"These Tootsietoys are Durable as Well as Colorful"
TootsieToy is America's Oldest Toy Company.  Tootsietoys were made back as far as the early 1900's and are still available today. They are very simply made with minimal details. Sold typically in small sets of a few cars and or trucks.
The earliest was issued about 1901, and resembles a curved-dash Olds. True three-dimensional miniature models of a train, boats and a horse-drawn fire engine were made, but a true model car did not appear until 1911, when a tiny closed limousine was introduced.Â
The next car to appear was the 1915 Model T Ford open tourer, followed a year later by the pick-up truck.
These toys had no trade name until 1922. The name Tootsietoy was registered as a trade mark on 11 March 1924, having been applied for on 7 February 1923. The application stated that the name had been used continuously since 20 April 1921, but did not mention use of the name on any of their products except doll furniture.Â
The Tootsietoy legacy can be divided into two eras - pre-war and post-war. The reason for this is that before World War II, Dowst concentrated on producing realistic replicas of popular vehicles of the era. The focus after the war shifted to producing less expensive toys that were more affordable and therefore more accessible to children. Serious collectors prefer pre-war Tootsietoys because of their greater detail and realism. Today's assortment of Tootsietoys runs the full gamut of styles, from crude generic toys to accurate miniature models, but the focus is still on affordability.