“SWEATING” HALLOWEEN TOYS IN 1921 BROOKYLN
How this toy worked is quite simple, but apparently, at least according to this ad in the October 31st, 1921 edition of the New York World, it was a “most substantial and amusing toy to delight the little ones.”
The ad further noted that the Halloween Toy Sensation, the Jack O’Lantern “Awheel,” was “7 inches high,” and was a “faithful reproduction of the old time country Jack o’Lantern in the real pumpkin color.”
In reality it was simply a locally mass-produced means of making money off of an annual holiday.
The toy was probably made of wood which was placed on a base with wheels and hand-colored by some young ladies in a sort of “sweat shop” somewhere in Brooklyn. As a seasonal item they were probably produced quickly in a carpentry shop and assembled at a rapid pace – then the girls likely learned how to hand color the “faces” as they went along.
“Awheel” was an old word which meant to travel by auto or bicycle and was used in a similar fashion to “afoot.” This Jack O’Lantern, obviously, was traveling by wheel – “to the delight the little ones.”
And at 10 cents a piece, it sounded like a deal.
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