Maker record
Wilkins
Wilkins Toy Company was an American toy maker based in Keene, New Hampshire. Founded by James S. Wilkins in 1890, it made cast-iron vehicles, including trains and fire equipment, as well as a toy clothes wringer. After Harry T. Kingsbury acquired the company, its range grew to include clockwork vehicles, toy automobiles, trolleys, wagons and other models. The Wilkins name remained in use until 1919, when the company became Kingsbury Manufacturing Company.
- Founded
- 1890
- Final year
- 1935
- Countries
- United States
- Locations
- Keene, New Hampshire, USA · 1890
- Founders
- James S. Wilkins
The story of Wilkins
James S. Wilkins founded the Wilkins Toy Company in Keene, New Hampshire, in 1890. Its early products included a toy clothes wringer and cast-iron vehicles. The company’s first catalogue, issued after Harry T. Kingsbury acquired the business, illustrated 85 iron toys, including trains and fire equipment. Its range also included cook stoves, circus toys, steamboats, trolleys, delivery wagons and passenger vehicles. The vehicles used clockwork mechanisms that allowed them to travel across a floor when wound.
Wilkins continued as a toy name under Kingsbury’s ownership. By 1919 the company had changed its name to Kingsbury Manufacturing Company. The firm expanded its vehicle lines, including automobiles, and later made pressed-steel toys. During World War II, Kingsbury stopped making toys to produce rifle bolts; the company did not resume toy manufacture after the war and instead focused on machine tools.