LE JOUET FRANCAIS (JF), period 1944-1949. Steam engine in sh - Lot 220

LE JOUET FRANCAIS (JF), period 1944-1949. Steam engine in sheet metal and brass. H: 28 cm. Georges Huard was an industrialist originally specializing in bimbeloterie items. He founded "Le Jouet Français" and, from 1944 onwards, focused exclusively on the manufacture of toys. Although the company's headquarters (offices and workshops) were located on rue des Archives in Paris, a large part of production was carried out around Champagnole, in the Jura region, by a skilled workforce working at home and cheaper than in Paris. Initially marketed under the brand name JF (Jouet Français), the first toys in celluloid and pressed sheet metal were distributed through the same channels as historical production. Low-cost bazaar toys, designed to satisfy the massive demand of a whole new generation: such is the broad outline of JF's ambition. In the '40s, the company produced cars with and without mechanical engines, boats, airplanes and celluloid figures. In 1949, the company changed its name from JF to Jouef. But Jouef's industrial and commercial success was to come from its mechanical and then electric trains, which made the company one of the jewels in the crown of the French toy industry. Georges Huard is credited with revolutionizing the very concept of the toy train, considered elitist at the time. He attempted and won the audacious gamble of popular production in a field occupied by formidable competitors: JEP, HORNBY, CR... In the history of toys, Georges Huard and Jouef will be remembered as the ones who brought about the democratization of the train.