Mexican Toy Industry Collection, Museum of Old Mexican Toy

The Museum of Old Mexican Toy acquis for toy industry collection, goes from 1910 to the 1970s, a 60-year stretch in which socio-economic and political transformations are noted worldwide and nationally.

Between 1910s and 1920s it was when the toys were considered as a consumer good in Mexico, a handmade product made of cardboard, wood, foil and cloth that was not available to everyone “ It was not like right now that one arrives on the street and there there are bearings or tops, at that time the handmade toys were little horses, stoves, furniture, things for people with more resources ”. In Mexico it is when the most emblematic toys are made with inspiration in national life, carts and trucks of redilas are manufactured, for example. The Mexician militarism transform and moves towards daily life.

Between 1930s and 1940s, In Germany, Japan, Italy, and almost all over the world, toys are almost stopped when World War II begins, Mexico continues to produce because we are not involved, and at the end there is a tremendous boom, the country passes from a population of 25 million to 50 million, in a time of 15-20 years.

The Government had a desire to make a national manufacturing, so the toy industry becomes one of the five most productive in the world because everywhere there was already that trade, but here it was about protecting the local industry and the import taxes were very high, that’s why those toys before the War almost never arrived in Mexico, because they were very expensive, there were no planes, they had to be brought in the trunks of the vapors returning from Europe, of well-off families”

You can love or hate her, but you can never deny her influence in your life: Television. For the toy industry it was the same, with its arrival and popularity began to manufacture hundreds of dolls, “ those of Walt Disney, other cartoons, those of space, Buck Rogers… that still to date, which does not appear in the television is not sold ”

Other technological advances such as the steam engine, trains, ships and subsequently cars and airplanes, also influenced the way children play, or at least the most favored.

The next big step in the national toy industry is plasticization, which together with the popularization of TV characters, began to make products cheaper, so many businessmen traveled to the United States to buy machines, molds, resins and pigments, and Start producing in Mexican territory.

When import taxes were reduced, the worst happened, as there was some countries that produced even cheaper than Mexico. Globalization in Mexico ended toy manufacturing, but the only thing we put in is cheap labor and a market of 120 million consumers. ”

Currently, it is observed that in Amazon, the four most wanted and sold toys by Mexicans during 2018 are: LOL Surprise Decorder dolls (MGA Entertainment); Funko Pop Marvel special Christmas edition; Funko Pop Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy and Lego creator: Construction Game Great Dinosaurs.

Likewise, it is noted that 70% of the sales of the sector are between December and the first week of January. Time in which the average cost per customer amounts to 800 pesos.

It should be noted that the toy sector in the country is made up of around 200 companies, with Mattel, Hasbro and Lego having the highest sales numbers. However, 50% of toys marketed in Mexico are mobilized in the informal market.

Museum of Old Mexican Toy
The Museo del Juguete Antiguo México (MUJAM) is a cultural association that primarily houses the most representative toys of Mexican culture, with specimens dating from the 19th century to the 1980s, although it also has pieces from other parts of the world. The collection was started by architect Roberto Shimizu and opened to the public in April 2008. The exhibition also teaches cultural and interdisciplinary workshops on arts and humanities. The aim of the museum is to rescue the cultural heritage through the preservation of toys that gave identity to the daily life of Mexican children. It is located in the Colonia Doctores de la Mexico City .

Collection
The collection originates from the “Dulcería Avenida” and stationery “La Primavera”, established such businesses for a little over 70 years in the Lost Child Avenue (currently central axis Lázaro Cárdenas), places where some toys were sold, in Christmas season and three wise men.

This collection is also a rescue of the popular culture of Mexico, since over a little more than 55 years of collecting, they have been able to rescue from tianguis, flea markets and antique dealers, most of this immense collection and many Unique pieces of great relevance in the lives of Mexicans.

In 2008, the Museum of Old Mexico Toy opens in an old apartment building, on Dr. Olvera # 15, half a block from the central axis Lázaro Cárdenas, with the aim of showing this collection to all Mexicans of any age, sex, religion, socio-economic and cultural level, so that the new generations have a historical-playful reference of artisanal and industrial games and toys, in the objects shown, as well as previous generations remember the happiest moment of life: childhood. And with this, to be able to contribute to the fact that in Mexico we find more ingenious, creative and committed people with their country.

The cultural and educational offer of the Museo del Juguete Antiguo México, is for public and private institutions from preschool to master’s level, offering free guided tours, with an approximate duration of an hour and a half linked to the official program of the Secretary of Public Education, in the areas of knowledge of technology, artistic operation, ethics and social environment, also linking with the training fields that are the exploration and understanding of the natural, social world, personal development and for living together.

The methodology used in the courses, is based on the new theories of education, especially in the theory of constructivism, so the routes have the objective of encouraging the observation, description and active participation of students.