Posted By: Bill H
Posted Date: Apr 13, 2009 (02:05 AM)
Patrick, those items probably were sold originally as souvenirs to tourists or other visitors to Japan during the 1920's and 30's or later. They are molded in that fragile and flammible early form of plastic called celluloid. Whether or not they were intended to be toys is moot, because it's obvious from the condition many are found in nowadays that they proved irresistible to children.
From around the same period, here's a set of celluloid lucky gods that I bought cheap and later found had been reassembled by someone who didn't know what attribute belonged to which deity. I imagine they had been taken or shaken apart by kids at play.
Regards,
Bill H.
