Appalachian folk toys Archives - Appalachian History

The Tryon Toy Makers and Woodcarvers

There is much to admire about Eleanor Vance and Charlotte Yale, the exceptional women who established their Tryon workshop in 1915.

The summer meadow has always held special treasures. Two of the best just happen to grow cheek by jowl: the clover, and the English Plantain.

The whimmy diddle is fashioned from two sticks of laurel or rhododendron into a rubbing stick and a slightly thicker notched stick.

WV entrepreneur Donald F. Duncan (1892-1971) had never heard of the yo-yo until 1928, when he encountered Pedro Flores in California.

Two classic wooden folk toys, the whimmydiddle & the flipperdinger, have been enjoyed by children for hundreds of years in the region.