Williams, A.C. Co.

When A. C. Williams, Jr. bought his father’s business, the A. C. Williams Co., in 1886, it was a leading manufacturer of hardware items in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. After fires in 1889 and 1892 destroyed the Chagrin Falls operation, Williams decided to move the company to Ravenna, Ohio. It was soon after this move that a Detroit buyer suggested that the miniature product models carried by the company salesmen would make nice toys. This [...] Click here to continue reading.

Machmer, Richard & Rosemarie — Provenance Pook 10-24-08

Richard & Rosemarie Machmer Provenance

The following remembrances were publishing the Pook and Pook auction catalogue for this sale, held on October 24 and 25, 2008. For coverage of this sale, please see the account in Maine Antique Digest, published in January of 2009, available at http://www.maineantiquedigest.com/stories/index.html?id=1014.

About thirty-five years ago, I traveled around two hours to an evening country auction in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania. As I walked into the auction house, facing me was [...] Click here to continue reading.

Buddy L Trucks

Buddy L Trucks

“Buddy L” trucks were first made in 1921 as custom toys for the son of Fred Lundahl, owner of Moline Pressed Steel Co. of Moline, Illinois, founded in 1913. Named for his son, “Buddy L” trucks soon became a product line of the company and continued to be made into the 1990s.

Early Buddy L trucks are large, averaging between 21″ and 26″ long, and are practically indestructible [...] Click here to continue reading.

Dent Hardware Company

Dent Hardware Co.

Henry H. Dent founded The Dent Hardware Company of Fullerton, Pennsylvania in 1895. Beginning in 1898, the company produced a wide variety of cast iron still banks and toys, although these products never became a central focus of the Hardware Company. Dent ceased production of still banks and toys in 1937 and the company closed its doors in 1973.

Masudaya toy robot

Masudaya Toy Robots

Toy makers have historically used interchangeable parts in their products, and occasionally updating an old form with an entirely new look to appeal to a different market or segment. To see how the Masudaya toy company followed this tradition with their robots, see p4A.com item numbers 18564, 18565, 18566 and 17565. These four robots share essentially the same body form but completely different “looks” and remain rare and highly collectible.

Kyser and Rex Co. banks & toys

Kyser & Rex Banks and Toys

In 1879 inventors Louis Kyser and Alfred Rex joined their creative talents to create the Kyser & Rex Company of Frankfort, Pennsylvania. The company manufactured iron cast goods and hardware in addition to a line of mechanical and still banks and bellringer toys. Their bank and toy ingenuity was pushed to an even higher level through the later assistance of Rudolph Hunter, a mechanical engineer and attorney. Kyser [...] Click here to continue reading.

Schuco Toys

SchucoToys

Schuco toys were manufactured in Germany from the 1930′s to the 1950′s by Schreyer & Co. which was founded in 1912 and produced their toys under the “Schuco” tradename. Their toys are marked either “Germany” or “U.S. Zone-Germany”, but have been reissued with other marks.

Falk & Schoenner Steam Toys

Joseph Falk and Jean Schoenner Steam Power Engines & Toys

German toymaker Jean Schoenner made steam power engines and accessory toys in Nuremburg from 1875 to 1910.

Fellow German toymaker Joseph Falk, also in Nuremburg, produced steam powered toys beginning in 1895 and would take over the operations of Jean Schoenner circa 1910. The Falk trademark is an oval plaque with the initials JF flanking a tower over a “Made in Germany” banner.

[...] Click here to continue reading.

Estate of Joseph Stanley

Estate of Joseph Stanley

For more than 200 years, residents and visitors passing in and out of New Hope, PA along Old York Road have scene a handsome high-walled mansion on the hill. Built between 1816 and 1823, Cintra was the dream of William Maris, a romantic and financially reckless entrepreneur who modeled his grand residence on a Portuguese castle of the same name.

For twenty-three years, the interior of the New [...] Click here to continue reading.

Ives Toys & Trains

Ives Toys & Trains

Arguably the premier toy manufacturer of it’s time, The Ives Manufacturing Company started from humble beginnings. Edward Ives founded the company in a small shack in Plymouth Connecticut around 1868. Originally working under the name Ives, Blakeslee & Co. The first items built were hot air toys, but the toy line soon progressed to a wide range of toys, that included cannons using real gunpowder and clockwork powered dolls and [...] Click here to continue reading.

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