Some Very Rare Dent Wreckers

Friday, July 18, 2014
       Sunny, windy and warm

Some Very Rare Dent Wreckers

   Yesterday started out well. I went to Tim Horton's for my regular low fat muffin and coffee, then proceeded to my small piece of city land to water my vegetables. AS I left the parking lot, I looked left, then right, then was going to turn left. There was an SUV parked to my right (or so I though),so I proceeded to turn left. As I'm doing this the SUV moves, and I honk frantically to warn him that he's going to hit my car! Honk, honk,honk, crunch!

   I was very mad, then later calmed down. The man was older than I (like I'm a youngster at 65), so we exchanged information, and I proceeded to file the incident with the insurance company.  The file claims lady then informed me where I could get my car repaired, and I went there. Needless to say, you know what was on my mind for today's post. Anyway, at least both I and the other driver were OK.

Please click here to visit Bertoia Auctions exceptional group of past auctions

I added this nice Terraplane to today's post, even though it's not that rare. It's based a the real Terraplane that was around in the 1930's.

ALthough this Dent wrecker is described as "a previously unseen version of a wrecker by Dent",

it didn't receive  the final gavel price at the last one on today's post.

The one below yielded a high price at the final gavel knock on the wood base of the auctioneer.

However, this one again, didn't yield as much as the final one.

I had some trouble  trying to get the colour accurate was possible. I'll work at it on the weekend. I would have thought that the factory model (aboveA) would be more valuable than the one below. Then again, auctions at different times, with different people, and different times of year all have their own dynamics. 

The one below was item # 977 and was auctioned off on March 27, 2014.

You can see the final price below by clicking on the link.

Please click here to see what this fine and rare toy sold for at Bertoia Auctions

THe item had been estimated to yield a final price of $ 2000.00 -$ 2500.00 US

Fortunately, my car was easily drivable and I didn't need a wrecker.

I do prefer calling these items tow trucks- but in the world of toys and way back in time they were called……….

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com

D Stands for Dent and "Details"

Friday, November 22, 2013

D Stands for Dent and "Details"

   I like to return periodically to old posts and see what I can add for future posts. today's post is about Dent Cast Iron toys. You don't see cast iron toys (1880's-1940's) very much outside of America. It seems to have been mostly an American "phenom" (American abbreviation for phenomenon) . I have found some cast iron toys made in Sweden though, but not on the scale or timespan as in the USA.

   Dent was one of about 5 American companies who got in at the beginning of the cast iron toy market. Like the other such as Hubley, the company had manufactured hardware cast iron items such as door hinges and handles. Many of the employees of these early companies were Europeans who brought their skills and craft to America. As such, when you look at the  toys in detail, there is much to see. I always have wondered how molten iron could be cast to show such detail. It's not like die cast  where much smaller and finer detail can be shown.

Please click here to visit Bertoia Auction's wonderful website

Like all toys, many of the early Dent toys were reproduced after  real things and people of interest of the time. The early firemen, their horses, wagons, and pumpers were much in demand, and it's amazing how many different models were made by the many different companies of the time.

Most of these toys are called "pull toys", as a string or cord would be attached to the front of the toy, and pulled along the ground. Of course, if you lived in a city, you might be "lucky" to pull the toy on a wooden sidewalk.

I'm always amazed when I read "nickel-plated". Nickel was expensive and to use that as a metal is quire interesting to me. Our 5-cent piece is still called a "nickel" because that's what is was made from. Sadly, its now made from some much less expensive metal.  The first large nickel mine was discovered in Sudbury, Ontario.

If you've never read my blog, you absolutely and positively have to do a search for the Chrysler Airflow. This was a beautifully-desined car that  only was produced for about 3 years due to lagging sales. Of course, the years that it was made were at the time during the Great Depression. There are perhaps 1000 times more toy cars of the Chrysler airflow that were made compared with the original cars that were produced at the time, and that's my conservative estimate! 

Colour was an important factor for toys, and if you look at all the toys on the page, you'll see how many different colours were used. Once again, the wheels are nickel-plated with the centres painted red.

My favourite cast iron or any toy for that matter is one that you can get your hands on to play with!

Those tipping bind are terrific!

When I first saw the street sweeper, I initially though it was another steam roller. However, it tunred out to be a sweeper with a bristle-type of roller that actually moves. I've never seen one of these early toys before.

The fact that all of the pieces (except the steering wheel) is amazing. The posts certainly look wobbly and I wonder if they can come out easily, or were hammered at their bottoms to have them stay intact in their square "holes".

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a very nice part of the day or night,

wherever you may be,

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com

Matching Dent Toys with their Original Catalog Images

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Matching Dent Toys with their

Original Catalog Images

   When I was buying old toys on E-Bay, I always like to have old and antique toy books or catalogues to cross-reference the potential purchase with an original image and its description.  You can rely on E-Bay sellers to be trustworthy, since E-Bay favours more the buyer than the seller.  Therefore it's in the sellers interest to be honest.  Otherwise, there will be a complaint, and the seller will have to resolve the case. Also, there will be negative feedback by the buyer on the comment page of the seller.  However, this often doesn't seem to mean anything to many people, as I've seen some sellers have 100 negative feedbacks in 6 months,but their total was 2000 sales. So not even E-Bay seems to care sometimes! As for auction houses, although I've never dealt with them, they have to be totally honest and maintain their reputations. The auction house is often dealing with extremely rare and costly items, and itis 100% in their interest to maintain an extra level of honesty and good will! 

   I purchase a CD copy of a Dent 1920's catalog from a company called Cabin Creek Enterprises LLC as a PDF (Portable Document Format) download.  There is an extra page added to the catalogue that says that they maintain a copyright over the reproductions. I'm not sure that's totally legal, but I respect their notice, and regardless, they do allow copies to be used for personal purposes.  The reason for my use of their photos is that I don't make any money from my blog, so I hope blogging is considered personal. As far as whether or not they can issue a notice about their ownership of the catalogue, is that since the toy company is no longer in business, then the catalogue might be allowed to be reproduced, as it had by other companies in the past. Currently, Google and E-Book reader companies are "selling" books whose authors have long since died, and probably have no legal heirs to the rights to the books or catalogues. However, I am not a lawyer or expert, so I there have attached copyright notices to each image from Cabin Creek that I chose to use, along with a watermark.

  By having the catalogue, I like to be able to use it and cross-reference and match up old toys with the original catalogue photos and descriptions. I enjoy learning about old toys, and  also like to share my likes with my readers. So today's post is about matching the real toys with the catalogue photos and descriptions.

Please click here to be redirected to Bertoia Auctions fine website

Before radio and television, there were newspapers. And in the newspapers, the comics and "funnies" were a large part of the daily or weekly newspaper. Adults and children would follow the characters in the funnies each day or week, and they got to know these "characters" quite well. Naturally, this was not lost on toy manufacturers, and many toys became to be based on cartoon characters that would be licensed by the owners of the particular cartoon.

What's noteworthy here is the description by Bertoia. Often, old toys that had parts missing or broken would have replacement parts added, which might be the wrong ones. Bertoia, and other auction houses probably have a library of old books and catalogues to ensure that what they are selling is correctly described. And should there be any differences, they will ensure that these are added to the item's auction description.

That small yellow tag attached to this firetruck  is similar to the  toy above it. BOth came from the original company, and were shelf samples for sellers to refer to when they came to the showrooms of the Dent Company.

In the catalogue that I purchased, there were many different firetruck models. What interesting is that I thought I would be able to find all the old toys from the catalogue on Liveauctioneers, and then at the actual  different auctioneers  websites. That didn't seem to hold true. I wonder where the ones I didn't find are, and how valuable they are?

The Dent  catalog that I purchased doesn't indicate the date that it was printed. It is identified as 

"Dent Toys, Catalogue No. 10"

If someone has the same catalogue,and knows the year that this catalogue was issued, might you please send me an e-mail  or add a comment to this post. I will then update this blog post.

If you read the descriptions that I add to most images on my blogs, you'll have realized that most of today's toys were quite big!  What's also interesting is that most of these toys garnered handsome sales for the auctioneers and the seller of the toys.  I mentioned before how "substantial" cast iron toys are in my hands. And these large toys would feel even more "substantial"!

The above sedan didn't yield a  high price at auction, but it did receive a winning bid  that was quite respectful. I then notices in the description that the words "second casting" were described. What this means is that this was not made  at the time of the catalogue. Someone might have had access to the original moulds and made this cast iron sedan later.  That's also part of the "detective" work and experience that quality sellers, and auction houses or companies know!

I'm posting late today, which by Google Blogger time is actually Thursday, July 4, 2013.

Google uses 20:00 P.M. (8:00 P.M.) as the end of the day for visitors to my website, and hence I assume, the start of a new day.

So if you're an American and are reading this , may I wish you a Happy July 4 (Independence Day) Holiday. And for everyone else, have a nice day.

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great part of the day,

wherever you may be.

Stacey

Some Dent Toys with Their Original Catalogue Scans

Monday, July 1, 2013
              (Canada Day)

Some Dent Toys

with their Original Catalogue Scans

   It's a busy week this week. Today is Canada Day where we celebrate the unification of 3 British "colonies" into a single country called Canada. The original colonies were Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Province of Canada. That happened on July 1, 1867 under what was then called the British North American Act.  Not everyone is "happy" about this, if you ever follow Quebec politics.  Then later on this week on July 4, there is Independence Day in the USA, where the USA became independent from Britain.

   Changing the subject, yesterday, we finally had a beautiful sunny day, the first in a while. If it rained any longer, I'd go into the business of selling mushrooms from my lawn!  Today, the weather is partly cloudy, to be differentiated from partly sunny, both terms of which I can never tell you the difference!

History of the Dent Company

or 

Staying on the Topic

   I did some research on the net, and discovered that the Dent Hardware Company was founded in 1894 by Mr. Henry H Dent. Mr. Dent was an intelligent and energetic person who had the great foresight to manufacture ice boxes (the forerunners of today's refrigerators). For those who don't know,  an "ice box" was a well insulated and sealed kitchen unit that held a large block of ice (usually on the top) and food (usually on the bottom). The cold from the ice helped preserve food for several days or longer. Of course, back then people ate "fresh", and it was important to keep the food from turning bad. The ice was cut in winter from rivers or lakes, then stored in huge warehouses over the the rest of the year - imagine that! 

  What  made Dent ice boxes different was the fact that they were beautiful and elegant.  They had ornate handles, hinges and latches that were all cast  in the Dent company's own foundries.  Within a few years the company became well-establihed through their high-quality and design. Of course, by the later 1920's electricity in the large US urban areas was established, and the refrigerator (an e"electric ice box" began to gradually replace the ice box!  When I was a kid (in the 1950's), we'd go to Mississquoi Bay in Quebec. It  was a country vacation area then, and my  Aunt Sylvia and Uncle Sammy also went.  We had a "real refrigerator" and it had an ice box. A man on a horse and cart would haul ice, and bring it to their cottage every week!

  Of course, most cast iron foundries at the time (1860's-1920's) that made hardware, also started making cast iron toys, and the Dent Hardware Company was no different. In fact, they were one of the more successful companies of the time ,along with other companies like Kenton, Kilgore, Hubley, and Arcade.

   Flash forward to today, and the company of some ownership changes over time, and Mr. Harry C. Dent, the grandson of Henry H. Dent retired after having owned a new company from 1955. At that time, he left his business partners to form the Dent Manufacturing company. IN 2007, the Dodge Family purchased the company from Mr. Dent, and the company was restructured,and is now known as the Dent Design Company. The company still makes reproductions of their original hardware way back from the ice box era!

Please click to visit Bertoia's fine website

© Copyright 2013       Cabin Creek Enterprises LLC

PLease do not copy without the written permission of Cabin Creek Enterprises LLC

What's interesting for me is the sheer weight of these toys. For this toy, the largest of the Dent dirigibles or blimps is the fact that it weights 3 pounds or 1.36 kilos! What's even more interesting with the Dent airplanes and dirigibles is how many different sizes and colours that were offered to the customers!

© Copyright 2013       Cabin Creek Enterprises LLC

PLease do not copy without the written permission of Cabin Creek Enterprises LLC

Gorgeeeeeous! 

These are how airplanes looked in the 1930's and not everyone would ever have seen one,especially in the farm belts of the midwest USA,unless it flew over a farm in the USA. And the materials from which the toy was made are also interesting. This Dent airplane was made  of cast iron, and nickel-plated engines  and propellers (3). The disc wheels are also nickel-plated and painted! 

The above toy is the largest of the Dent  "cabin" airplanes. It weights in at 50 pounds for a dozen or 3.33 pounds each. In kilograms, that's 1.5 Kg!

© Copyright 2013 Cabin Creek Enterprises LLC

Please do not copy without the written permission of Cabin Creek Enterprises LLC

The "Lucky Boy" line of cast iron airplanes came in lots of choices.
There were many different colours and many different sizes to choose from.

I'll be writing more about the Dent airplanes in the future. I had intended to add a few more toys, but the catalogue from which I used the photos above was probably an early edition. As such, it did not show toy airplanes that I had screen captured. These were probably made after this particular catalogue. 

So this is the first post for the second half of 2013, and I hope you've enjoyed the photos that I presented today.

Thanks for dropping by.

If you're Canadian, Happy Canada Day, 
and for everyone else have a nice part of the day, 
wherever you may be.
Stacey