Museum Musing

The Heritage Seekers July Program will be one to honor the 250th Birthday of America. Joe Baldwin will present the program of recapping Palmyra Missouri’s contribution of first-time history, stories and events that helped make America .

The program will be on July 20, at 7 p.m. At the Halls Hall in Palmyra Mo. It is free and open to the public.

      At the Gardner House we have a collection of Lithograph tin toys on display. We received a new tin toy this week. It is a German produced music box shaped like a cathedral . It has a crank when that turns and plays cathedral music. 

     Looking it up on Google I found that this piece would have been made in Nuremburg Germany. Google says that some of these toys did not have a signature anywhere, but the design and the quality tin lithographed are well known for Leonard Muller craftmanship. 

It has two bell towers that are securely attached. This piece will join the other tin toys that are displayed. It has a bit of wear on it but the color on the side looks great and when you turn the crank it plays.

Vintage lithograph toys were introduced in 1880’s. Assorted colors of tin were printed on flat sheets of metal that were formed and assembled with small tabs. 

Germany led the leading production of tin toys. Well-made and were dominated on the market until WW1.

    After the war Japan took over the leading role of tin toy making.

It was 1970 when the safety regulations and competition of plastic toys that make the loss of tin toys.

  You can see the toys that are on display at the Gardner House Museum,

Gardner House is open on Mondays, Wednesday’s and Fridays 10 to 2

Old Marion County Jail and Research Center is open on Wednesday’s 10 to2