Mechanical, optical and paper toys

This is a diverse group of toys driven by a mechanism, normally hand-wound, homemade or factory-made paper toys, and various interesting optical toys. Paper toys account for most of this class – children’s fashion catalogs featuring dolls, paper dolls and paper collectibles: napkins, postcards, stamps, etc.

Most of the mechanical toys in this class have a winding mechanism, whereas a few are battery-operated. The oldest battery-operated toy is a Bartender, dating back to the 1950s, which moves left and right when turned on, simulating the preparation of cocktails. Perhaps the most interesting optical toy is the Fisher-Price Classics Movie Viewer – after inserting a console (cassette with an animated film) in it, the film is projected by manually rotating a small handle on the viewer.