Who's the Rarest of Them All?

Friday, October 31, 2014
Partly sunny and cold

Who's the Rarest of Them All?

  I'm very subjective (opinionated) compared with objective (the facts) when art is involved. I would also say the same for toys. However, it's hard to have a different opinion when objectivity such as demand and rarity are dominant factors at auction. ANd so it is with today;s toy, hence the title "Who's the Rarest of Them All?", without meaning any disrespect or plagiarism to The Brothers Grimm (1812) who of course wrote "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?" in Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs.

  I had mentioned in recently earlier posts that I would eventually write about the fabulous mechanical banks from Mr. Max Berry's Collection via Bertoia Auctions, and so I'm starting today with one of the rarest mechanical banks to go to auction in North America, and probably in the world!

Please click here to visit this exceptional American auction company

One of the words in the lexicon (vocabulary) of auctioneering that one keeps encountering on known and famous toys is the word "provenance".

Full Definition of PROVENANCE

1

:  origin, source

2

:  the history of ownership of a valued object or work of art or literature 

 See provenance defined for English-language learners »

Examples of PROVENANCE

1. Has anyone traced the provenances of these paintings?
2. The artifact is of unknown provenance.

Origin of PROVENANCE

French, from provenir to come forth, originate, from Latin provenire, from pro- forth + venire to come — more at pro-, come

First Known Use: 1785*

* http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/provenance

Many famous items that have been passed down from generation to generation or from 

person-to-person at auction have as much a history about the people "safekeeping"

 the item as the toy, artifact, or piece of art. So if you read the names of these "guardians" of this toy, and search who they are or were on the Net, you will find that they are famous and quite interesting.

It also helps to have an item that is either the only one or only one of two,

 as this one is. Perhaps this toy never went to production, and the two were only prototypes. Of course ever since the Net (Auctions) and TV  with such programs American Pickers,Antiques Road Show, everyone who collects, buys, or sells is looking for that missing treasure.

The mechanical movements of this toy are quite interesting, as is the caricature of the figure, 

and the colourful theme.

The fine texture on the man's blue jacket on his back, and the nice floral and leaf pattern 

at his feet certainly add to the allure of this rare toy.

The starting opening bid for this item is $ 69,000.00 (US) with the estimated final price estimated to be between $ 225,000.00 - $ 275.000.00.

Truly, if the facts speak for themselves (objectively), this wonderful toy may enter the record books for one of the highest prices paid for a mechanical American bank toy, and deservedly so.

Thanks for dropping by to visit, and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be,

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com

The Carpenter Two Ladder Burning Building-Part I

Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Overcast and cold with chance of rain

The Carpenter Two Ladder Burning Building
Part I

  Yesterday, I presented then exceptional and large Ives fire station and horse-drawn pumper. I mentioned that I'd be writing about today's "surprise", and so I have. This is one of the large cast iron toys made in the 1890's that was made by the Carpenter Company.  It's titled the "Two Ladder Burning Building".

   You have to remember that in the 1890's and into the early next century, there were no real fire safety codes in the USA. Building were made mostly from wood, and would burn very fast when a fire happened. Wood burning stoves were very common as were oil-burning lamps, so fire was more prone to happen that in todays' times. Also , there wasn't the underground water supply system that modern cities have today, so pumpers  moved by horses were the norm at the time.  Fire trucks with gas-driven engines were come into existence in about 20 years, give or take a few years, and they were rare.

   Fires in those days would be big, and naturally, crowds would gather to watch fire crew combat and try to put out the fires.  Even I, when I was young would be attracted to watch a fire, just like a moth is attracted to light. And so it was with toys.There were lots of toys, especially cast iron toys in the USA modelled after fire-fighting equipment and figures (people) of the time.

Please click here to visit this exceptional American auction Company

This item is current;y up for auction. It's from the exceptional collection of Mr. Max Berry, whom I have mentioned in several recent posts. What distinguishes this toy is that it has two ladders. I 've seen the Carpenter burning fire buildings but only with one ladder. The description mentions that there were three versions made, so I'll certainly have to kook for the third one or try and buy an old Carpenter catalogue or reproduction.

The lady on the balcony has her arms in a circle. When the fireman on the left side climbed the ladder, his right arm and harm were extended out, and he would "catch" the lady via her hands and arms that were in a circle.

The photo below show you that the lady is now safe in the arm of the left fireman, while the fireman on the right side hgas descended to the bottom of the ladder.

I have no idea what the lady on the wheeled platform to the left would be doing. Perhaps, there was a lever that released as the firemen saved the lady on the balcony, and she rolled out of the building.

Today's toy was made from wood and cast iron metal. It must be quite heavy, since yesterdays' was smaller and weighed in at  14 pounds or 6.36 kg.

I'm not sure that the inside cord and pulley is to the right side, but perhaps it connected to the lever that I "guessed" before might have allowed for the release of the lady on the wheeled platform.

You can see the words and numbers "Patented Jan 19, 1892" in the lower left corner.  Also, in the shadows to the left and behind, you can see a small platform inside the building. Perhaps there is a lever action to release the lady on the wheeled platform,  after all.

The opening asking bid for this item is in the 5 figures. I'm sure, that like all big toys that were "costly" in 1892, there were not as many sold as the lower-priced toys. Consequently, they were rarer then, an as they are today.

Somebody who wins this fine toy is going to be a very luck boy, or man or girl or lady!

But sadly, not I!

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be,

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com

The Ives Fire Station and Pumper

Monday, October 27, 2014
Mainly sunny and seasonally milder

The Ives Fire Station and Pumper

   It's the time of year when you have to prepare fir winter - at least for those of us who live in the Northern hemisphere, and especially Canada. Yesterday, I built a small shelter to cover our swimming pool hear pump and water filter, repaired a broken fence slat, and then replaced the central air filter and the batteries for the smoke alarms. I also had to replace 2 smoke alarm detectors.  

   SInce I just received an excellent Ives, Blakeslee, and Williams Company reprinted catalogue, I examined it again, and found a fine fire station and pumper. This particular toy is quite large. I had found tomorrow's post time earlier in the week, but was looking for an item to compliment that "piece de resistance" and to start this week. And so I found the Ives station, and tomorrow, you will see a really spectacular item - both part of the  exceptional Max Berry Collection to be auctioned via Bertoia Auctions.

Please click here to visit this fine American auction house

The fire engine house and the fibre engine (pumper) certainly were the "de riguer"  (very fashionable ).Ives and partners had used an entire catalogue page to present this pair of toys. What of  special interest is the fact that these two items were very expensive at $ 5.00 and $ 1.00 respectively for 1893.

It would be interesting to know if the value of an antique toy is directly related to its original price . In other words ,I would think that the more expensive the toy, the fewer that are sold, and the rarer they become in 100 years when antique you collectors vie for them at auction or buy them at antique toy stores.

 Have a look at the weight of the fire engine house itself  at the bottom left part of the above page.

It weighted 14 pounds or  6.36 kg

I now understand why the toy was made both of wood and cast iron. Had the entire toy been made of cast iron, it would have been both too expensive to sell, and would have weighed too much for the average child to move about. Even at 14 pounds or 6.36 kg, it's a super-heavyweight!

The toy must have been lots of fun for young children. The key wound up the clockwork mechanism. A release would fling open the from doors and the fire engine (pumper) with the horses would come out of the inside.

There are a few of these old fire stations left in Montreal, but they've been relegated to tourist attractions or use by the City of Montreal for tourism.

These particular toys are rare, and have received excellent final prices at auction, but not what I would have thought. However, tomorrow's fire-related item is even much rarer!

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be,

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com

The Exceptional Penny Toys of Max Berry - Part II

Friday, October 24, 2014
Partly sunny and colder

The ExceptionalPenny Toys of Max Berry 

Part II

  There's an exceptional auction coming  in November from Bertoia Auctions who have been chosen to represent the fabulous collection of toys from the Max Berry Collection. Mr. Berry is a well-respected and internationally-renowned international grade lawyer. He also happensedto collect  exceptional and rarer toys  over his long and illustrious career.

   Yesterday toys were Part I of this sorry about Mr. Berry's penny toys. Today is another fine grouping.  I've asked you, my readers to study the 2 groupings of toys, and see which go the two are the more expensive ones, starting of course with the initial opening bidding price. Tomorrow, I'll post the answer in another post.

Please click here to visit this fine American toy auction company

I left soft of the background in this photo because there didn't seem to be enough depth to the photo. This is a non-articulated (doesn't have any moving parts) toy. It also happens to have a small door at the back (the sled) where candies could be placed inside the golden-coloured tin box.

This toy is animated, meaning that it moves. When the small lever at the back of the toy is pushed in, the decorated egg rises like a bucking horse, and a bunny (rabbit) appears from under the egg.

Punch and Judy were a famous fictional pair of fictional characters  a long time ago. 

They always squabbled (fought) and were always getting into trouble!

There's a mother animated toy with a candy box at the base.

What's interesting to note is how the manufacturer chose to have the bear muzzled ( the mouth closed with a leather strapping). Long ago,  bears would be captured and trained to perform in circuses and on the streets. Nowadays, this action has been banned in many countries and rarely is seen around the world.

I have a very good memory for remembering visual things,and this fine toy below I can remember having placed it in one of my posts. What I like about the penny toy is to try and see where tone small bendable points are in order to see how the toy was assembled. There is a small rod through the centre of the boat, so I would presume that the boar moved up and down as a young child rolled it along the floor.

What's also amazing is to realize how small these toys actually are.

This one is a mere 3 1/2"  (89 mm)- about the length of my middle finger long.

My height for relative comparison is 5' 9" (1.75 M). 

I wonder how many of these toys were broken when parents walked over them in the house?

Being a German manufacturer, I'm sure the Meier company made toys that illustrated all kinds of 

German figures from the German culture, as well as some fictional literary characters as well.

I'm always amazed to see animals totally out of content in their natural world.  The best example are animals of all kinds pulling carts. In the case of the toy below, a monkey is riding a large-sized dog.

The acrobat is quite articulated and rotates over the bar. However, what I find quite exceptional is the toning and colour gradation to the acrobat's face. You'll have to view these images in slide mode to see them best. I purposely made these images extra-large for that purpose.

 I've come across a few toys that required the use of string tied to I assume two posts stuck in the ground or 2 nails hammered into walls. (I don't think parents would have approved of the latter option). The best example that comes to mind are the toy Zeppelins, or the tin space ships (e.g. Buck Rogers) from the 1930's.

This toy would have been quite interesting for a very young child to see. Not only would the toy move along the length of the string, but the propellers would rotate.

Finally,  a very long toy (in miniature toy sizes) measuring 6 1/2"  ( 165 mm).

It's interesting to see how much detail was lithographed into all of the toys, considering how small they were. In the case of this toy, each of the four horses are different from one another.

And as an"added" value, this toy happened to be a storage for candies!

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be,

Stacey,

toyearcher@gmail.com

The Exceptional Penny Toys of Max Berry - Part I

Thursday, October 23, 2014
  Overcast with rain, seasonally cooler

The Exceptional Penny Toys
of Max Berry-Part II

   I've posted about the penny toy,and I thought I'd add a fine grouping from the upcoming Max Berry Collection offered through Bertoia Auctions. There is just one difference between the toys on this post, and the one to follow in a few days,or if time permits - tomorrow. It's their starting prices. ONe post gads higher-pricers while the other one has lower ones. I'll tell you the answer on the third post from this one.

  I titled today's post "The Exceptional Penny Toys" for many reasons. First and foremost, from an emotional point of view is that, here were toys made for everyone who could afford to pay a penny. These toys could be accessible for everyone, and in those days (late 1890's-1930's) a penny went a long way, so every child could ay least have a toy such as these. Secondly, here were all kinds of toys, made by many manufacturers with limitless choices for everyone. And thirdly, here were toys that were mass produced, that were usually very small and assembled by hand. I can't even imagine how many toys that a worker would have to assemble in a day for him or her to earn a day's wages!

Being very small toys, the workers would have to be quite dexterous with their hands and be able to assemble and bend the small tags to join the pieces together. Moreover, the pieces were s slightly sharp-edged, and somewhat hard ,so at the end of a day's work, the workers must have had very tired hands.

   The great thing bout these toys is that there are so many that still survive to this day!

       Toys from the Upcoming Auction 

        of the Max Berry Collection

Please click here to visit this fine American Auctioneer

The first thing that you notice with theses penny toys is that they are very small relative to other toys.

But the sheer numbers and variety of this genre of toy is mind-boggling. I also wonder of the more complicated  toys cost more than a penny.

As you can see, the contrast of toys is quite broad, from the lowly donkey and cart, 

to the majestic horse-drawn hansom cab. 

Spread your thumb and forefinger out as much as you can. My height is 5' 9"  ( 1.75 M) and the distance of my thumb to forefinger is 6"  152mm) - an inch (25.5 mm) longer the truck!

I was just reading an article in the New York Times yesterday about watchmaking - a very specialized career. The fine swiss watchmaker, Audemars Piquet, give a one-day course in watchmaking for owners of watches. As you know, watches have very small components to them. One person dropped a tiny screw, and could;t find it on the floor. He also said that he would never be a watch-maker because it was too painstaking and too stressful.

So imagine people working on an assembly line and having to assemble theses small toys by the thousands in a day!  Also, many factories at the time did not have the best lighting for working, especially in the 1890's-1900's when electricity was not yet invented and commonplace.

The blue and yellow Fischer gunboat below is a titan among the average toy 

with an astounding length of  9" (228 mm)

Imagine that this toy 16 easily showing bending tip projections tips to join the yellow deck to the ship's blue bow.

Then there are the smoke stacks the ship's steering room,  the gun, and the 2 sets of wheels.

That got to be stressful to do this day in and day out!

Of course, the airplane toys below were made much later in the timespan of the penny toys.

Perhaps, by then these were 2 pennies or even more!

Here's a very nice piece - the sewing machine.In those days, most people had sewing machines in their home, and would make their own clothes or repair them. Naturally, a toy sewing machine would have been great for a child to have  that would be a small version of the one her mother had.

And finally, a whimsical toy that would make any child laugh - the mousetrap.

As you can see from the photographs, the toy still works and is catching the mouse after 100 years!

Try finding something today that will last into the next century!

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be,

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com

A Cast Iron Wilkens Tetter

Wednesday, October 22, 
Overcast, cool, with possibility of rain

A Cast Iron Wilkens Tetter

   Yesterday, I added a post about a Kenton toy catalogue from 1902.  I had written that I'm having trouble identifying all of the different "vehicles" that were horse-drawn. In the late 1800's and early 1900's many American toys were made of cast iron, and the toys were modelled after horse-drawn, people carrying wagons. There were drays, phaetons, carts, wagons,stand hope gigs,traps,  and surreys,

  I was just getting used to trying and to identify the names with the "vehicles",when today's item caught my attention - a "tetter". OK, I said to myself, I think I'll start to add a dictionary definition of these items to refer to the next time I come across another one of these items.

The definition of a Tetter

"A tedder (also called hay tedder) is a machine used in haymaking. It is used after cutting and before windrowing, and uses moving forks to aerate or "wuffle" the hay and thus speed-up the process of hay-making. The use of a tedder allows the hay to dry ("cure") better, which results in improved aroma and colour"*

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tedder_(machine)

Of course if you read the definition, you'd come across winrowing, which means 

'a row or line of hay raked together to dry before being raked into heaps'.*

*http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/windrowing

  Of course,most of these words and terms are no longer used, unless  you write historic novels or are  a person of a religious group such as the Mennonites, or Amish. Language is always evoking with the times, and words are lost and words are gained. 

Please click here to visit this fine American auction company website

I've been adding several posts from the upcoming Max Berry Collection that Bertoia Auctions will be offering on  November 15, 2014. Mr. Berry is a world- renowned and successful  international trade lawyer.However,he has managed to find time to collect a exceptional collection of antique and old toys. I've been fortunate to be allowed to present toys from Bertoia Auctions, and this collection is most interesting and sometimes certain pieces are very rare.

The photo below is an excellent photo in terms of composition and technique. But for me, it's also great because it helps illustrate what a tetter is,once you read the definition that I presented above.

After the hay was cut and winrowed (I have to start using these newfound words!), the tetter would

 move up and down the cut hay and sort it into rows.  You can see how this would have worked by examining the clever mechanism of this toy.

As the cart moved forward, the rotating silver-toned (probably nickel-plated)  rods that are irregularly shaped, would cause the tuned (fork like) prongs to pile the loose hay into rows. You may need to enlarge this photo in the slide view mode and study the image for a while.

This is a great toy that Max Berry found, And I'll have to remember to search out for more tetters.

I once remember in a language book that you had to practise using new worlds otherwise you'll forget them.

This is another great photo that works well with the one above to help you understand the mechanism and function of this toy.

And still yet another great photo!

This is a superb toy, and if I ever found one that I could actually afford, I'd buy it.

I wouldn't be buying it for collecting, but to play with.I'd be curious to see how it works, and of course, I'd have to use try dried grass rather than hay. I'd eventually sell it, to try and collect another toy.

Of course, I'd play with this tetter alone, or maybe with Buddy my dog.

You don't want to be "caught" playing with antique toys at 65 years of age - it's just not done, and of course, dogs do not know that this human behaviour (men playing with toys) is not often done!

Thanks for dropping by to visit,

and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be,

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com