Motorcycle with sidecar toy

Description:	German citizens, frustrated by ineffective government and the Great Depression, struggled during the 1930s with high unemployment and poverty. In a climate of unrest, German toy manufacturers responded by making military toys that reflected everyday life. Under the sidecar, a small friction wheel creates sparks causing the machine gun to “fire.” Children who played with this would have seen many kinds of people in uniform on the streets every day. As Adolf Hitler redirected Germany’s economy toward making equipment for war, he required children to join the Hitler Youth Organization and wear uniforms. Starting at age ten, boys and girls attended numerous evening meetings. Schoolteachers complained students could barely stay awake at school as a result.
Source:	http://www.digitalindy.org/cdm/ref/collection/tcm/id/71
Collection:	The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
Rights:	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/;
Copyright:	Creative Commons (CC By-SA 3.0);
Geography:	Germany
Subjects:	Toys Mechanical toys Motorcycles World War, 1939-1945 Germany Germany -- Politics and government -- 1918-1933 Nazis Hitler-Jugend 1930s World War, 1939-1945 -- Children National socialism

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