Thursday, April 18, 2013
Exquisite Ferris Wheels by Doll et Cie
The more I search out toys, the more I become surprised but not surprised. That sounds "strange" or contradictory,but old and antique toys will always surprise you! 2 Days ago, I presented 2 Hubley Ferris wheel toys. I had never seen a ferris wheel toy by Hubley, so I was pleasantly taken aback. I searched for more ferris wheels, and lo and behold, I came across 2 German ferris wheels that are to be auctioned by Bertoia Auctions on May 3-4, 2013.
I've seen very complicated ferris wheels from Mecanno, but those were made by hand from kits. So when I saw the 2 Doll et Cie ferris wheels, I was in awe.
History
"Doll et Cie. was founded in Nüremburg, Germany in 1898 by John Sondheim and tinsmith Peter Doll. During the company’s early years, production concentrated on stationary steam engines and accessories. These steam toys were widely distributed throughout Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Max Bein, who was Sondheim's nephew, joined the company just before the outbreak of the First World War as a third partner. The company then started producing clockwork novelty toys. After the war, in the 1920's and into the 1930's, the production of steam engines continued together with that of trains, a steam car and a lorry. The company had a change of ownership in the late 1930's when Fleishmann took it over.
At that time, there were roughly 250 employees in the firm. The original founders were Jewish and thus were being victimized by the Nazi regime, and the Aryanization laws, prompting the handover. The Doll name was retained and used by Fleischmann until the post-war period (1949). Max Bein and his family managed to escape Germany and the horrors of the Holocaust, winding up in the United States, and settling in the Boston area. After the war, Fleischmann offered to return the company back to the original owners, but they declined, accepting a buyout of their shares instead."*
* http://www.tcawestern.org/doll.htm
For those who don't know, TCAwestern.org stands for The Train Club of America - Western Division. I had written a post about this outstanding website on January 19, 2013:
Naturally, When I read the history from TCA - Western Division, I had to do a search to see the toys that Doll et Cie had produced. And sure enough, TCA - Western Division was correct. Aside form being lucky to find the e ferris wheels that I am presenting today, I mostly found a few trains, and lots of steam engines. At one time, steam engines were very popular. I've even written about them a few times.
The 2 ferris wheel toys immediately below are the ones that are going to be auctioned on
May 3-4, 2013. I tried to enlarge parts of the ferris wheel, but you can only enlarge so much when working from any image. The best results are always achieved with large-sized original images. The original images are usually 72 DPI, and I then resize to 144 dpi (dots per inch). At that resolution, you're very limited. Howev4er, you can still see the detail!
Enlarged section illustrating the clown "cranking" the ferris wheel.
An original glass dome for the light of the ferris wheel.
The ticket booth at the bottom of the ferris wheel.
The original glass domes for the light of the ferris wheel.
Some of the ferris wheel riders.
A close up of the actual mechanism that moves the ferris wheel.
Such fabulous detail for a toy!
More outstanding detail, and the actual wind-up mechanism to move the ferris wheel.
Colour, design, detail, and lots to see for a toy!
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, the search for toys will always lead you to be surprised, and yet not surprised. I'm sure many of you who follow this blog have also felt the same, having seen toys at auction, fairgrounds, or in museums, and felt that wonder at having seem such marvels for the first time.
I get that feeling about seeing fascinating things that I've read about. About 15-20 years ago, I went with Heidi (my wife) to Washington DC. We stayed only 3- 4 days, but I could have stayed a month. At the old aviation museum (Smithsonian), I saw Lindburgh's airplane, the Wright Brothers airplane, and other historic items. At the American History Museum (Smithsonian), I saw a cross section of a Brooklyn Bridge cable, and how lead pencils were made. And at the Library of Congress, I saw the original lyrics of West Side Story written by Leonard Bernstein.
Discovering photos of new toys and writing about them gives me that euphoric feeling, akin to catching a big fish for the first time, or throwing a baseball farther than I ever knew I could when I was 12 years old.
Thanks for visiting,
and as always,
have a great part of the day,
wherever you may be.
Stacey
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