The Era of Cast Iron Toys

August 25, 2011

Announcement:

Hello Everyone. 

1. First of all, I'd like to thank all of you who have dropped by to see what I've written. This makes my effort all the more worthwhile.

2. Secondly, I have a new blog:

http://prophotographylearning.blogspot.com/

I taught professional photography for 32 years, and I used to write books and handouts for students. I'll be using some of the "older" material, and start adding new material as I progress.


You're all invited to visit, and as always (although I haven't heard yet from anyone), you're invited to provide me with corrections, feedback, or even to suggest articles that might interest you (if I can do that).

The American Era of Cast Iron Toys

     The toy manufacture time span between the late 1890's and the 1950's went through several changes. The main change would be in how the toys were made. Early on (18090-1935), the toys were mostly made by the cast iron process.  The cast iron process involves melting iron along with some other metals. It's then poured into a mold (cast), allowed to cool, and then the cooled part is separated from the mold.  The  earlier models were made in 2 parts - a left and right. The parts are them aligned together, and a heavy-duty steel pin is pushed through the 2 parts via holes. Each end is them carefully hammered tightly to have the 2 parts joint together. One way of knowing that a cast iron toy is "fake" or reproduction is that the 2 halves are screwed together with a screw, rather than a pin hammered on both sides.

Looking to see if there is a screw holding a cast iron toy together to determine if the toy is an original or a reproduction is good clue, but it is not absolute. I can think of two manufacturers that routinely used screws in the assembly of their toys. That would be Welker & Crosby, and Dent. If it is a Phillips head screw, then is is definately a reproduction (unless someone replaced the screw). Phillips head screws were not invented until the early 1930s.

John
www.castirontoys.com 

* I'd like to thank John for helping me correct what I had written. 

It's always great to have someone more knowledgeable that I, to lend a hand.

    Many of the cast iron toys were called "pull toys" as they were meant to be towed along behind the child with a string attached to a hole at the front of the toy.

Arcade Cast Iron Gasoline Truck

Hubley Cast Iron Bus

Model 2234B

A bus modelled after a Faegol design

The Faegol was a new design for busses to prevent them from turning over at sharp corners of the street.

Hubley Cast Iron Milk & Cream Truck

Circa 1930's

This particular toy is interesting as it has 2 colours, whereas most toys of the era have only 1.

Another Arcade ? Cast Iron Gasoline Truck

 A later-model Hubley.

It's made of 1 piece of casting and it now has wooden rims and rubber tires.

Here's a nice Arcade Sedan.

It also has rubber tires, but on an iron rim.

The name arcade is embossed on the top part of the chassis between the 2 wheels.

On the bottom is the number 1204.

Not all Arcade toys have the name punched into the metal.

Another nice Hubley

The metal stakes on the sides in back might be nickel-plated.

This toy is about 6 inches long.

Another nice cast iron Hubley truck.

 I've had difficulty selling it  so I've ordered 

steel axles rods, with wooden rims and white rubber tires.

A "fake" Cast Iron Toy -

Notice the screw and the Phillips head 

Another Hubley Stake truck with the axles showing.

A Small Cast Iron Hubley.

This item is about 3 inches long

A Hubley Sulkey from 1903

The round metal hole below the left hoof is where the cord or string 

would be attached to for purposes of the "pull toy".

A Pair of Hubley Sulkeys

1 More Sulkey in the Hubley Series

You can see the 2 halves in the casting of the horses, the wagon, and the man.

Both the horses and the man have the steel pin running through them to join the 2 halves.