During the First World War, toy themes became more militaristic, involving tanks rather than bridges. Production and consumption had to be ‘patriotic’ and ‘trading with the enemy’ was harshly punished. A 1914 article in a British toy trade journal stated: ‘You must have BRITISH MADE TOYS’. British war toy production was however of inferior quality due to restricted supplies of raw materials, rising prices, and shortages of skilled labour. Immediately after the First World War, Britain was again opened to toy imports, although German toys initially encountered consumer resistance. Additionally, the German toy industry recovered slowly in the 1920s because of political instability, strikes, scarcity of raw materials, and hyperinflation. In the 1930s it was further weakened as a number of prominent Jewish toymakers fled abroad to escape the Nazi regime. The influx of toy manufacturers as refugees from Germany to Britain enhanced pre-existing trade connections and collaborations.
