Architectural building blocks
Creator: American Manufacturing Concern
Date: 1914
The American Manufacturing Concern in Jamestown, New York made these wooden building blocks. Alice Elizabeth Bouse (1912-2002) of Centralia, Kansas received the set as a Christmas gift in 1914.

Astro Captain mechanical toy
Creator: DAIYA
Date: between 1950 and 1970
The Astro Captain's plastic arms and tin legs move when wind up key is wound. It is mostly made of tin and was made in Japan by DAIYA and imported and distributed by MEGO. It was made between 1955 and 1970. Japan dominated the production of toy robots after World War II. The U.S. "Space Race" to explore the solar system in the late 1950's to early 1970's generated huge public interest and a large market for space related products.

Beth Rogler
Date: Between 1900 and 1919
This black and white photograph shows Beth Rogler on a tricycle in front of the Rogler home. This homestead, known as "Pioneer Bluffs", is located on 160 acres of land along the South Fork of the Cottonwood River basin, in Bazaar Township of Chase County, Kansas. The Rogler family owned and operated the ranch from 1859 to 2006. In October 2006, the historic property, which included the home and 4,081 acres of land, was auctioned off at 6.9 million dollars. Today "Pioneer Bluffs" is a non-profit educational center that is dedicated to teaching the history of ranching and the diversity of the tall grass prairie.

Beulah Griffis Winter, Marshall County, Kansas
Date: Between 1915 and 1920
This is a postcard image of Beulah Griffis Winter with her doll, Bigelow, in Marshall County, Kansas. Beulah was around 5 years old.

Bisque Doll Leg from the Iowa and Sac and Fox Mission, 14DP384
Date: 1845-1905
Shown is a bisque doll leg from the toes up to the knee. It was found during excavations at the Iowa Sac and Fox Mission in Doniphan County by Kansas Historical Society archeologists and Kansas Anthropological Association volunteers. The Presbyterian Mission was built in 1845 and closed in 1863. After that part of the building was razed, the rest was used as a residence until 1905. The State of Kansas acquired to property in 1941.

Boy on tricycle
Date: Between 1900 and 1919
This black and white photograph shows a young boy seated on a tricycle.

Boy with a toy wagon, Clark County, Kansas
Creator: Steele, F. M. (Francis Marion), 1866-1936
Date: Between 1891 and 1912
This is a view of a young boy with a toy wagon standing in front of an unidentified wooden-frame house with a porch and a wooden fence in Clark County, Kansas.

Boy with tricycle, Treece, Kansas
Date: Between 1955 and 1959
This is a photograph of Joey Leatherman with his tricycle, Treece, Kansas. The photograph was copied from an album loaned by the family.

Building blocks
Creator: F. Ad. Richter & Co.
Date: between 1880 and 1900
Richter's Anchor [Anker] Box Containing Building Stones. Box No. 13. Contains 259 cast stone building blocks in three colors. Also includes wooden box with sliding lid and lift-out tray and five instruction books and sheets. The F. Ad. Richter & Co. first produced Anker blocks in the factory in Rudolstadt, Germany in 1880. The blocks were very successful, thanks in part to Richter's aggressive and innovative marketing, and were soon sold across Europe and America.

Cabinet card, Minnie Palenske
Creator: Meier, Gustav H., 1865-1941
Date: Around 1896
This is a studio portrait cabinet card of Minnie Palenske Zwanziger, the daughter of Louis and Emma Palenske of Alma, Kansas with her pioneer dolls. Funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission through the Kansas State Historical Records Advisory Board.

Cast Iron Horse from the Shawnee Methodist Mission, 14JO362
Date: 1890-1934
This cast iron horse was recovered from excavations by Kansas Historical Society archeologists and crew at the Shawnee Indian Mission in Johnson County. The Mission was established in 1839 and operated as a school until 1854. It then passed into private ownership and served different functions until it was acquired by the state of Kansas in 1927. Cast iron toys, like this half of a horse, were usually mass produced. This toy was cleaned by electrolysis which passes an electrical current through a liquid solution to separate the rust from the artifact.

Children around a Christmas tree
Date: Between 1940 and 1949
An unidentified boy and girl are gathered around their Christmas tree. The young boy is holding a stuffed toy that looks like an early Mickey Mouse and the girl is holding a doll. Other unwrapped toys are under the tree. This photo is probably from the 1940's. Item 211638 shows additional family members.

Children around a decorated Christmas tree
Date: Between 1900 and 1909
These children are looking at the family Christmas tree. The girl is holding a doll. Under the tree are a train, several railroad cars, and a book.

Children at Christmas
Date: Between 1900 and 1909
This is a view of two children seated in front of a Christmas tree with presents of dolls, doll furniture, and toys in, possibly, the Manhattan, Kansas, area. The girl is holding a doll, and the boy is sitting in a child's rocker and blowing into a horn. The Christmas tree is decorated with ornaments and strings of popcorn and glitter.

Children playing, Cimarron, Kansas
Date: Between 1905 and 1910
This photograph shows a child on a tricycle pulling another child in a wagon, Cimarron, Kansas.

Christmas scene
Creator: Wesely, Francis J., 1907-1985
Date: Between 1925 and 1927
This is a photograph of two young boys posed with a decorated Christmas tree and toys.

Christmas scene
Creator: Wesely, Francis J., 1907-1985
Date: Between 1925 and 1927
This photograph shows two young boys posed with a Christmas tree. One of the boys is seated on a rocking horse.

Christmas tree, L.C. Walbridge Ranch, Russell County, Kansas
Date: Between 1870s and 1890s
This black and white photograph shows a Christmas tree adorned with dolls and popcorn at the L.C. Walbridge Ranch in Russell County, Kansas.

Construction set
Date: between 1880 and 1900
This set of wooden blocks was owned by Mary Josephine Patterson Hambleton (b. 1879) and later given to her son, Philip Newton Hambleton (1910-1991). They were used in Lincoln, Le Roy and Topeka, Kansas.

Construction set
Creator: G.B. Lewis Company
Date: 1931
This set consists of wood pieces, and a book of objects you can build with the set. It was made by the G.B. Lewis Company in Watertown Wisconsin in 1931. They were primarily a lumber company and used that as a selling point.

Cracker-Jack clown
Creator: Albert Schoenhut Company
Date: between 1905 and 1910
This Cracker-Jack clown has a jointed wooden body, molded head and hand-painted features. It was sold as an accessory set for the Humpty-Dumpty circus created by Albert Shoenhut.

Dick Tracy two-way wrist radio
Creator: American Doll & Toy Corporation
Date: between 1946 and 1964
This set includes instructions, two black plastic powerpacks with buttons for transmission, and a plastic wrist radio with a synthetic strap and speaker. It was made between 1946 and 1970 by The American Doll & Toy Corp. Dick Tracy is a long-running comic strip character. The police detective was created by Chester Gould in 1931. His now iconic 2-way wrist radio premiered in 1946 and was replaced with a 2-way wrist TV in 1964.

Doll
Date: 1886
Bisque doll with blond hair wearing a tan dress and stockings, leather shoes, and two beaded necklaces. Marked "166 2" on back of shoulders. Belonged to Helena Olivia Lassen (1878-1969) of Atchison. Her father emmigrated from Denmark in 1865, and the doll was sent to her by relatives still in Denmark when she was eight years old. The clothes were sewn by a relative in Denmark, and the necklaces were added by Helena.

Doll Arm from 14OT323
Date: 1880-1940
This bisque tie-on doll arm was recovered from the Ottawa County archeological site. The arm measures 2 1/4" long and, while difficult to ascertain, appears to represent a left arm and hand. The site probably marked the spot of a vanished farmstead. Archeologists from the Kansas Historical Society visited the site in 1993 during a Highway survey project.

Doll Fragments from the Plowboy Site, 14SH372
Date: 1850-1920
These four doll fragments were collected from the Plowboy site in Shawnee County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2017. Shown are a porcelain lower leg and foot with a ladies high heel shoe, a porcelain ear, and a porcelain leg and arm. The leg was reconstructed by the donor. The Plowboy site was home to the Kansa, the Potawatomi, and Euro-Americans. At various times, the site contained a farm, a trading post, and a post office with nearby military trails, Mormon routes, a railroad and the California-Oregon trail.