Joustra

Joustra began in Strasbourg in 1934 under the name Le Jouet de Strasbourg. The Musée du Jouet Pierre Pinel identifies Guillaume Marx and the Kosmann brothers as its founders. The maker produced tin toys including model aircraft, trolleybuses and military vehicles. Production stopped in 1939 after Strasbourg came under German occupation during the Second World War.

Production resumed in 1946. Joustra then introduced the “Miracle” car, followed from 1950 by a wider range of cranes and trucks and by remotely controlled vehicles. The Strasbourg factory expanded onto additional land on rue de Belfort as production grew. In 1968 the business became a société anonyme under the Joustra name; in 1969 it joined the Générale du Jouet, and in 1970 entered the CEJI group. Activities transferred progressively from Strasbourg to Gambsheim from 1965, and the former rue de Belfort factory reportedly closed in the mid-1980s.