Structo Toy Tractor
date: label: date made
content: 1920 - 1929
notes: label: Description
content: The Structo High-Wheel Tractor was produced by Structo Manufacturing Company of Freeport, Illinois. It was a generic lightweight tractor model and came with an attached trailer. Founded in 1908, Structo made toy construction sets before selling the patents to A.C. Gilbert Company, the well-known manufacturer of ERECTOR sets. Structo then started manufacturing “Auto-Builder” kits, including the High-Wheel Tractor, that children could assemble into working models. One advertisement proclaimed, “Build a racing car, a classy, roadster-type car, a big, strong truck or a dandy farm tractor.” Structo also made “Ready-Built” toys that required no assembly. In the early 20th century, mechanical toys were popular for boys. These toys celebrated technological advances and were supposed to be a boy’s first step toward a prosperous career in a new world of machines. Structo’s tagline was, “Structo Toys Make Men of Boys.” Companies advertised these toys in magazines targeted at boys or their fathers, such as Boys’ Life, Youth’s Companion, and Popular Mechanics.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Agriculture
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content: Industry & Manufacturing
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content: American Enterprise
label: Exhibition
content: American Enterprise
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of the Toy Manufacturers of the United States, New York, New York
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: AG.19A01.1
label: catalog number
content: 19A01.1
label: accession number
content: 64098
objectType: label: Object Name
content: toy tractor
label: Object Name
content: tractor, toy
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 6 in x 7 in x 11 1/2 in; 15.24 cm x 17.78 cm x 29.21 cm