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Toy stove:Choice

Grey Iron Casting Companyca. 1925

The Strong National Museum of Play

The Strong National Museum of Play
Rochester , United States

Over time, toy stoves have evolved from cast-iron models of adult-sized ranges to contained, plastic appliances that use a light bulb to cook miniature confections. When they first appeared in the 1840s, cast-iron toys stoves allowed girls to imitate their mothers, using a true-to-life range that could bake, roast, boil, fry, and stew. The successors of these stoves, namely the Easy-Bake Oven, do not share the frighteningly realistic features of cast-iron stoves. Rather, modern toy ovens make safe play a priority. Changing views on childhood itself may have contributed to these developments. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, children functioned more like miniature adults, a source of labor and income for their families. However, with restrictive child labor laws and more stringent education standards in the early 1900s, a modern concept of childhood began to emerge. Childhood became a phase of life distinct from adulthood, and children did not mature as quickly. Toy stoves reflect these changes: over time they became playthings, rather than the working models that encourage children to cook "just like Mother."

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  • Title: Toy stove:Choice
  • Creator: Grey Iron Casting Company
  • Date Created: ca. 1925
  • Location: Mount Joy, PA
  • Subject Keywords: foodways, housekeeping
  • Type: Housekeeping Toys
  • Medium: paint, nickel-plate, cast iron, sheet metal
  • Object ID: 79.10209
The Strong National Museum of Play

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