The Soldiers Toy Factory (aka the Adelaide Toy Factory) was established under the Australian Soldiers Repatriation Fund in late 1916. A South Australian initiative in the wider Repatriation movement to employ injured returned soldiers, it was located in Young Street, off Waymouth Street, in the city. It started on a small scale with a manager and three soldiers, but the high hopes for its success because of anticipated Christmas demand from patriotic parents did not eventuate. The men's wages were calculated so that their combined income including their military pension did not exceed 3 pounds a week. Difficulties in retaining a manager, the men's dislike or lack of aptitude for toymaking, and lack of income meant that the factory had closed by 1918. The School of Mines took over the equipment and the men were encouraged to undertake woodworking training. (Advertiser, 2 November, 1916, p4; Daily Herald, 22 November 1916, p6; Register, 8 February 1917,p7; Journal, 8 January 1918, p2.)