#FlashbackFriday: The Exchange’s Toy Story

Although Exchange Toylands date back at least to the mid-’40s, when they were known as “G.I. Toyland,” the Exchange didn’t begin developing a toy program of its own until the early 1950s.

Before 1951, toys for domestic exchanges were procured almost exclusively from secondary suppliers, leading to issues with quality control and higher prices. To improve its toy service, the Exchange set up a small-scale toy show of its own in March 1951 at headquarters.

Exchange buyers still attended a national toy show that took place every March in New York City, but the Exchange’s Toy Clinic, as it was known, helped give Exchange representatives a better idea of the differences in value for comparable merchandise.

In 1953, headquarters dropped the show and came out with its first toy catalog. A December 1957 Exchange Post story that provided a look behind the scenes at the Exchange’s toy operation provided a brief snapshot of popular toys for that year, including “a new ‘satellite space launcher,’ electric train set, or the latest doll creation that cries, blows bubbles or walks.” According to the story, the 1957 catalog was 2,000 pages spread across two volumes, listing about 7,500 separate toy items.

Whether by mail-order or in-store, the toy program’s reach was worldwide. Here are some photos of Toylands past.

McChord Air Force Base, 1956. McChord is now part of Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state and still maintain facilities on Vancouver Barracks, the which became the birthplace of the Exchange.

Pictured: Fort Benjamin Harrison, 1959.

Shoppers line up at a Toyland in Nouasseur, Morocco, in 1954. Located near Casablanca, the exchange was operated by the Air Forces Europe Exchange (AFEX), created in 1951 to serve U.S. Airmen in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. AFEX closed up shop in Morocco in December 1963, ending an 11-year presence in the country.

Kagnew Station, Ethiopia, 1963. Kagnew Station was a U.S. Army installation in Asmara, in what is now Eritrea. The installation was established in 1943 as a U.S. Army radio station. In 1973, the Kagnew Exchange transferred to the Navy. The entire installation closed in 1977 when the last Americans left.

Pictured: Maxwell Air Force Base, 1965

Santa arrives in style for a Toyland opening in Bangkok, Thailand, in 1972, during the Vietnam War. The Thailand Exchange System operated 11 retail activities in Bangkok and four at Pattaya Beach, serving about 9,000 customers.

“Star Wars” storm troopers help celebrate the 2019 Toyland grand opening at Fort Leonard Wood.

Sources: “Exchange Service Catalogs Toys in Role as Santa’s Helper,” Exchange Post, December 1957; “One Hundred Years of Service: A History of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service” by Carol Habgood and Marcia Skaer; Exchange History Flickr; Exchange Post archives.