100-Year-Old Toymaker: Why Harold Yoak Still Makes Toys Despite His Age And Turns His Garage Into A Holiday Storefront

Every festive season in Garden Grove, California, a modest garage transforms into a unique holiday storefront. At its heart is 100-year-old toymaker Harold Yoak—known to many as Hal.

Every wooden toy, trinket, and even the wooden staffs inside his garage shop are carefully handcrafted by Yoak himself. His garage shop has become a local tradition, proving that age is no barrier to passion or craftsmanship.

Hal's Holiday Storefront

Every weekend, Yoak's garage at 11382 Paloma Ave. in Garden Grove is converted into a holiday storefront where everyone can buy wooden toys, trinkets, and staffs that are carefully handcrafted by the centenarian toymaker. Yoak said that he is having his busiest year ever. 'I've got over probably $125 in just tips,' he shared with ABC7.

Inside his workshop, tools, paints, and wood are everywhere. Yoak is surrounded by colourful toys: anything from dancing ducks, toy cars, and helicopters to celebratory noisemakers and dinosaurs on wheels.

As NBC Los Angeles reported, Yoak first began toymaking with his brother, who lived in Mexico and dressed up as Santa Claus every holiday season for orphanages and women's retreats.

'He lived there for 17 years, and then for 17 years, I made two or three hundred toys to give to the Mexican kids when he went out to give their Christmas dinners,' he added, 'So, probably 35, 40 years I've been making 100, 200 toys for Mexico for the kids.'

Who is Hal Yoak?

Although Yoak took up toymaking later in life, the 100-year-old toymaker has always been passionate about woodworking, having begun his woodworking career in Ohio.

He said he began with cabinets and repair work. 'I used to make cabinets for kitchens and things like that. I would do repair work. I did an awful lot of repair work. But like you say, you get tired, or you get old. One of the two,' Yoak said.

Before retirement, Yoak turned to carving canes and walking staffs, embedding personal histories into each piece. 'I'd tell people to collect pictures and the resume of their lifetime, the highlights of their lifetime. Then I'd carve their history in the cane or the walking staffs. I did that for years. I sent them all over the world,' he explained.

Yoak also served in the Navy in the 1940s, taking part in Operation Magic Carpet, helping repatriate millions of American servicemen after World War II. After his service, he became a schoolteacher when he moved to California, teaching biology at Pacifica High School for 41 years. Retirement brought him back to woodworking, 'This has kept me out of trouble,' he joked.

His personal life was marked by love and loss. Speaking of his wife, Yoak said: 'She is beautiful, I can't imagine how I ever got her.' She passed away in 2014.

Why He Keeps Going

Despite his age, Yoak remains dedicated to toymaking. '365 days a year, I'll probably be sitting out here making toys,' he said. Asked about his secret for longevity, he laughed, 'I wish I knew. I'd sell it!'

Perhaps the answer lies in the four walls of his workshop and the magic of each of the toys he makes, as it keeps him going in every season. 'I sit out here in the cold in the wintertime and the hot in the summer. It just keeps me going,' he said.

Ultimately, his motivation is simple: 'I like doing it. I really do.'