Buck's Junior 4

Object NameToy Stove / Salesman's Sample

Manufacturer Buck's Stoves & Ranges (American (St. Louis, MO))

Datec. 1900

MediumCast iron, nickel

Dimensions21 3/4 × 15 1/2 in. (55.2 × 39.4 cm)

ClassificationsDolls, Doll Accessories, Toys and Games

Credit LineGift of Mr. & Mrs. John Wessman. In the Farm House Museum Collection, Farm House Museum, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object number77.25.1

Status

On view

Collections

CultureAmerican

Label TextFrom the University Museums Collections Handbook, vol. 2, 2025: Then as now, toys were a vital part of Victorian Era play. But toys frequently disguised learning as play, reinforcing gendered stereotypes with dolls, doll houses, and child-sized kitchen sets for girls and toy livestock, trains and child-sized tools for boys. In many cases children emulated the gender roles they were accustomed to and the roles they witnessed their parents perform daily. Toys that were practical often turned into educational tools for the chores to come as the child aged. Salesman samples such as this Buck’s Junior 4 c. 1900 are frequently mistaken for Victorian Era toys, however these are small-scale versions of actual commercial products that manufacturers used to sell a particular product, in this case Buck’s Stoves & Ranges. Traveling salesmen used these small-scale “salesman samples” to show new products to retail dealers and customers. Most salesman samples at one-sixth scale or one-eighth scale operated just as the full-scale product, instead of being a visual placeholder for the genuine product, as in this case where the Buck’s Junior 4 is made of cast iron and nickel.

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