Traditional wooden toys of Croatia

In today's consumeration world we are used on mass-production, same product found in New York, Zagreb or Tokio. It is my pleasure to show you these beautiful, handmade toys from Croatia, Hrvatsko zagorje (North-West part of our country). You can feel love and passion built in each of them. 
Wooden children’s toys are recognizable traditional products of Hrvatsko zagorje with a long history. Precisely in this area, a peculiar production of toys was developed in the 19th century and it has been preserved in some villages. From very simple reed toys, the assortment widened so that, at times, one hundred and twenty different toys were produced. The method of their production was passed on from generation to generation in some families and has been kept to this day. The peculiarity is that they are handmade by men and mostly painted by women. 

There can never be two completely identical toys since each one is handmade. The material used is soft wood from the area, willow, lime, beech and maple that craftsmen hew after drying and then cut and shape it with the help of wooden or cardboard models. In painting they use eco paint and their base colours are usually red, yellow or blue. They paint the toys with floral and geometrical ornaments. Today, about fifty types of toys are made, ranging from various reeds, tamburitzas, animal toys and objects of common use. In the year 2009 UNESCO  declared them as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Till the end of May, 2013 you can visit the interesting exhibition hold in Ethnographic museum in Zagreb: World of toys.