The Kansas Toy and Novelty Company - Revisited

Thursday, December 20, 2012

The Kansas Toy and Novelty Company

(Revisited)

     When I started to buy old toys on E-Bay, the "slush" toys caught my attention. The reason that these toys are called "slush" is the way that they were made. A mould or casting was made that was hollow and had 2 holes (usually oval) at the bottom. Molten (melted) alloys of metal would be poured into the casting, and "swished" around to adhere to the inner surface, and the rest of the alloy would be poured off. The word "swish" or synonymous with "slush. Once the casting and alloy cooled and hardened, the mould would be opened (usually 2 halves) and the toy removed. Later, the toy would be painted.

     What I liked about these small toys, usually 3"- 6" in length or 78mm - 152mm) was that they were "crude". If you can find larger-sized images, you'll notice that the workers did not file down the roughened window or other parts.  So windows to cars are not always smooth, but may have a rough-edged surface. Also, these toys break easily, especially if the original alloy had impurities in it.

I know because I had one arrive partly broken to my house, and I decided to see just how brittle the metal was. It broke off easier than a piece of chocolate. I wrote about that toy,way back! 

     I also like them because there were several companies that manufactured these toys,and relatively-speaking they're not as expensive as the larger and more popular toys. Of course, they were painted with lead paint, and they are brittle, and some of the alloys might contain lead!

    I often go to Live Auctioneers to screen-capture toy photos because sometimes the companies that allow me to use their fine photos don't keep archives form older auctions. Also, it's easier to do a fast search with the words "Live Auctioneers Slush" on Google. That seems to get me what I want much faster!  

   I was fortunate to have found a good variety of nice slush toys form the Kansas Toy and Novelty Company through Lloyd ralston Gallery, however many nice other toys were in groups and the photo sizes were too small for nice viewing. However, by all means go to Live Auctioneers to have a view.

http://www.liveauctioneers.com

(Please click on the address above to be redirected to their great site)

http://www.lloydralstontoys.com

(Please click on the address above to be redirected to their great site)

Thanks for dropping by, 

and as always,

have a great part of the day or noght,

wherever you may be.

Stacey

A Girard Pierce Arrow Car Revisited

Tuesday, November 27,2012
   (Originally Posted Wednesday, June 27, 2012)
                   4:30 A.M. EST -4 C or  24 F
                       Overcast and Cold

A Girard Pierce-Arrow Toy Car
Revisited

Dimensions:

14 1/2" (L) x 5 1/2" (W) x 5" (H)

368 mm x 140 mm x 128mm

Weight:

3 pounds 5.9 ounces

1.528 kg

    When I found the patent for the Wyandotte car yesterday, I had also found the patent for today's post.  I already have written up this fine car. I have nice photos on the June 27, 2012 post because I had purchased that toy and then photographed it for resale. It's a battery-operated  car for the front headlights, and is a mechanical clockwork (Wind-up) toy (if the 2 terms are synonymous). So I'm only going to add 2 photos, and you can revisit the original posting for the other photos.

     I like the design of these old patents, and there are a few people who reproduce them form the U.S. Patent Office site and sell them. I'm going to have to check if these images are "in the public domain". That simply means that anyone can have access to use them. However, for now, I add my usual cautionary notes in red (Copyright 2012....).

To visit the U.S. Patent Office, you need to first go to:

http://www.uspto.gov

or

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect2=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&RefSrch=yes&Query=PN%2FD90961

* You may need to decode the page with some program*

I've been able to open the page with SnagIt (my screen catprue program)

This is a wonderful toy car

  The lights operate on a size D battery that you can just see under the car in the top photo. The movement of the car is from a wind-up mechanism at the back. There is a small 1/2 bell that you can see, and this "clangs" as the rear axle rotates. The clanking is from a small piece or u-shaped metal wire that is hit buy a small projection on the rear axle. You can see this if you enlarge the photo.

Marx toys (Louis Marx) purchased the Girard Manufacturing Company in 1935. As a result, you will see the almost exact same toy but with the Marx label on it. 

My day started early today, as I went to bed early. I caught 1 2-4 day flu of some sort, and am now recovering.

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great part of the  day wherever you may be

(of course if you're in a warm climate so much the better!

Stacey