Toys during World War II
As part of the United States' war effort, the federal government rationed civilian use of many common items and materials to ensure that the military could be well supplied. Along with foods that could not easily be grown at home, American civilians gave up rubber, metal, gasoline, and even new shoes. The rationing system did not only apply to individuals -- manufacturers also had to abide by the wartime rules.
The restrictions impacted toymakers deeply. The most impactful restriction for them was the ban on using metal for anything that wasn't war-related. Before the war, metal could be found everywhere: trains, building sets, miniature animals and soldiers, sleds, bicycles, the list goes on. Production of all of these had to be cut back or altered during the war years, but toymakers still found ways to continue their business. Lionel, the largest manufacturer of toy trains, stopped making metal trains altogether and instead experimented with cardboard and paper models. In fact, paper and cardboard were seemingly everywhere, with paper dolls, cardboard board games and puzzles, and even cardboard building kits becoming popular.
Wooden toys too became more common. Unlike cardboard, wood has always been a common material for toys, but its popularity had dropped as metal and later rubber and early plastic became more affordable. During the war years, however, wooden toys re-emerged. Professional manufacturers produced wooden vehicles and construction kits, usually military-themed in some way, and amateur woodcarvers made toys at home, bringing back an old tradition.
Making toys at home, in fact, was strongly encouraged, and families used their imaginations to turn empty thread-spools into dolls and pull toys, made dolls houses out of empty orange kits, and, like the professional manufacturers, used paper and cardboard for as many things as possible.
