About
This Native American on horseback is part of a set along with this wind-up cowboy toy. In this interactive from our friends at Culture Street, you can see how both toys work.
Some historians think that when Europeans reached America, explorers thought they had found India, and so referred to the native people as ‘Indians.’ Although the mistake was soon noticed, the name lingered.
‘Cowboys and Indians’ were a popular theme for toys in the 1960s and 1970s as stories about the Wild West were popular with cinema and television audiences.
Museum's description
The horse and rider are of lithographed tinplate cast in two halves along the length and held by tongue and slot joints. The rider and the horse’s legs are separately attached. The horse is cream and brown piebald with red; yellow; white; blue and black trim. The ears are of cream rubber and the reins a yellow thread. The rider represents an Indian and is tan with blue; green; red; yellow and black. The integral key is under the body of the horse which houses the clockwork mechanism. When wound the horse springs up and down and tosses the rider about.
*HAJI in a lozenge shape with MADE IN JAPAN printed on the left top of the saddle. Mansei Toys was established in 1951.
Teacher notes
Culture Street have prepared Teachers’ Notes and an interactive that explores the mechanics of clockwork to accompany this object, and how it can be used to illustrate a KS2 science lesson.
Additionally, these toy’s could be used to introduce students to the native populations of America and how they were expressed in popular culture.
