thriving. The early gold rush booms of the 1860s were long over, but the railroads brought a new, long-lasting source of work and trade. The first transcontinental railroad through Montana, the Northern Pacific, had been completed in 1883, making travel across the country suddenly much, much easier. By 1900 the railroad line bustled with people and merchandise. Montanans now had easier and faster access to goods and ideas from other parts of the country.

In Missoula, the Missoula Mercantile sold anything you could possibly imagine, and other stores worked hard to match them. 1909 saw Missoula get its second transcontinental railroad, the Milkwaukee, cementing the city's place as one of the key trade hubs in Western Montana.

Here's a look at the kinds of things that Montana's children played with and asked for during this decade:
 
 

What's a magic lantern?

Mercantile Display hidden picture game

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  1. 1900s the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula

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