Toy Town, USA

June 10, 2014

Just like Santa’s workshop at the North Pole is today, the small town of Winchendon, Massachusetts was once home to the largest production center for wood toys in the world. Winchendon received the nickname “Toy Town” thanks to the Converse Toy & Woodware Company (later known as Morton E. Converse Company). Founded in the 1870s by Morton E. Converse, the company mass-produced every type of wooden toy good little girls and boys could imagine, from dollhouses to rocking horses. In fact, if you visit Winchendon today, you’ll find Clyde II, an oversized replica of a hobby horse originally carved by Converse.

Converse got into the toy business after carving a set of doll dishes for his ailing daughter. After her recovery, Converse added wooden legs to a collar box, creating a tea table with a place inside to store the wooden dishes. This sense of ingenuity and adaptive reuse served Converse well. The company produced over 250 kinds of toys before closing in the 1930s. Not to be confused with the popular shoe of the same name, Converse toys can sometimes be identified by the “Converse” printed directly on the wooden structure.