Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer

This wheeled metal Moon Rocket toy is a "tin toy" manufactured in Japan for export to Western markets. The toy's maker, Yonezawa Toys, Co., Ltd., was one of the biggest manufacturers of tin toys, which often carried space themes. In post-WWII Japan, producing metal toys began as a way to tap into an international market for "penny toys" or cheap playthings, but developed by the late 1950s into a industry manufacturing creatively-designed, complex toys with moving parts and/lights that competed successfully with Western toymakers. Toys like this one tapped into the American space craze while also showcasing its battery-powered features.

Using “kanei-kogyo,” or family industries, many Japanese tin toy companies distributed preprinted metal sheets to home-based shops, where families worked together to stamp, shape, and wholly or partially assemble them. The distributor paid these family shops by the piece and shipped the completed toys overseas. Because space themes sold well, many toys received space-age designs or packaging.

The Gewirz family donated this toy to the Museum in 2006.

 Display Status

This object is on display in James S. McDonnell Space Hangar at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.

James S. McDonnell Space Hangar
Object Details
Country of Origin Japan Type MEMORABILIA-Popular Culture Manufacturer Yonezawa Toys, Co., Ltd., Japanese
 Dimensions 3-D: 38.1 x 20.3 x 14.6cm (15 x 8 x 5 3/4 in.)
 Materials Metal, plastic, rubber (tip)
 Inventory Number A20060092000 Credit Line Gift of the Carl and Nancy Gewirz Fund, Inc. Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.