1940s
Mr. Sigmund and his family were deported and murdered in Auschwitz in 1942, which caused a great problem for Sio. Until shortly before his deportation, Mr. Sigmund not only arranged the sale of Sio toys from his office on Roomolenstraat, but also provided examples of products that Sio produced.
Mr. Mertens said: Mr. and Mrs. Sigmund were connected to SIO as toy designers even during the war. Some of their designs, such as a horse and wagon with a man named Jantje van Alles on the driver's seat, were produced for years after the war.
After the war, the office adjacent to Roomolenstraat on Herengracht became Sio's sales office. Sio Amsterdam not only sold the toys produced by Sio Vroomshoop, but also acted as a buying and selling office for other toys such as Corgi Toys, Tri-ang, and games including Scrabble from Spear.
The collection of Sio Vroomshoop remained almost the same, with no innovation. Production was very labor-intensive for many products.
These were reasons why Sio placed an advertisement in the newspaper in early 1950 seeking a designer.
In the late 1940s, large numbers of horse and carriage sets are being assembled in the factory's assembly department. The production process for these products was highly labor-intensive. In the photo, which only captures a portion of this department, there are 12 people depicted.