A Beautiful Cast Iron Toy Goes To Auction

Friday, December 20, 2024

Overcast and Damp

-8° C / 17° F

A Nice Kenton Pontiac 

Sedan Cast Iron 

Please click on this sentence to go to Mickie's ebay site

I was visiting  ebay  a few days ago, searching for cast iron toys. After "visiting" several stores I came across a store by the name od mikie70mach. There was only one item for sale, but Mikie has sold lots of toys, and his feedback (reviews) are excellent. 

The item shown today is:

 a Kenton cast iron Pontiac Sedan

Circa 1930

Length:  4.5" long (11.43 cm)

 "Car also has a trailer hitch, hidden in the rear bumper 

to pull 1 of two types of trailers" 

What I liked most about the listing was the excellent photography that 

Mikie had taken. 

So that's it for today.

As always, feel free to ask me questions, or even better, send me a an

e-mail if you'd like me to wrote a blog post for you, or to try and find

answers to your questions.

My name is Mr. Stacey Bindman

and I can always be reached at:

toysearcher@gmail.com

Finally,I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and

a Healthy andHappy New Year.

A Nice Toy Find on Etsy From a Fine Seller

Monday, March 24, 2024

7° C / 44.6° F

Clear skies and sun

A Nice Toy Find on Etsy

From a Fine Seller

I was following my regular daily schedule of searching for toys,

when I decided to visit ETSY. For those who don't know ETSY is a website 

that sells all kinds of merchandise. Buyers make offers for merchandise on the site. It's more complicated than that, but you can research how this very successful American company operates.

I've been visiting Etsy lately, and even had to join in order to communicate

with sellers. So I signed on, and was able to communicate with Dan.

The name of his store is:

 VintageToysSB

Please click here to find this fine store and very nice seller

The store is caller VintageToysSB and Dan is the owner. His buyers have written very positively about Dan, and currently, there is a very good selection of toys for sale. What I selected to write about today from Dan's store is an  

Arcade Reo Cast Iron Coupe.

Arcade was an American toy company that manufactured very nice cast iron toys. One of the nicest of their toys was the Reo.

The toy was designed after the "real" car. The car was a 2-door coupe, with a rumble set in the back. When not in use, the rumble seat would fold back into the car, and the back part of the car wold fold back into the rear of the car.

If you do a Google search or other search engines with the words:

"what is a rumble seat in a car?", you will find lots of photos of the cars                 from the 1920's-1930's. 

The cast iron toy way manufactured in the 1930's, by the Arcade Toy Company.The size of the toy ( Length x Width Height) is:

9" x 3 1/4" x 3 1/2" or in metric  22.86 cm x 8.26 cm x 8.9 cm.

You could buy the toy in different colours, such as grey, beige, red, and yellow.

This toy is harder to find on the Internet, and  prices usually may rear over $ 1000.00 US.

The photo above  (right side)shows the rumble seat of this toy. I'm sure the ride was very "bumpy", hence the name "rumble". Back in the USA (United States) in the 1930's, there were still many dirt roads. I can't even imagine the bumpy ride, and the dust that kicked up on the people seated in the rumble seat. And of course, the seat belt would not come into existence and were made mandatory in North America only in 1976!

What I find amazing is the fact that the original white rubber tires are still

on this Arcade toy, and the paint on Dan's REO is mostly there, as well. 

So that's it for today. I hope you enjoyed this post. I've never seen this toy close up,

but even on the 'Net it's quite an "eyeful".

If you ever want to have me write a post about one of your toys,

or would like to have me write a post, in order to find out about 

a toy that you have, please feel free to write to me.

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great part of the day or night, wherever you may be.

My name is (Mr.) Stacey Bindman,

and I can always be reached at:

toysearcher@gmail.com

Pratt & Letchworth or Hubley 4 Seater Brake Coach

Sunday February 5, 2023

2° Celcius 35.6° Fahrenheit

Cloudy with Snow

Pratt & Letchworth or Hubley 4-Seater Brake Coach

    I can't believe the extreme differences of temperature in the last 2 days. Yesterday, it was -30° C / -22° F  and today is "warmer at -16° C / -3.2° F. Needless to say, that's the type of weather that kept me indoors writing a few blog entries! The weather today is going to go up to to 0° C / 32° F . Finally, I'll be able to take my dog for a walk!

    Now back to being serious! 

    A few days ago, I received an e-mail from a reader asking me if I could help him identify a beautiful family heirloom toy that had been in the family over a few generations. Naturally, I was very eager to help the reader out, and of course, I said yes.

    The reader wrote that the item was a Pratt & Letchworth 4-Seat Brake that his grandfather had as a child in the 1900's, about 1915. That was a great bit of information, as I never, ever, heard of the word "brake" to describe a horse-driven passenger transport.

     After some searching on the Internet, I wrote the collector to say that also I thought that the item was a Pratt & Letchworth 4-Seat Brake. Of course, I'm far from an "authority" or "expert" on toys. 

    Interestingly, the collector did some research on my blog, and found a website by the name of Antique Toys. The website is an excellent resource for finding information about old and antique toy manufacturers. The photos are excellently photographed, and the narrative is well done and very educational. And of course, there are always a fine selection of toys for sale.

    The collector contacted Mr. Ed Sanford, the owner of this excellent website, as well as a seller of toys and the owner of his store -Antique Toys. Mr. Sanford looked at the owner's toy, and identified it as a Hubley. 

Please click the address below to visit this fantastic website

https://www.antiquetoys.com/

    I wrote Ed Sanford back, and asked for some detailed contrasting details between the Hubley and Pratt and Letchford, in order to contrast the 2 different companies. Ed replied and I was very much amazed at the information and detail that he provided.

Here's what Ed had to say

"The Pratt and Letchworth toy uses metal on the double trees for the horses, and the overall tree design is different. I have a photo of the P&L.

*Double/single/quad trees are the pieces that connect to horse harness

From LiveAuctioneers."

"The color palette is different on the P&L. P and l also pinstriped their wheels and tend to use Carmel color horses. 

P & L horses always have detailed reins and usually white with red and black colors.

I am still looking for some good photos for you from a catalog, but possibly it is the odd toy that is not well cataloged.  -in surviving catalogs

P & L did not use as many tabbed in floorboards and benches. Hubley cut tongue and groove slots into the side of the carriage cast-iron for assembly.

As I review photos, I wonder if the toy trust allowed Hubley to use some of the castings patterns that were improved upon."

    

    I was glad that the reader had found out the manufacturer of his toy heirloom,  that he had inherited from his father. 

    Living in Canada, I don't get to see any old or antique American toys. My knowledge is mostly from finding information on the Web, and writing about toys from what I learn on the Web.

The first place that I went to was liveauctioneers. For those who don't know, that company is a major auctioneer for many different categories. However, it's a superb resource for finding information about modern, old, and antique toys.

I found excellently-photographed images  from Morphy Auctions, as well DAKOTApaul. Morphy Auctions had photos of the Hubley coach, while DAKOTApaul had photos of a Pratt & Letchworth Coach.

I've spent a lot of time trying to compare the 2 different manufacturers of the 

4-seater brake coach with a team of 4 horses. However, not ever having seem these 2 wonderful and historical toys, it was hard for me to compare and contrast. the Hubley and the Pratt & Letchworth.  I'm very glad that the reader was able to find Ed Sanford, and get the answer to what he was searching for.

Above: Hubley 4-Seater Brake Coach

Below: Pratt & Letchworth 4-Seater Brake Coach

 If anyone out there either has the Hubley or the Pratt and Letchworth 4-horse team with 4 seats Brake Coach, I would very much be elated if you would like to have a blog post written about you and your toy.

So that's it!

Thanks for dropping by,

And as always,

Have a great day, 

wherever you may be.

My name is (Mr.) Stacey Bindman

and I can be reached at

toysearcher@gmail.com

An Extremely Rare Wilkins Street Sweeper

Wednesday, May 27,2020

Sunny

37 C.  99 F

(A record-breaking high temperature)

An Extremely Rare

Wilkins Street Sweeper

Please click here to visit the listing this fine seller on ebay, and this fine listing

It's not often that I see a toy with the price set at 5 digits , being offered on ebay! So naturally I was curious to see what the toy was all about. It turns out that it's a Wilkins street sweeper made in the 1890's, It's a cast iron toy, that's in very good condition for being 100 or more year old.

It's length is 12 1/2" (317 mm).

I contacted the owner and asked for permission to use the photos, and to write about the fine toy. As it turned out, the owner of the toy is Mr. Aaron Phelps, whose ID on ebay is apbubba1.

Aaron's photos are excellent, so that I had very little work to improve them, but for resizing them to a smaller size.

In Aaron's own words:

"I've done some searching and it looks to me this was the last one to sell since 2005.  From a collection out of Minnesota. I don’t believe there is too many that are still around.  Thanks Aaron Phelps."

It's amazing that the bristles for the street sweeper are still  

on the toy, and that the letters (D.P.W.) standing for Department of Public Works

are also still on the toy. 

From this photo below, you can see a brown string

that is attached between the rear left axle of the toy, and the 

bristle gear on the shaft of the wheel.

The 2 photos below help you to better understand

how the sweeper rotates along the surface that it is  cleaning.

If anyone has some information about the Wilkins company, 

please send me the reference so that I can add it to this post.

So that's it for today, having written this second post.

I hope that this fine toy will sell, and that someone will enjoy

owning it.

Have a great part of the day or night.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com

Some Interesting Toys from an ebay Seller

Thursday, November 10, 2016
Overcast with Rain
6 Celsius / 41 Fahrenheit

Some Interesting Toys 

from an ebay Seller

Please click here to visit this interesting ebay seller

I was searching for "take-apart cast iron toys" when the first toy appeared. The seller's  ebay

name is Mambovinny, and his name is Mr. Vince Kahlon. He also is a member of the Southern California  Toy Collectors Club International. Most of his current listings happen to be an eclectic assortment of items. They ranged from bottle openers to badges, and badges.

Antique Rumble Seat Convertible Roadster Toy Car Cast Iron Take apart Version

Length: 4 3/4" / 120 mm)

Hubley, A.C.Williams, and Kenton all happened to make these take-apart cast iron toys. These hands-on toys came inn the forms of automobiles or trucks. Some of these toys came as kits, so that the different parts could be changed for a different look.

If you look at the lower-left photo, you can see 2 flexible thick wires. If you remove the wires from the 2 sets of hooks (front and back) the car can them come apart.  

Old Lone Range Chief Scout Secret Compartment Badge Numbered 1777

Height: About 2" /  51 mm)

I remember growing up as an adolescent and watching Clayton Moore and Jay Silverhills as The Long Ranger and Tonto in the 1950's. Back then our TV only had about 5 channels, and most of the programming was in black and white. Week-after-week, I'd  watch with my brother and sister the program as the pair of crime fighters triumphed over evil.

Many of the TV programs at the time had fan clubs , as well as toys that you could purchase at the local toy store. These of course included guns, as well as badges. The "secret compartment is behind the pin holding section of the badge. You can't put much there but for a secret message of course.

Vintage Japan Puzzle Secret Twist Base Bank wood Inlay

Speaking of "secret", the above Japanese bank  had a hinged latch on the

bottom piece of the wooden bank. The latch was able to be on the inside, and closed on 

the hole. Once this was done, you'd have trouble figuring out how to get the money out of the bank.I assume that you twisted the large wooden piece, and the latch then locked in place on the inside of the hole. When the bank was placed on a shelf, you couldn't immediately figure out how to open the bank.

I didn't find many toys at Vince Kahlon's ebay  store, but what I found was most certainly interesting. I'll keep a note to return to Vince's ebay  store periodically, because I'm quite sure than when he does have toys, they will most likely be quite interesting.

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always,

Have a great part of the day or night,

Wherever you may be.

Stacey Bindman

Toysearcher@gmail.com

Some Newfound Toys from a New Contributor

Saturday, November 5, 2016
Cloudy
9 Celsius  / 48 Fahrenheit

Some Newfound Toys

from a New Contributor

Please click here to visit this fine ebay seller

Barclay was an American toy manufacturer specializing in die cast small-sized toys.  They competed with the likes of Tootsietoys (American) and Dinky Toys (Great Britain).

If you've read my blog, Tootsietoys are one of my favourite small-sized toys.

Like Barclay and Dinky Toys, the company made only small-sized die cast toys.

Tippco's trucks  are slightly rarer that their automobiles. The company was founded in 1912 and named  afar one of its early directors of the company - Miss Tipp. The company was owned by Mr. Phillip Ulmann. In 1933, Mr. Ulmann had to flee Germany due to his being Jewish, and moved to Great Britain. There he founded the Mettoy toy company, before returning after WWII to Germany to recover his company there.

Like most of the toy companies of the early 1900's and later, the A.C.Williams Company started out as a manufacturer of household hardware. Like Hubley, Kenton, and the Arcade Company,  they expanded into the cast iron toy business, and were highly successful into the Mid-1930's. 

Hubley was another household hardware manufacture who expanded into cast iron toys.

They were one of the most productive toy companies of the time,and manufactured toy horse-drawn wagons, and eventually automobiles and trucks. They also manufactured cast-iron mechanical banks which were very popular at the time.

Once again, the Arcade toy company started out manufacturing non-toy items such as cork extractors, coffee grinders,and screen-door hinges. These items were manufactured in 1868 and later. However, the company today is known best for its' cast iron toys.These started to be manufactured in the early 1900's and included doll houses and furniture, horse-drawn carriages and fire wagons. IN the later 1900's, more "modern" toys such as automobiles, buses,airplanes, and farm machinery such as tractors were made. 

There actually was a company called Pickwick that bussed people in California in the 1900 teens.

The company was known for carrying passengers overnight to and from several west-coast cities.

The toy above is was modelled after the Pickwick coach, and is about 4"-5" (102-128 mm) in length.

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always,

Have a great part of the day or night,

Wherever you may be.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com