Model Trains & Connecticut
Many people associate model trains with Christmas. A set of model trains running around the Christmas tree is a cherished Christmas memory for many of us. Connecticut has played a large part in the history of model railroading. The Merriam Manufacturing Company of Durham, CT was one of the first to manufacture painted tin trains around the 1830s. George Brown of Forrestville, CT introduced the clockwork mechanism to American toy trains in 1856. Edward Riley Ives (a distant cousin of Danbury's composer, Charles Ives) founded the Ives Manufacuring Company in Plymouth, CT (it later moved to Bridgeport). The Ives Manufacturing Co. was the premier toy train manufacturer in the early 20th Century with its brilliant marketing campaign using the "Ives Railway Line" and telling its young customers that the success of their railroad depended on their management skills. Their slogan "Ives Toys Make Happy Boys" was a key component of their success. And don't forget to visit the Danbury Railway Museum.
