Panama Canal Playtime
The Panama Canal Museum Collection preserves a variety of toys, puzzles, board games, playing cards, and models relating to the Canal. Many of these objects focus on making transits of the Canal between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Players can move tokens across a game board, float plastic boats over water, or tilt handheld games to move tiny balls from one ocean to the other. Many of these toys, games, and similar objects depict the Canal, the Canal Zone, and Panama with photos or illustrations, and several feature the locks, towns, cities, and other specific sites along the Canal. Some simply represent pieces of equipment and machinery used at the Canal.
Several of our toys, games, and models were created by manufacturers and publishers who were far removed from the Canal itself, which led to some fairly odd interpretations of the Canal. Of course, some of these unusual interpretations might have resulted from choices made during the design process, but it’s still fascinating to see so many unusual representations of the Canal. Some of the objects were never intended for playtime but rather were created as educational tools or as collectibles. Regardless of their purpose, designs, or intended audiences, we think they demonstrate the appeal of the Panama Canal and the impact it has had on our culture in so many ways and so for many decades.
By: John Nemmers, 2026
Mechanical Tin Toys
Tin toys with moveable parts were very popular in the early decades of the 20th Century and a few of them focused on the construction of the Panama Canal. Undoubtedly, some manufacturers were simply trying to cash in on the global fascination with the Canal at that time, so their accuracy in representing the equipment used at the Canal was not always great. It is worth noting that there also were a few cast iron toys produced during this same period, but the collection unfortunately does not have any examples of cast iron toys.
“Panama” Pile Driver
This tin toy was manufactured around 1905-1920 by the Wolverine Supply and Manufacturing Company. It included marbles originally, which would be lowered one at a time in the bucket. The marbles for our toy were missing when we acquired it. The toy measures approximately 14 inches in length and 16 inches high.
II.2021.36.41
Donated by Brad Wilde.
Panama Canal Derrick No. 277
This is a tin toy named “Derrick No. 277” that includes a hook on a line that can be raised and lowered with a crank. This toy is not dated, but presumably it dates from the first half of the 20th Century.
II.2021.36.42
Donated by Brad Wilde.
Handheld Dexterity Games
Dexterity games, also known as handheld puzzles, became popular in the late 19th Century and early 20th Century. The concept for dexterity games was simple: players would make use of their hand-eye coordination to move a ball or other object towards a destination by tilting the puzzle in various directions. These types of games are still common today.
Panama Canal Puzzle
This handheld dexterity game was patented in 1912 and measures about four inches in length. Although we’re thrilled to have it, our game definitely has seen better days. The box is broken and the glass or plastic top is missing. The goal of this simple game is to get three steel balls (also missing) from one end of the game to the other while passing between the metal “gates” of the Miraflores and Gatun Locks. Obviously, this game was designed with simplicity in mind and other than the background map it doesn’t accurately represent the Canal at all.
2004.010.014
Donated by Constance and Jim Wilson.
Dolly-Kwiz Panama Canal Puzzle
This dexterity game, which features an unusual map of the Panama Canal, was produced by Dolly-Kwiz in 1914 to commemorate the opening of the Canal. The puzzle was patented on October 20, 1914. It measures approximately four inches by three inches and is made of cardboard and glass. The object of the puzzle is to move the “water”, as represented by a small blob of mercury (lower right corner), from one side to the other. We have different variations of this game, including some where the mercury has broken down over time. Most include the text “New York to San Francisco via Canal” on the case, but one reads “One Class Success from Coast to Coast Dixon Crucibles – Panama Canal” and “Compliments of Joseph Dixon Crucible Co.”
II.2023.44.19
Donated by Constance and Jim Wilson and Brad Wilde.
Plastic Toys
From toys and puzzles made of tin and cardboard in the early decades of the 20th Century, we jump forward to the plastic and resin toys of the late 20th Century and early 21st Century. By the 1950s plastic was the material of choice for many toys, so much so that tin toys with moveable parts rapidly became less common. The use of plastic allowed creators to be more inventive with their representation of the lock systems in particular.
Panama Canal Spectacular Action Toy
Advertised on its original box as a “Spectacular Action Toy”, this plastic toy from the late 1950s includes a basin in the middle representing Gatun Lake that can be filled with water. There is a mechanism in each “lock” for raising the four ships on an elevator and launching them into the lake. After floating across the lake, they enter the locks on the other side and are lowered by elevators to sea level. It measures almost 30 inches in length and about 10 inches wide. While the “spectacular” aspects of this toy are debatable, at least the locks do resemble the real locks.
II.2021.36.40
Donated by Brad Wilde.
LEGO set: El Canal de Panamá
This plastic LEGO® Education set for the Panama Canal expansion locks includes movable pieces to demonstrate the operation of the locks. The set includes 1,184 pieces and is created in sections rather than as one entire object. The set also includes ships and a Canal employee.
II.2021.36.103
Donated by Brad Wilde.
Board Games
In addition to toys and puzzles, the collection includes several games of strategy including board games and playing cards. A handful of board games focusing on the Canal have been produced over the past 75 years or so. These board games are both educational and intended for entertainment. In addition to solid strategy, players also benefit from having some knowledge of the Canal’s history.
Quien Controla El Canal? Who Controls the Canal?
This board game was created by Lucinio Arauz A. and focuses on the political and operational control of the Panama Canal. The box features two Canal employees, one from the U.S. and one from the Republic of Panama, arguing over control of the Canal. This game was created around 1982, a few years after the Panama Canal Treaty was signed, and it demonstrates some of the perspectives and attitudes during that transitional period of time when the U.S. was preparing to turn over control of the Canal to Panama.
2011.006.001
Donated by Paul and Trudy Reitz.
Panama Canal Trivia
In 2004, the Panama Canal Museum published this trivia-based board game focusing on the history of the Canal, the Canal Zone, and Panama. Museum volunteers Joan Ohman and Cheryl Russell led efforts to create this game, which was intended to be both for education and entertainment.
II.2024.20.1
Transiting the Canal
This board game was created in 2013 and was an Entrepreneur Project Winner for Panama that year. The goal of the game is to “deliver your cargo and make two full transits through the Isthmus of Panama.” This is another example of a board game that was created for both education and entertainment.
II.2023.999.56
Playing Cards
The collection includes over twenty decks of playing cards focusing on the Canal, the Canal Zone, and Panama. Many include artwork and/or photos of various sites. The large number of playing card sets in the collection reflects the popularity of card games over more than a century as well as the importance of souvenirs.
Panama Souvenir Playing Cards
Each card in this set features a photo from the Canal, Canal Zone, and Panama. One card depicts a map of the Canal Zone. The back side of the cards includes an illustration of a ship passing through the Canal. Published by the U.S. Playing Card Co.
2014.220.1
Donated by Jerry Cox and Diane Hutchison.
Panama Souvenir Playing Cards (Red Case)
Each card features a photo from the Canal, Canal Zone, and Panama. The back side of the cards includes artwork by M.A. Daly of a steamship in the Canal. This deck of cards was packaged in a red case. Published by the U.S. Playing Card Co.
II.2017.999.43
Panama Souvenir Playing Cards Gold Edges Inaugural Edition
Each card features a photo from the Canal, Canal Zone, and Panama. The back side of the cards includes an illustration of a ship passing through the Canal. This deck of cards was packaged in a blue case, and it is identified as the Inaugural Edition. Published by the U.S. Playing Card Co.
2014.220.1
Donated by Jerry Cox and Diane Hutchison.
Panama Railroad Playing Cards
This includes two decks of cards in one set. The back side of the cards in each deck is an illustration from an engraving depicting a locomotive engine of the Panama Railroad.
2005.008.051
Models
Slightly different from the toys, puzzles, and games mentioned above, models are more frequently intended as collectibles or hobbies rather than as something for playtime. There were certainly several model enthusiasts in the Canal Zone and Panama over the years, including children and adults focusing on model trains and model airplanes. Below are just a few examples of the many models found in the collection, several of which were produced to be sold in tourist-focused gift shops.
Bucyrus Steam Shovel Model
This is a model replica of the 95-ton Bucyrus steam shovel that was built for railroad expansion and excavation work in the construction of the Panama Canal, among other tasks. The model is accompanied by a section of railroad track. Produced by Toy Trucker and Contractor/Toy Farmer.
II.2017.999.80
Model of Completed Panama Canal
This model was created more for education than for entertainment purposes. It includes an “accurate relief map of the greatest engineering feat in history,” as well as a profile view of the Panama Canal. The model was created around 1912 (before completion of the Canal) using maps and drawings created by the Isthmian Canal Commission. We have several versions of these models and many were distributed by companies advertising their products or services.
2004.027.751
Donated by Pat Bjorneby.
Panama Canal Railway Locomotive Model
This scale model of a locomotive was distributed by the Panama Canal Railway Company and was intended as a collectible item. The model locomotive is made with resin and includes the text “Since 1855”, which denotes the starting date of the Panama Railroad as the first intercontinental railroad.
2012.013.001
Model of the ship, S.S. Ancon
While most models in the collection were created in larger numbers for wide distribution, some were created as unique, one-of-a-kind objects such as this model of the steamship, S.S. Ancon. The model includes a stand with an attached label that reads: “S.S. Ancon was the the first ship through the Panama Canal August 15, 1914.” The model is approximately 33 inches in length and primarily made of wood with some pieces made of plastic and metal. The model was created based on various deck plans and photographs and was mostly built to scale.
II.2023.50.1
Created and donated by Norman Kelley.
This project is part of the Explorations series, in which we spotlight particular objects and topics from the Panama Canal Museum Collection that otherwise might not be as visible. We hope that you enjoyed this exploration of some of the toys, games, puzzles, and models found in the collection. We’re always on the lookout for new objects to preserve, so please contact us if you would like to donate your old board games, cast iron toys, models, etc.
