Manufacturing a Jack-in-the-Box
1950's film gives us the step-by-step
Today we are watching a segment from a Film Associates documentary-style film on how a Jack-in-the-Box toy is made in a Mattel factory. The film is archived by Prelinger Archives and housed at the Internet Archive. While the segment is clearly targeted at kids, it’s highly informative and covers all the various steps that a “typical” product undergoes from planning to production in a factory setting to finally shipping and sales at retail stores. The film does not show a date, but it’s likely from the 1956 based on some sleuthing from one of the archive’s reviewers. The entire film (linked below) is a recommended watch.
The French term for jack-in-the-box is "diable en boîte" (literally "devil in a box"). The toy was the invention of a German clockmaker in the early 1500’s and consisted of a wooden box equipped with a handle that, when cranked, would pop out a puppet dressed as a devil. The contraption was built for a local prince’s 5th birthday and proved popular with other nobility. Soon, other well-to-do-families were requesting “Devils-in-a-box” for their own kids. By the 18th century, toy mechanisms had advanced to the point that jack-in-the-box toys could be more inexpensively reproduced and families of less noble means could afford them. By the 1930’s, the toys were typically made from tin and the pop up puppet evolved into clowns, bears and other popular figures. The first company to mass-produce Jack-in-the-boxes was European company Joy Toy starting in 1935. Since then, many other factories have created their own version, including Mattel.
The Mattel company was started in a El Segundo, CA basement in 1945 by three designers/engineers looking to carve out a niche in the market for creative children’s toys. It has grown to be one of the largest toy companies (by revenue) in the world, second only to Lego. This success is due to the many iconic products they have created over the years such as hot Wheels, Barbie, the Uno card game, Chatty Cathy and of course the iconic Jack-in-the-box.
Internet Archive: "Factory, The: How A Product is Made" by Film Associates
You can tell it's Mattel...it's swell!