Let’s take a trip through South Carolina’s best wooden toy brands — Made in South Carolina, for South Carolinians by South Carolinians.
But first a quick fact! It’s no surprise, South Carolina’s official state tree is the sabal palm (sabal palmetto).
But did you also know, the timber and forest industry is a major contributor to South Carolina’s economy? According the South Carolina Forestry Commission, industrial woodwork is a #1 contributor to local jobs. So, the stage is set for more wooden toys!
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(01) Southern Miss Design
From Spartanburg, SC — Southern Miss Design wins the proverbial South Carolina’s back-to-school Miss Popular Of The Year award! What began as a passion project for self-care’s sake and grew into a family-centered business
Southern Miss Design creates personalized vinyl and wooden items crafted during quiet moments between playtime and cartoons. Her personalized wooden back-to-school supplies are here to stay — pencils, rulers, and pens available in vibrant rainbow or soft pastel colors.
See Southern Miss Design on Etsy.
(02) DaVinci’s Cupboard
Who knew solving the DaVinci Code would be as simple as well made wooden toys? Here’s Simpsonville, SC collection of simple, unpainted retro-looking wooden cars, trucks, and airplane push and pull toys. You bet — you can place a custom order too!
See DaVinci’s Cupboard on Etsy.
(03) My Father’s Hands LLC
At the moment, My Father’s Hands only makes three types of “wee sized” wooden vehicle toys — a grader truck, a steamroller truck, and a tandem axle box truck. We asked him to make me something fashionably Montessori, and he responded, “You mean like a truck?” (That last part is in good humor.) From Myrtle Beach, SC — My Father’s Hands just keeps on truckin’!
See My Father’s Hands LLC on Etsy.
(04) Miracle Craft
What do a cat, a pony, and a T-rex have in common? They’re all handmade standalone wooden animal puzzles made in Simpsonville, SC. Miracle Craft finished unpainted about 5 inches tall, your child can paint and decorate these freestanding animal puzzles any way they please.
A South Carolina Toy Making Time Capsule
- All About Old Toys — All About Old Toys is a website run by a historic toy collector in West Columbia, SC. Detailing America’s wooden and metal playthings from before 1945 — they’ve collected over 10,000 photos and over 500 pieces of memorabilia — like posters and advertisements.
- Elite Baby Products — Until some time before 2025, Elite Baby Products was a Charleston, SC based wooden ring baby rattles and teething rings maker. Their natural teething toys were hand-made with hand-crocheted animal buddies attached — as cute as could be!
- Fawn + Fox Wood Shop — Until before 2025, the Fawn + Fox brand figured out an all-natural way for young children to learn at home. From Charleston, SC — they designed wooden homeschool materials to teach your kids writing, counting, and a little bit of science at home!
- We Are Mom Friends — Until some time before 2025, a couple of creative mommies put together a toy collection — turning wood food shapes into a fractions learning exercise. Sections of food encouraged learning basic math concepts like division.
- On Maple Lane — For 10 years until early 2024, On Maple Lane made photo-perfect unpainted Montessori baby toys and nursery decor and baby shower gifts. Their signature style was a “white and wood” color scheme as pure as a new born baby angel.
- Titus Original — Until the year 2021, Titus Original was a maker of kid-friendly wooden toy knives and guitars — under the slogan “built to survive your little monsters”. Rock and roll with rubber bands with a hunter’s knife with a blunt wooden blade — Titus Original had their own ideas about child rearing.
- Congaree Toy Company — During World War II a military family headed by T.I Weston and Barnie McEntire made South Carolina’s most iconic toys — from a modest shop in Columbia, SC. Today, the South Carolina State Museum recognizes Congaree Toy Company as the most important historic pioneers of South Carolinian wooden toy manufacturing.
