The Cap Gun Craze

Following World War 2, children’s toys saw the appearance of the cap gun craze. 

Though not an add for the Thorold gun, This Mattel add shows the kind of audience the cap gun was targeting

Originally made of iron (later on, zinc and then plastic), these toy guns used caps, resembling small paper disks, to produce the noise and smoke intended to simulate a real firearm.  

This was accomplished by a small quantity of shock-sensitive explosive compound in the paper.  These disk caps often came in rolls of 50 -500 or, occasionally, in strips.  Initially, the toy guns typically resembled small versions of actual firearms; world war 2 revolvers or, more often, handguns from the “wild west”, like those being used by the heroes of countless TV westerns.  If fact, many of the cap guns being produced bore the names of, or were endorsed by, these TV western stars; people such as Roy Rogers, Annie Oakley, Gene Autry, Matt Dillon, the Lone Ranger or Hopalong Cassidy. 

As Westerns began to fade from popularity in the 60’s, the cap gun focus also changed, shifting to military weapons and, in the wake of James Bond and numerous TV spin-offs, the spy gun!  Wide variations became available.  Everything from small derringer type guns to rifles. Even potato or “spud guns” were introduced, which occasionally used caps and fired (typically about 6”) tiny pieces of potato. By the 70’s, the era of the cap gun began to fade, accelerating even faster in the 80’s with the increasing introduction of stricter regulations and controls on such toys. 

While largely an historic footnote today, in its heyday, many small toy companies arose and sought to cash in on the cap gun craze.

Thorold too had its place in this toy manufacturing chapter.  In the early 1950’s, the “Last Minute Mfg. Co. Ltd.’ (interesting choice of name, likely referring to their short production and delivery times) began manufacturing cap guns among other novelties. 

They had branches in Thorold and St. Catharines.  The iron cap guns were manufactured in St. Catharines, while the all-important caps were made in Thorold.  Produced for only a short while, today, they can only be found in the hands of vintage toy collectors and museums – like Thorold’s!