Slow in Transition

Monday, January 25, 2015
Partly sunny and warmer

Slow in Transition 

(Slow to Change)

   My current car, a 2008 Toyota Corolla 25th anniversary car is a nice car and works well. However it does;t have any gadgets. It doesn't have GPS, cell phone capability, ABS, 4-wheel drive, left sand right car proximity sensors, and of course a rear-view camera. It simply takes me from point A to point B, and in the summer I use the air-conditioning. Basically, for an 8 year old car, it is old and almost "obsolete"!

  For toys, at the turn of the 19th to 20th centuries, it was the same story. In New York alone, it was said that there were a million horses in 1910, while at the  same time , motor-driven wagons (trucks) and cars were just starting to appear.

  Toy companies were still producing horse-driven carts and wagons, but fire trucks and coal trucks were just starting to appear. Interestingly, the term "transition" is used to describe the change when a horse-drawn wagon is replaced with a motor-driven front cab. 

  I selected one of my catalogues, which doesn't have a date, but I would presume to have been published about 1905-1910. If someone has one and knows the date, please e-mail me tso I may correct my dates.

Stacey

Bindman

(Toysearcher)

 Below:

Pages 8 & 9 with horse-drawn movement from pairs of horse. As you scroll down, you ail start to see a front cab/engine with a driver. The rear steam engine our ladder truck is the same one that was drawn by horses!

If you look carefully at the written descriptions and photos, you can become a bit of an historian. 

First of all, there is still a massive inventory and selection of toys for a similar model. There are 2-3 horses,different lengths of wagons, and of course the weights.

It's hard to imagine how such a large inventory and variation in toy sizers and weights could be purchased by the public at the time  and yet t the market (people) did in fact guide Hubley's great production of diversity and variety.

What's also interesting, form an historical perspective is the sheer weight and numbers for shipping!

1-2 dozen toys in a wooden case weighting anywhere from 140-250 pounds. 

One has to remember that the US government was keen to open up the railway system from west to east, and in 1869, the Transcontinental Railroad was completed. 

But the railroad would do more than that. It would allow goods and merchandise to be shipped east to west, wets to eat, north to south, and south to north. New cities would be created and incorporated, and vast hoards of immigrants to the USA would be welcome by the Statue of Liberty - a gift from France that would finally be inaugurated in 1886 by President Grover S. Cleveland. 

The American Government gave the railroads vast tracks of land and resources (e.g. timber) in return for building the railroad. In return there were lower rates established (with of course railroad monopolies) to transport goods and merchandise all over the New American Frontiers.

Below:

If you compare the horse-drawn pumpers or ladder wagons to the machine drawn engines, you'll clearly see that the rear parts are almost exactly the same.

Below:

THese toys are more integrated. THe engine and rear part of the vehicle are more in harmony with the intent of a motor-driven vehicle. There no longer are the pivotal portions like the horse-drawn carts or wagons. The entire structure is one piece!

Below:

Horse drawn wagons. Notice the coal wagon.

Remember that horses were still numerous, and less costly than a motorized vehicle. However, with a mere 20 years, the vast numbers of horses would slowly disappear, to be replaced by the motor!

Below:

Motorized engines and horse-driven carts.

Below:

Past meets the future on 2 pages of the catalogue

I'm sure that my next car will be like the transition of the horse to motor-driven carts.

I'll however have just one priority and that I won't budge from.

I want to be able to drive the car and not have it drive me!

Thanks for visiting,

and as always,

hasve a great part of the day  or night,

wherever you may be,

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com