Throwback Thursday: Childs’ Play (I)
Identifying Specific Toys from Yellow Springs’ More Playful Past
For this week’s Throwback Thursday, we are going to highlight some of the artifacts that have been stored in the Brick Room of the Washington Building on our campus, where we have several displays that chronicle the history of Yellow Springs (as we know it so far).
There are displays featuring artifacts from the Good News Productions era, as well as several lovely pieces from the PAFA period, but tucked into the far corner of the room is a display on the Orphan’s School period.
There is a cabinet with three drawers, filled with finds that we believed to be associated with that era.
They were found on a variety of archaeological digs done in the past- and from people finding them by happenstance as well.
These three drawers contain artifacts that are given a bit less attention and are a little less well-known than our other displays, so we wanted to highlight them here.
We also wanted to dive a bit deeper into the context and origin of these findings, using new technology and research methods to support our previous findings (and correct them if needed).
Above is a photograph of the second drawer in the dresser, displaying a variety of doll parts and other toys that were believed to have been from the Orphan School era.
For this week’s post, we are going to do some further research into four of the items in this drawer.
Artifact № 1: The Tiny Teacup
This miniature teacup would have been part of a child’s playset and is likely to have been made of china.
Intriguingly, it closely matches with an artifact that was found during an archaeological excavation of a house on the Brandywine Battlefield, during which our archivist was one of the student archaeologists from West Chester University doing the excavations.
Though not identical, these miniature tea sets were very popular as toys for girls during the early 1900s.
At the Battle of Brandywine dig, the archaeologists also discovered a small pewter-lead whistle in the shape of a bird, which would have been contemporary to the small teacup pictured above
By scouring the internet, the students at West Chester University were able to identify it as a toy whistle, the style of which would have originally been German (according to online listings for antique sales).
These would have been popular from the 1880s to the 1900s, with their popularity beginning to wane around 1910 and 1920.
During that dig, our archivist (who was then one of the student archaeologists at West Chester University) was able to find a listing for both the bird whistle and the miniature tea set in an old Sears, Roebuck and Co. catalogue preserved by the Internet Archive. You can read it in its entirety here.
In the Sears, Roebuck and Co.: Catalogue No. 111 (Spring 1902, p. 503), we can see an advertisement for both the bird whistle and the toy tea set.
The West Chester University students were able to match both above finds to the toys sold by this catalogue. Because the tiny teacup at Historic Yellow Springs matches the tiny teacup found at the Battle of Brandywine dig almost identically, we can safely surmise that our tiny teacup is likely from another version of the same set.
Note that the illustration demonstrates teacups of multiple styles, one of which matches the Brandywine teacup, and one of which matches the more sloping detail of the teacup we found at Historic Yellow Springs.
Doll Parts?
Intriguingly, the 1902 catalogue also features advertisements for several different types of dolls. These are a visual match to the legs of several of our doll fragments that we have on display as well, though we need to do further research and testing to conclude that they are one and the same.
We seem to find predominantly the legs, faces, and arms of the dolls, which may suggest that they had cloth bodies, as some of the dolls for sale in the catalogue do as well. However, at this point, this is speculation.
Artifact № 2: Small Dog Figurine
It would be a safe educated guess to assume that the small dog figurine that we have in the drawer would also likely be from the same era. However, in looking through all the catalogues of children’s toys that were readily available online, we were not finding any concrete matches.
Most of the toy dogs from that era that were for sale seem to have been made of a metal alloy or were not the correct size or style, so for a moment we were stumped.
Then, as a bit of a last resort- we were able to find a lead using a reverse image search on the website Pinterest.
The distinct face sculpting, material, and posture of the dog all align with a curious trend of small French bulldog statues that were used as both toys and decorations during the late 1940s and 1950s, all imported from Japan.
Though there was a wide variety of styles, indicating that they were likely handmade, we can find examples of what this little figurine would have looked like when it was fully painted, as several well-preserved examples are available for sale on sites like Etsy.
If one looks closely at our tiny bulldog statue, we can still see evidence of where the dog’s little eyes were once painted.
This artifact dates to a much later date than most of the other artifacts. However, it was likely included in the display under the belief that it was a toy that the Soldiers’ Orphan School students would have played with.
We now know that it was likely used by the children of the Good News Production era instead. It also may have been used as a decoration and might not have been played with at all, but that remains uncertain.
Artifact № 3: Metal Whistle?
From a brief visual assessment of this third artifact, we first believed that it might have been some sort of bell. However, further research revealed that it is the corroded remains of an antique whistle.
This piece is most certainly from the Civil War era and would likely have looked similar to the below image in its heyday, before corrosion.
These pewter-lead whistles, similar in material to the bird from the Brandywine Battlefield mentioned above, came in a variety of forms. The closest example to our artifact would be this pewter whistle produced by the company Dixon and Sons (Collectors Weekly, Pewter Whistle, accessed October 20, 2025). You can read more about it here.
Because these artifacts are currently on display and under glass, we cannot determine if a maker mark or branding remains that would match it to this particular product.
However, the shape and material make this an excellent starting point and a good example of what the whistle would have looked like when in use. The above example dates from 1880, and we can surmise that our whistle is likely from the same time or potentially earlier, though most certainly from the Civil War era.
That being said, we must allow for the possibility that we have incorrectly identified this artifact and that it may truly be part of a bell. The structure, however, more closely resembles the lead whistles of that time. Closer examination will help determine this for sure.
Artifact № 4: Spark Plug
Our final artifact for this week also proved to be a bit complicated. Initially, we believed it to be part of a toy. We can read a maker’s mark that says “Mosler Spit-Fire Patented,” but we could not identify any toys with that writing from the era of interest or from any era at all.
This is because it is not a toy. It is actually part of an antique spark plug.
We found that these porcelain components of spark plugs were used during the early 1900s. We located a forum discussion on the topic that shows what the complete spark plug would have looked like (Model T Ford Club of America, “The Moslers Were…,” accessed October 20, 2025, link).
Specifically, our artifact is likely a porcelain replacement core from the Mosler series of porcelain insulators. These were first patented in 1898 and were widely used in 1902. They were often used by the Ford Motor Company in automobiles at that time.
Toys at Orphanages
While researching other archaeological digs for context, we came across a publication about a dig that occurred at the Schuyler Mansion in New York State. The site operated as an orphanage during the early 1900s.
Though it was run by the Catholic Church, and our Soldiers’ Orphan School was part of the Soldiers’ Orphan School system, the toys found at the Schuyler Mansion were very similar (Binghamton University Open Repository, “Doll Parts, Toy Tea Set…,” accessed October 20, 2025, link).
Even though we know that the Soldiers’ Orphan School followed a strict schedule and emphasized practical trades, we also know that many staff and faculty took a personal interest in their students’ well-being.
We have previously discussed how the president of the school, J. H. Smith, knew the names of the students who died of illness on the Historic Yellow Springs campus. (You can read more about that here)
We also know that the first and only female principal of the school, Mrs. Elaine Moore, was beloved by many of her students. She took great care to ensure that they were raised with kindness and compassion. Even after her tenure ended and she moved to Seaport, she continued receiving letters from students for many years.
Playtime at Yellow Springs
The care that students received here, along with their education, made the Orphan School System a success. These small artifacts, except for the dog figurine, provide a glimpse into what daily life may have been like for the students at the Orphan School.
They lived during a war-torn period in our country’s history. Many had lost at least one parent to the bloody Civil War and were removed from their families and all they had ever known.
However, we have many reports that students found a new sense of family here, enjoyed their time here, and made good memories.
These small artifacts are fragments of that care. They remind us that they truly brought light into the lives of the young students who came to live and study here.
And the spark plug, which was said to have literally “spit fire,” would have been a rather different version of a ‘light’ in its owner’s life, but that is a story for another day.
We have discussed only a handful of the artifacts in that drawer, and many of our identifications remain uncertain since we need further examination to confirm them.
However, we now have a strong foundation to imagine what their world might have been like almost two centuries ago
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Learn more about the history of Yellow Springs
You can read the more in-depth version of this post here
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