Saturday, August 27, 2011

En Garde! Colorful Vintage Tin Swords




Lately my eyes have been starved for color, so I decided to revisit this group of vintage tin swords. Originally, I was just going to obtain one or two, but somehow it was not difficult to persuade myself to acquire the entire lot. There is something about old objects in mass which makes them more appealing—that is the collecting instinct. 

The fantastic quality of these swords is in the colors of the scabbards: green, red, mauve, orange, yellow, and champagne, all beautifully soft and muted, yet infused with life from the metal beneath.

The scabbards are further embellished with a primitive dot-and-dash design, and embossed with a crescent and circle symbol. There are two lugs for attaching a silk hanger, although few of these are extant. Finally, there is a gold label identifying the swords as the product of the Hong Dong (宏東)  or Great Eastern toy company. 

The blades are strengthened by a central groove, which I just learned is also called a fuller. The blades are separately inserted into the hilts. The cross-guards on the hilts repeat the crescent-and-circle motif, and some of the pommels still retain their original cotton tassels.

I still haven’t decided how to display these swords. The Victorians approved of weapon displays in dining rooms, libraries, and entry halls, yet this doesn't seem exactly friendly, even given their bright hues.

Looking over my shelves for information on old swords, I coincidentally found Arms and Armour by Charles Boutell, presumably not the same person as C. Boutelle, the boarding-school troublemaker, although you never know, as this book was published in 1907.   

Swords as toys do bring up some moral issues. Some people disapprove of military toys, while others worry that they foster gender stereotypes, despite the image of Joan of Arc. I don't think that molding guns out of pink plastic for girls, which I have seen, is the best answer to this dilemma.


Toy swords are still very popular in Taiwan. Plastic ones are readily available, and even wooden ones are frequently seen, although I have not seen new tin ones. They are as much fun as ever—we all have a little Zorro in ourselves.

14 comments:

  1. What an interesting collection. If I had had one of these as a kid, we would have been inseparable! I'll be curious to know if you display these, and how. I could see them displayed within a panel bordered by a gothic design.

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  2. Hello Mark, Count on you to come up with a better idea than I could have in a hundred years. The swords are in storage now. Part of the fun of this blog is recalling special items that I have put away.

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  3. My brother had a wooden 關刀 as a toy. They're quite popular, too.

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  4. Hello:
    What a marvellous rainbow of swords! They do indeed make a splendid collection and would, we feel, look absolutely wonderful mounted on a wall display. In many ways, it is the sheer number of them that makes them so fascinating. We always think that it almost does not matter what items one wishes to display, as long as one has enough of them placed together they will look very good. We hope that you will show us one day what you have decided to do!

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  5. Hello Anonymous 7:45, I have seen toy guan dao, like a knife at the end of a pole, still for sale in traditional markets. One of the cool features of Asia is how the old co-exists alongside the new.

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  6. Hello Jane and Lance, Now that you mention the word rainbow, I realize there are no blue ones--something to keep an eye peeled for.

    I agree with you about sheer numbers. Unfortunately, most of my objects are packed away so that it is impractical to display collections together.

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  7. Hello,
    Thank you for dropping by Hf,K and leaving a comment. The creaking door sound is just how it sounds no matter what I do to the hinges. We have gotten used it and now I kind of like it. At least I know when someone has walked in.
    Your blog is a great start, so keep up the good work. How interesting it will be to follow you. Looking forward to the furture. All the best,K

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  8. Hello Kevin, I greatly admire your own blog--it has that bit of edge to it that I enjoy. Such as your liking the creaking door--when people drop in, do you say [creeeaaakk] "Welcome to the Inner Sanctum"?

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  9. I think lots of little boys - however cerebral and/or gentle they will turn out to be, have a sword phase when they want to be knights or Cavaliers or Romans or whatever - just a healthy sign of exuberance and imagination. I was Sir Lancelot (or occasionally a seventeenth-century admiral) for a while, aged six, with my flat stick sword.

    As for display, the colourful 'ludic' nature of these swords would surely remove any negative associations... :)

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  10. Hello Sir Lancelot [insert appropriate joke here about Lancelot Brown], I think you hit the nail on the head by labeling sword-play as showing exuberance and imagination, rather than aggression and stereotyping. And not only for little kids--adults have just as much if not more fun playing with these kinds of toys.

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  11. What a fun collection - both my boys would have adored these - one for the more historical and romantic value and the other because he loved all variety of waving weapons from swords to light sabers!!

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  12. Hello quintessence, We all bring our own personalities and histories when we form our reactions--if everyone felt the same way about things, the world (not to mention blog comments like these)would be a much less interesting place.

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  13. Hi. I have been blogging for almost a year now and only happened on your blog today. I find it interesting especially your report on the jewellery display in Taipei and this post about toy swords. I fence and thus always find swords interesting. My toy swords as a child were only exceeded in importance by my Royal Barbie jewellery which I started making round age 12. I am a practicing jeweller today. Seeing as your blog reports on the so-called off-beat I thought you might also find my blog about Barbie scale jewellery and royal characters interesting. Go have a look. I don't like imposing links on other people's blogs but you will find relevant links on my Google profile. Will keep an eye out for your blog updates too.

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  14. Hello Duke of Swann, Thank you for stopping by. There are many types of real and practice swords in Chinese culture. Some of the martial arts systems use practice swords, usually wooden, for practice and demonstration. One day I'll get around to writing about these.

    Your blogs are interesting, and I admire people who have the skill to make things like that.

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I would love to know what you think. Please feel free to comment--no tricky security words required! Any difficulties or questions, email at: clavicytherium@yahoo.com