Carrera, Matchbox, Bobby-Car – mobile from the cradle onward, and the consequences of automotive childhood memories

Toys are a reflection of our society. And the history of toys also illustrates the significance of the car, as a model, race track or soapbox. Very expensive until the early 20th century, toys did not become affordable to a wider public until they became a branch of industry in their own right. From the 1930s to the 1980s, the car was the number one toy, particularly for boys.

It was not long after the appearance of the first cars that the first toy cars came out. Manufacturers such as Märklin, Bing and Carette made elaborate, large-scale tin replicas. Their main target group at that time was the sons of the early motorists, who strove to emulate their paternal idols. After 1945, model cars became more and more diverse, and smaller scales began to get more popular. After the Second World War, the successful British firms Matchbox (as from 1948) and Corgi (as from 1956) followed. From the 1960s onward, there were more and more manufacturers who also made models in plastic, such as Norev in France. At the same time, the playing value of these models increased, since they were now battery-operated, for example, or had a horn, or even emergency lights and a siren.

Memories of journeys undertaken on the back seat of their parents' car intensified children's fascination for antique cars when they themselves reached adulthood.