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

Pratt & Letchworth Revisited

Sunday, October 3, 2016
Overcast with rain
17 Celsius / 62 Fahrenheit

Pratt & Letchworth Revisited

Please click here to visit this famous American toy auctioneer

History

In 1848, the Pratt & Letchworth Company was established by Samuel F. Pratt, Pascal P. Pratt and William P. Letchworth The company initially manufactured cast iron hardware for saddles and carriages. Over the next few decades, Pratt & Letchworth diversified its product line to include cast iron hand tools, toys and railroad equipment.  By the turn of the 20th Century, castings for railroad equipment became the company’s primary product. In 1923, the Dayton Malleable Iron Company acquired Pratt & Letchworth. Located on Tonawanda Avenue in Buffalo, New York, the Pratt & Letchworth foundry consisted of three buildings on 25 acres of land. During its peak production years, the company employed nearly 1,000 people. In 1981, faced with dramatically reduced demand for railroad equipment, Pratt & Letchworth ceased operations. In 2005, the foundry was demolished.*

* Citation: 

Please click here to visit this Law Firm

PRATT & LETCHWORTH PHAETON
Cast iron, white horse, missing guide wheel, repair to riveted cart. 15" l. (Good Cond.)

PRATT & LETCHWORTH BOY'S EXPRESS CO. WAGON

Two horse team, brown with black trim, yellow manes, spoke wheels, black hitch, early version with tin wheel, original figure. 11" l. (Exc. Cond.)

Estimate: 1,200.00 - 1,500.00 USD

PRATT & LETCHWORTH ONE HORSE WAGON
Cast iron, black coach with embossed seating, large spoke wheels, back rests, drawn by brown horse with yellow saddle. 15" l. Back armrests bent, (VG Cond.)

Estimate: $ 600.00 - $800.00 USD

PRATT & LETCHWORTH HANSOM CAB
Cast iron, open front coach with side windows, driver seated on rear of roof, drawn by solo horse, painted sides. 11" l. Replaced figure, toy (VG Cond.)

Estimate: $ 400.00 - $500.00 USD

PRATT & LETCHWORTH PHAETON
Cast iron and pressed steel, open Phaeton done in black with brown seat and yellow foot mat, red spoke wheels, drawn by white horse, seated lady driver. 16 1/2" l. All original, (Exc. Cond.)

Price Realized: $ 885.00 USD

As time moved on, Pratt & Letchworth changed with the times. The company produced less 
horse-drawn carriages, and  produced cast iron trains and fire station horse-drawn wagons. 
This change was similar to what other companies were doing at the time. 

PRATT & LETCHWORTH VESTIBULE FLOOR TRAIN
Largest of the cast iron floor train models and arguably the most desirable ever produced, this buffalo train, as it is referred, comes with locomotive, tender, buffet and large "Vanderbilt" coach, well painted in olive green, red roof, orange trimmed windows and black loco highlighted in gold, strong red colors. 56" overall length. Flaking to paint, break to one pole at baggage car.
Realized Price: $ 2655.00 USD

PRATT & LETCHWORTH LADDER WAGON
Early cast iron example, painted in open black frame with red sides and high bench seat, includes two replaced seated drivers, red spoke wheels, drawn by two white horses. 22 3/4" l. Horses, spokes and areas of wagon repainted.
Price Realized: $ 501.50 USD

Please press here to visit one of my previous posts on Pratt & Letchford

Pratt and Letchworth

Monday, April 8, 2013

Pratt and Letchworth

  I  found a Pratt and Letchworth that was located in Buffalo, New York.  As it turned out, the company was founded by 2 brothers Samuel Fetcher and Pascal Paoli  Pratt, and William Pryor Letchworth as the Buffalo Malleable Iron Works.  The company originally produced saddlery hardware and was the largest in the USA. In 1889, Mr. George S. Crosby, a toy designer was hired.
The toys were marketed by the name of Buffalo Toy with the company then being known as Buffalo Indestructible Malleable Iron and Steel Toys).*

* reference atca-clug.org/article02.php

     When I saw the first Pratt and Letchworth carriage, I was fascinated that these toys were so large, and so ornate. I'm sure they're quite heavy, and to have a young child pull them on dirt roads would certainly not be my favourite activity had I lived in the late 1890's and early 1900's. Also, I'm sure these fine toys cost a lot at the time. However, if I was a child way back then and had one of these toys, my imagination would have had me travel around Canada, the USA, and the world. I would also have certainly moved the figures around!

A Readership Milestone

    Last night, I reacher 59,994 page views for this blog. This morning, when I awoke, the number was 60,051. For those who don't know, a page view is a statistic to indicate each time a blog viewer comes to my site, and looks at a page of my blog. I rarely get more that 10 page views in 1 day for a new post. However, each day, I will have between 120-280 page views. I donl' know if 1 person has looked at forty pages, or 40 people have looked at 1 page. Nevertheless, the 60,051 as of this time is welcome and appreciated by me.

    I reached the 40,000 mark on december 10, 2012, so I am now averaging about 5000 page views per month. Of course, as the warm weather approaches, numbers will drop, and when the fall and winter approaches, numbers will rise.

   So once again, my readers,thank you, and thank you also to all of the people and auctioneer houses who have allowed me to use their fine photos of new and old toys to use for my blog.

Please click this sentence to redirect to the fine Bertoia website

I don't know if all of the items for the wagon "load" are authentic and came with the toy. What's interesting to not efor this toys and others is the front wheel. A string would be attached to the eyelet and pulled along. The wheel and eyelet design is interesting as it allows the toy to turn via this part.

You have to be very careful when you come across any cast iron toy, especially toys like these. I once purchased a reproduction from California that arrived broken. I ever collected the insurance, as the U.S. Post Office would not pay due to poor packaging. I didn't pursue the matter with the seller, as at the time, I was new to E-Bay, and  didn't want to make a fuss. 

The 25 pound 4 horse fire wagon at about 30 inches arrived partly broken. I took the toy to a local craftsman who repairs all kinds of antiques, and he said the repair would cost about $ 300.00. I eventually threw the toy out and took the loss.

When you purchase a toy from a reputable auction house, you may pay more than on let's say E-Bay. However you have to realize several things. First, what you get will in fact be what is described.

Secondly, the item has been researched to authenticate what it is. And finally, this item will be superbly packaged if it is to be shipped, or even taken with you in your car or SUV.

What I liked about writing this post is of course first and foremost the toys. However, in my later years,I got to like language. I like the terms for the items above that you hardy ever see in print anymore. A "dray" a 4 seat "brake", a"transom",  a "surrey", and a"wagon". Of course, the unique names for different wagons is no different that today's language for cars. The minivan, the SUV, the station wagon, and so forth. 

I selected the 2-horse dray above to close the post for today. It's my favourite because of the complicated graphic-design to the dray. I like the colours, that front wheel guide, and best of all, I can take apart the toy  with its removable wood floor slats and side panels. Now that would have been my toy way back when. Play with it outdoors, and when I'm indoors, I could take it apart, or load it. 

So thanks once more for helping me reach my milestone

of 60,000 page views today, and for having dropped by for a visit.

And as always, 

have a great part of the day, 

wherever you may be.

Stacey