Toy forts and castles facts for kids

A toy fort is a miniature fortress or castle that is used as a setting to stage battles using toy soldiers. Toy forts come in many shapes and sizes; some are copies of existing historical structures, while others are imagined with specific elements to enable realistic play, such as moats, drawbridges, and battlements. Toy fort designs range from the châteaux of Europe to the stockade forts of the American wild west.

Manufacturers

The three best-known manufacturers of toy forts were Moritz Gottschalk (Germany), O. and M. Hausser (Germany), and Lines Bros. (Great Britain).

Germany

• Christian Hacker
• Moritz Gottschalk (1840—1905) started his career as a bookbinder, but by the age of 25 had branched off into children's toys which would eventually lead to him becoming one of the world's most influential toy makers of the late 19th to early 20th centuries. He started with the dollhouses that he is most famous for and quickly went from a cottage industry to running a factory. Once his infrastructure was in place he was able to diversify adding the manufacture of other toy buildings such as forts, stables, and grocery stores to his repertoire.
• Dr. F.A. Richter
• Emil Schubert
• The Hausser Brothers
• Carl Moritz Reichel
• Emil Weise and Carl Krause
• Richter and Wittich

Great Britain

• Lines Bros./Tri-ang. Toy manufacturer Richard Lines, in partnership with his brother George, ran the company G & J Lines until 1903 when he bought out his brother and continued to make toys with the help of his four sons. In 1919 three of the sons, Walter, Arthur, and William formed the company Lines Bros. Ltd which used the brand name Triangle Toys, later shortened to Tri-ang. The company's toy forts first hit the toy market around 1931.
• C.E.Turnbull/Charterhouse
• Chad Valley
• A.J.Holladay/Skybird
• Burnett & Co/UBILDA
• Binbak
• Elf (Joy Toys)
• Tudor Toys
• Britains

Spain

• Reamsa

Belgium

Denmark

Materials

• Hickling, Allen (2015).Toy Forts and Castles: European-Made Toys of the 19th & 20th Centuries. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing Ltd. . OCLC 898088145
• Hickling, Allen (2001). "From Dollhouse to Fortress: The Military Aspect of Moritz Gottschalk's Toy World, Part 1". Old Toy Soldier. Oak Park, IL, USA. 25 (1)
• Köhler, Swantje (2009). Christian Hacker. Wooden Toy Company in Nuremberg 1835-1927. München.