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The Old Rocking Horse
- By Rebecca Froebel
- Published December 7, 2009
- Collectibles
- Unrated
Rebecca Froebel
RS Froebel, now retired and living in the serene north woods of Minnesota, continues to author short informative articles as a pastime.
View all articles by Rebecca Froebel
The rocking horse was not always a horse upon two platforms in the shape of a rocker. In fact, there does not appear to be a documented date of the first manufacturing of the rocking horse. This is mostly due to many of the toys from the early centuries being carved by local craftsmen without documentation. Even then, little boys dreamed of riding off on their horse to slay the dragon, as did the brave knights of the time. This was indeed the fact as history tells of King Charles the First of England, who owned a rocking horse as a child.
The rocking horse became more prominent during the Georgian and Victorian periods in the land of England and then spread to America. Counts of seeing horses large enough for children to ride upon surfaced as a toy the Grecian children played with. These were not platform horses, but horses on wheels and later on barrels.
The historians believe the true rocking horse with a semi-circular platform base was created in the seventeenth century largely due to the documentation of King Charles owning one as a child. While they may have introduced rocking to the world, the eighteenth century is when great hands of master craftsmen turned out magnificent rocking horses. It was also during the eighteenth century that rocking horses started to make its present more significantly know in America.
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Cincinnati, Ohio based manufacturing company obtained a patent in 1880 and released a horse on a swinger base. The swinger rocker was a replacement for the crude barrel rocking horse, which consisted of wooden legs placed into a barrel. The swinger rocker stood in place and did not tip or crawl forward as did the old barrel rocking horses.
The industrial revolution shows a more accurate date of the rocking horse becoming very popular. Production costs had become less expensive and the middle class families could afford them. Great masterpieces of elaborate hand carved horses known as the Carousel rocker horses appeared about this time too. They are treasures, now mostly owned by private collections.
World War I took our great craftsmen to war and there never has been such a grand popularity of the rocking horses since that time. Most of the rocking horses in production today are made of less quality material and formed from molds. The true rocking horse, hand carved by the early craftsmen surface on occasion but last only a short time before a private collector grabs them for their collection. A watchful eye will find an early period rocking horse at auction. Dating from the 17th century to present day, the rocking horse remains one of the most favored toys of youthful girls and boys. Examples of old Rocking Horses can be found online at many websites pertaining to collectibles.
The rocking horse became more prominent during the Georgian and Victorian periods in the land of England and then spread to America. Counts of seeing horses large enough for children to ride upon surfaced as a toy the Grecian children played with. These were not platform horses, but horses on wheels and later on barrels.
The historians believe the true rocking horse with a semi-circular platform base was created in the seventeenth century largely due to the documentation of King Charles owning one as a child. While they may have introduced rocking to the world, the eighteenth century is when great hands of master craftsmen turned out magnificent rocking horses. It was also during the eighteenth century that rocking horses started to make its present more significantly know in America.
A
The industrial revolution shows a more accurate date of the rocking horse becoming very popular. Production costs had become less expensive and the middle class families could afford them. Great masterpieces of elaborate hand carved horses known as the Carousel rocker horses appeared about this time too. They are treasures, now mostly owned by private collections.
World War I took our great craftsmen to war and there never has been such a grand popularity of the rocking horses since that time. Most of the rocking horses in production today are made of less quality material and formed from molds. The true rocking horse, hand carved by the early craftsmen surface on occasion but last only a short time before a private collector grabs them for their collection. A watchful eye will find an early period rocking horse at auction. Dating from the 17th century to present day, the rocking horse remains one of the most favored toys of youthful girls and boys. Examples of old Rocking Horses can be found online at many websites pertaining to collectibles.