Manoil Toy Soldiers at Their Best

Monday, November 16, 2015
       Sunny and Milder Temperatures

Barclay Toy Soldiers at Their Best

   I discovered Mr. Dirk Soulis one day while searching for toys on Liveauctioneers. For those who don't know, Liveauctioneers is a website for auctioneers that  allows auctioneers to present their merchandise to viewers. As well, it allows the viewers to sign up, and then to bid on the auction merchandise. 

   Dirk Soulis is a dynamic powerhouse who knew while in university  what he wanted in life. He pursued his degree by taking various appraisal course at university, and started up his company inn 1985, right after graduation. Even during his studies at university, Dirk was buying and selling merchandise.

   For those who visit this blog regularly, you'll know that I stopped blogging for a while. I reached a milestone of 300,000 page views, but I haven;t been able to elevate readership to the next level.   I get web designers offering to improve my website and readership, but I'd have to pay. I blog merely to keep my photography and photo-editing skills "fresh", so that I can return anytime to blogging. Google has me listed at the top of  their search engines, but that hasn't helped much, since not everyone uses Google.

   Anyway, when I visited Dirk's website on Saturday, I was greatly impressed. Not only does Dirk have fine photography, but he is always improving his website.  I don't know if he designs his website on his own, but I think he once told me that he does the photography. His website is quite up-to-date and presents itself superbly in terms of design and content, and photography.

   Dirk sells fine art and antiques, with toys playing a lesser importance. However, whatever Dirk sells, he does with a passion. His photograph, as I mentioned is superb, and his descriptions are well researched.

Please press here to visit this fine American Auctioneer

"Seventeen Manoil soldiers circa 1940, painted cast metal, measure from 2 to 3.5 inches.

Plus two Barclay sailors and a cowboy, plus other vintage cast metal and plastic toys." 

There are other figures in this lot up for auction, but I decided to focus on the Manoil set.

What originally caught my attention from the Manoil cast metal soldiers were the motorcyclist and the bicyclist. There were no spokes to the wheels, but the frames of the cycle were formed with  the wheel and tubes. This was an astounding casting for myself.

Below is a larger-sized example of the bicycle and soldier. I also like the parachutist who has just landed on the ground.

What makes these type of toys interesting is that they allow children to imagine a miniature world to play. A child can return to the soldiers, and create a different play a story each time. 

I'm not sure what the solider at the top centre is doing - perhaps he has a flame thrower on his back.

I'm unsure what the soldier is doing to the flamethrower's right, but he might be eating.

These soldiers would appear to be WWI soldiers rather than WWII. However, I did read and watched a WWII documentary that presented soldiers in WWI outfits and WWI guns. At the onset of the AAmericans entering the war, they were unprepared when the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbour, Hawaii.

Once again, the massive howitzer leads me to believe that these toy soldiers are from WWI.

So that's it for today. I'm glad I was able to present these fine Manoil soldiers from Dirk. The quality of the photography, the size, and the arrangement all present these tiny figurines in their best manner.

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

Staccey Bindman

'toysearcher@gmail.com

An Interesting Air Drive Toy Bus

Friday, November 14, 2014
Partly sunny and very cold

A Very Interesting 

Air Drive Toy Bus

   A few days ago, a reader sent me some photos and asked if I could identify the toy. He mistook the toy as being cast iron when in fact it was a slush toy. A slush toy is manufactured from a mild. A molten alloy of metals is poured into a cavity (hole), swirled around to create the items's shape,and the excess liquid is pouted back into the hot cauldron  to put again. The reader had written that a mechanic by the name of Arthur created the toy. I should have investigated further, but didn't. Gladly, the reader found the answer to his own question.  The company name was the Kansas Toy and Novelty Production Company,and the name of the mechanic who became a toy manufacturer was Arthur Haynes.

   I's written about slush toys before, so I decided to check out Liveauctioneers to see what is currently being offered "et voila" (and here in English) was a fine toy being sold by Dirk Soulis Auctions. I found a masterpiece that was made by another company called the C.A.W. Novelty Company. Sadly, it closed down in 1940.

Please click here to visit this very interesting auction company

Dirk likes to add this apple (wood or plastic) as a reference 

to the relative size of smaller items that come up for auction.

You can always identify a slush toy by the 2 openings at the bottom.

One certainly doesn't see one of those toys every day,so it's quite interesting. 

It "easily" fits in to those sci-fi movies from the 1930's and 1940's.

Thanks for dropping by, and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be,

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com

Two Exceptional New Discoveries - The Salesman's Model and The Auctioneer

Tuesday, August 19, 2014
    Sunny with cooler temperatures

Two exceptional New Discoveries-

The Salesman's Model and The Auctioneer

   I made two fantastic discoveries yesterday on Liveauctioneer. One is a salesman's early 20th century Adams Road Grader Sample and the other is Dirk Soulis Auction. I had never known that salesmen sample existed before I started to write this blog. A salesman sample is an exact replica of a "real" item that was used by travelling salesman in the first third of the twentieth century of the USA.. Because there were few automobile roads, or even automobiles for that matter, companies replied on the railroad system to sell and distribute their products. 

Part 1: Mr. Dirk Soulis and Company

I won't give away the whole story, because Dirk Soulis' biography is so interesting . From an early age at college, Dirk appeared to already have a firm foundation in selling. He paid  his own way for his education  at University by buying and selling antiques, as well as working for two Fine Arts and Antiques Dealers After finishing university he travelled with his fine collectibles across America, as well as acting as a broker for some major" pieces of art and antiques for others.

I'll let you read the rest of his biography and the link below, because for me to write the whole story would be like telling you the end of a movie before you saw it, and Dirk's bio, along with his wife Susan, is a great story! 

Please click here to read the most interesting history and 

bio of Mr. Dirk Soulis and his fine auctionCompany

Part 2: The Salesman's Sample

  Small towns had originally sprouted up all over America, followed by the rail system (trains) then followed by mail catalogues.  Salesmen would travel by train all over the USA (and Canada of course) with small exact models of why they were selling. Because the models were so accurate, the salesman and the customers could see exactly how the item woke in every detail.

  These salesmen samples are not really toys, but they are so fantastic in my opinion,that I write about them periodically. Today's discovery is the Adams Leaning Wheel Road Grader. I've written about the toy Adams engine-operated grader, a circa 1940's toy, but to find the salesman's sample is fantastic.  Today's presentation was pulled by horses or oxen because it had no engine. A driver would sit on a seat and operate the machine and I assume someone else would guide the hard-working horses or oxen. 

The most thorough description of this item was very well researched by Mr. Dirk Soulis or his staff, and I decided to present it verbatim for everyone to read.

Please click here to visit This fine American auctioneer's website

Description:

"A scarce and desirable Salesman's Sample for the ADAMS LEANING WHEEL ROAD GRADER. This patented leaning wheel design became the industry standard at the turn of the century. The Adams design was superior to other graders of the day in that it kept its blade level even when the terrain was uneven. It eventually became the industry standard for road grader design and was made from 1896 until 1922. Known as the 'Road King' this horse or oxen drawn piece of machinery featured a manually operated blade that smoothed unpaved roads. It could also serve as a snow plow. The tines on its blade could easily break up dry dirt or snow. This is a fine nickel plated brass example of these rare and desirable Salesman's Samples. It has three brass plaques with the maker's name and location. The controls work to adjust the blade and the wheels and a number of other functions. The finish is very nice, completely untouched. This great example measures 10 x 10 x 23 inches."*

Description Courtesy Of Dirk Soulis Auctions

I'll be returning from time to time to Dirk Soulis' fine company and his fine antiques and art. I'm very fortunate to have made these 2 fine discoveries, especially Mr. Dirk Soulis yesterday, and hope to find lots more in the future.

Now if I could just find two very small horses to see how this road grader actually worked!

Joking aside, whenever I find these salesman's samples, I am always enthralled to understand what made America great in her early history. This is one aspect of America that made her so great during the last century!