Wooden tractor

Being a predominantly rural province, much of the tradition in Guadalajara until the last third of the 20th century was linked to farming and livestock, references to which can be seen in the buildings, dances, songs and crafts. And this link may be seen, of course, in games and toys which, as we have already seen in this Exhibition, are not just for play but also act as educational elements and stimulate physical, mental and social development.

This tractor was made of poplar wood, very simply, and then decorated with coloured crayons. A tractor is a machine linked to the rural world and used on a daily basis, so children knew them from a very early age. The toy functioned as an evolution from play to work.

Motherhood, war and work have been (and still are) sources of inspiration since the origins of Humankind, and will continue to be so as long as humans exist. Along with the several tools of the artisan, people have always made toy tools which, in a safe environment, are given to children to practice the job. In this case, working the land with a tractor, which the children see their elders doing and which may well be their future occupation as in a provincial farming environment, small and medium plots of land are handed down from father to son.