It’s time to play

This is an awesome 1950’s Japan made tin friction toy race car. A friction car toy is a toy car that will semi wind and move with a continuing movement based on the friction applied to wheels.   It will make a noise of a motor when moving. Tinplate was used in the manufacture of toys beginning in the mid-19th century. The toys were made from thin sheets of steel plated with tin, hence the name tinplate. They were a cheap and durable substitute for wooden toys. The toys were originally assembled and painted by hand. Spring activated tin toys originated in Germany in the 1850s. In the late 1880s off set lithography was used to print designs on tinplate. After the colorful designs were printed on the metal, they were formed by dies and assembled with small tabs. The lightweight of the toys allowed them to be shipped less expensively and easier than the heavier cast iron toys. The production of tin toys was discontinued during WW2 because of the need for raw materials in the war effort. After the war, tin toys were produced in large numbers in Japan.. The idea was to give Japan all of the low profit; high labor manufacturing and the US companies could sell the imported product. It worked better than they had expected and Japan became a tin toy manufacturing force until the end of the 1950s. In the 1960s cheaper plastic and new government saftey regulations ended the reign of tin toys. China has taken over the role of the leading tin toy manufacturing