- UNITED STATES -
The United States, always eager to join any cultural movement coming from the Old Continent, also tried to make its own productions, although toy theatres never achieved there the same level of popularity. The first one to be made commercially available was the “Selz’s American Boys Theatre,” published by Scott & Co. of New York, in 1870. It was a reprint of minor works published in England by the magazine Boys of England.
In 1883, Singer, another New York publisher, printed a colour theatre that included European fairy tales and folk tales from American history, such as “Pocahontas” or “The Battle of Bunker Hill.”
Years later, the prestigious publishing house McLoughlin Bros produced good-quality plays and numerous paper cut-out toys. They kept selling their toys until after World War I.
At the same time, the magazine Delineator offered with its issues some very simple stage fronts with two sceneries, as well as other parts and characters designed to be cut out and fitted into a shoe box.
There were other similar productions that were more inspired by Hollywood and its stars than by the theatre. Walt Disney became interested in this type of toy, and his magazines featured several individual plays, including a “Snow White Theatre” designed by the Disney factory, which had the same mounted front design as the English Pollock stages. |
