Maker record
Compagnie Internationale des Jouets (CIJ)
Compagnie Industrielle du Jouet (CIJ) was a French toy maker specializing in miniature cars and commercial vehicles. Its early output included metal Citroën toys, followed by Renault models and miniatures of other manufacturers’ vehicles. CIJ made tinplate toys before producing zamac models, including passenger cars, vans and trucks. A 1956 Renault Juvaquatre Dauphinoise postal van in the Musée de La Poste collection documents the firm’s post-war miniature range and its Renault exclusivity agreement. The company’s collection record also documents its Paris address and factory in Briare.
- Founded
- 1927
- Countries
- France
- Locations
- Paris, France · Briare, France
- Founders
- The Bingen brothers
The story of Compagnie Internationale des Jouets (CIJ)
CIJ’s early history is connected with Fernand Migault’s toy-making activity in Paris and the Loiret. The Musée du Jouet de Poissy records a Citroën Torpedo model designed by Migault in 1923 at the Gourdet brothers’ factory, and gives 1927 as the foundation year of the Compagnie Industrielle du Jouet. The museum identifies CIJ’s address at 50 rue d’Hauteville in Paris and a factory in Briare. Its record describes Citroën toy production through 1934, followed by exclusive production of Renault toys from 1934 to 1969, when the factory closed.
CIJ’s early toys included metal Citroën cars, delivery vehicles, taxis, trucks and a fire engine. The company later made smaller zamac miniatures. A Musée de La Poste collection record documents a Renault Juvaquatre Dauphinoise postal van made by CIJ in 1956, the year the full-size Dauphinoise appeared. The museum notes that the miniature followed an exclusivity agreement between Renault and CIJ. A specialist history also describes models of Panhard, Citroën and other manufacturers, and records CIJ-branded Renault and non-Renault miniatures into the 1960s. It places CIJ’s disappearance in the early 1970s and notes a later association with JRD; Norev subsequently reissued some CIJ models under the CIJ name.