Other Very Old Toy Steam Shovels

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Other Very Old Toy Steam Shovels

   It would naturally follow that I would present more almost antique old toy steam shovels after yesterday's post. What always fascinating for myself is the camaraderie (camradery) among toy makers way back. I find it ludicrous that Apple sued Samsung for copying some of their more serious copyright infringements, but also included "rounded corners" as part of the global lawsuit. Yet if you look at the old steam shovel toys, most look very similar albeit the fact that many different manufacturers made the same model.  Perhaps, the law that items "in the public domain" such as trains and steam shovels can in face be copied as toy models is there. Or maybe all of the toy companies actually got or paid for licensing to manufacture the models.

  For today's post, I've selected mostly the older models circa 1920's - early 1940's . I like to present a "cluster" of similar timeline items for everyone to see the similarities and differences among the group.  What's interesting in the case of steam shovel toys, is that they are still around and in superb condition considering their relatively large sizes and age.

   I screen-captured the above image courtesy of SFsorrows via Wikipedia Commons. I did some minor repair to the image, which I hope they won't mind. I don't know the size of this machine, but it is an early steam shovel, probably powered by coal to heat the water to produce the steam for its' movement.  I would say the age is anywhere from 1900- 1920.

Please click on this sentence to be redirect to Bertoia's fine website

There are basically 2 materials that were used for the steam shovel sin the early  years p cast iron and pressed steel. Some of the manufacturers using cast iron would  add a nickel-plated scoop and shaft to their models at an added expense.

The above Arcade model certainly veers off course as far as design goes. It's more sophisticated with the 2 handles for lowering and raising the bucket. As well lots of chain was used.

Lots of sophistication  here in terms of the mechanics (operation) of this  Buddy "L" toy. Their is advanced collars to raise and lower the scoop, as well as having the bucket (scoop) bottom opemn and close to release its load.

Wow!

A pull toy, battery-operated front headlights, and  2 levers for the raising and lowering of the bucket.

Besides that, it's huge coming in at 25" or .635M! 

Fancy Tires - Balloon-Style!

Swivel housing for the steam shovel to rotate.

The more typical  design of the times, with the steam boiler to the rear.

Compare this Keystone toy to the Buddy "L" below.

Train-mounted.

Smaller-sized, less costly to produce, and mass-produced Marx variations of the steam shovel.

At one time, the MArx Company produced  1 in 5 toys in the U.S.

 I'll have to check on this particular brand - Kelmet.

I can't remember ever having heard of this company before.

T-Reproductions is a modern-day company making reproductions of the makes and models from a long time ago. Some patents and copyrights have expired, thus allowing the company to reproduce them. In other cases, their is licensing, and in some cases the company toys that are being reproduced may simply no longer have an owner to the original company name.

This post is one of the more popular posts that everyone likes to visit.  As a result, I decided to add

another post on December 7, 2014.  You can see how many people visited this post there.

Please click here to visit a 2014 post on steam shovels

Bertoia Auctions  most certainly had a broad range of steam shovel manufacturers that they've sold over the years. I tried to present most of them today. As I mentioned at the beginning, it's amazing that so many different makes are so similar in design. What's also interesting is how the toys are in such good condition after all those years, and will most-likely be so in the next 100 years!

Thanks for dropping by for a visit,

and as always, have a great day,

wherever you may be.

Stacey