Toy museum opens, lets Tryon play on its 125th birthday

NC town celebrates anniversary with parade, other festivities

By Jessica Goodman
NYT Regional Media Group

Published: Sunday, September 5, 2010 at 3:15 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, September 5, 2010 at 12:40 a.m.

TRYON, N.C.

The hand-carved wooden toys and items adorned the small house, seemingly cut into the side of a hill near downtown Tryon. The house, completed in 1925, was home to the Tryon Toymakers and Woodcarvers group, who created toys and other items from 1915 until 1940.

“The amount of history this building holds is just incredible,” museum director Nathan Galloway said.

The Toy Maker’s House Museum opened this weekend in conjunction with the town of Tryon’s 125th birthday celebration held Saturday. Showcasing the history of the group, the house had on display many of the craft items from the guild.

“This was the gallery space and the office building,” Galloway said. Another building behind the house served as a workshop.

Toy making came to Tryon with two women, Eleanor Vance and Charlotte Yale. The women, who helped found Biltmore Estate Industries with the backing of Edith Vanderbilt, came to Tryon in 1915. They started the Tryon Toymakers and Woodcarvers, which taught children and adults the art of toymaking and wood carving.

“Teaching them a craft gave them jobs,” Galloway said. “Tryon Toymakers and Woodcarvers, literally, their pieces span the world.”

The mantel around the fireplace of the small house at 43 E. Howard St. showed the intricacy of the art, with interlacing leaves, flowers and vines.

“Looking up at the rafters, the crossbeams — they certainly don’t make them like this anymore,” Galloway said.

Pieces were either donated or loaned to the museum, including a delicately painted set of Goldilocks and the Three Bears toy set.

Morris the Horse, the mascot of Tryon, originally was created by a student of Vance and Yale. Galloway explained the original Morris was 17 feet tall and was built in 1928 for the Tryon Riding & Hunt Club. He was an enlarged version of one of the group’s toy horses. The original Morris was destroyed in a fire, and a reconstructed one now stands in downtown Tryon.

The opening of the museum was part of the 125th birthday celebration of Tryon. The city of Tryon, granted a charter from the State Legislature in 1885, was incorporated into Polk County.

The anniversary was celebrated Saturday morning with a parade down the center of Main Street. Other activities included a Friday morning golf tournament. On Saturday at Harmon Field, the Tryon Arts & Crafts displayed local arts and crafts, and an African-American exhibit will be displayed in the Shops of Tryon on Trade Street.