Louis Marx Toys

Saturday, November 26,2016
Overcast with Flurries
5 Celsius  39 Fahrenheit

Louis Marx Toys

A portrait of Louis Marx on the cover of Time magazine

December 12, 1955

At the time that Mr. Louis Marx' portrait was on Time magazine, the Marx Toy Company was the most prolific and successful toy companies in the World. It was said that the company produced 1 in 4 toys in the USA at the time. THere were 100's and hundreds of different toys manufactured by the company.

For a more expanded article on Mr. Marx and his 

company please go to Wikipedia at the address below:

Please click here to read the Wikipedia article on Mr. Marx and his toy company

Please click here to visit this fine ebay seller

The group of toys below range from the 1920's - 1950's.

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always,

Have a great part of the day or night,

Wherever you may be.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com

Emerald City Toys - Revisited

Monday, January, 4, 2016
Clear skies and very cold ( -18 degrees C or 32 degrees F)

Emerald City Toys-

Revisited

   It's been a long time since I've been posting regularly. I decided  today to search for past posts and contributors, and found Emerald City Toys. Early on, when I had decided not to buy and sell anymore, Emerald City Toys most graciously allowed me to use their fine toy photos. You can find them on the internet by clicking on the link below underneath their nice logo.

Please click here to visit this fine American toy store

The first toy is a tin lithographed Ubilda car. The original car came was a kit with all the parts, and would be assembled with the instructions on the box. It's in quite good condition, considering how old it is (65++ years). Also, the original box always adds a premium cost to the item. Collectors like to collect toys that come with the original box and of course the instructions. What makes this hard is the fact that most children and parents would throw away the box, but keep the toy.

Below is a fine French-made windup (clockwork) toy. ONe has to remember that the 1930's were a mere 2 decades ahead in time when the fist Model T's (Ford) rolled off the assembly line. By that time, car production had advanced by leaps and bounds.  With the car being a machine meant four travel and speed, the 1920's and the 1930's were considered the golden era of racing. Not only did cars become popular for racing on circuits and across the contents (Mostly Europe and Africa), but airplanes and boats also were "speed demons".

Thanks for dropping by to visit,
and as always,
have a great part of the day or night,
wherever you may be,
Stacey Bindman
toysearcher@gmail.com

Determining a Toy's Age from its' Design and Characteristics - Part I

Monday, November 24, 2014
Cloudy with rain, stopping ion the afternoon

Determining a Toy's Age from its

Design and Characteristics
Part I

  I was on Liveauctioneers yesterday, when I noticed a nice trolley. I decided to search our more trolleys to have enough to create post.As I did, I got a large amount of them , and so decided to create a 2 or 2 part series on trolleys, but with a "twist". I'd write about them as they changed with the times. In this way,one could determine approximately when the toy might have been made. 

  As times marches on as the expression goes, toys change with the times. In the case of  real trolleys, they were first pulled by horses, since electricity was not common in the earlier times. Eventually electricity was developed enough to replace the horse. Also, with electricity,there would be flexible row attached to the wires above. Also, the trolleys could be larger because horses no longer had to pull them, and electrical gearing could be designed to pull larger loads. In some cases, electrical trolleys were double-deckered in height.

   For today's post, I'm just presenting lithographed paper on wood trolleys. At the same time and era  (1870's-1900's), toy trolleys were made both from lithographed paper on wood, as well as tin or other metals.

Please click here to visit this fine American auction company

If you didn't know the identity of the manufacturer (Bliss), you could place the approximate date of manufacture in the late 1880's , give or take 10 years. Bliss, of course was an early American toy manufacturer that focussed on wood and paper lithography for its manufacture. However, without the manufacturer's identity, they team of horses as a means of movement, and the wood an paper lithography dates the toy to the time that I mentioned previously.

Here's an almost similar toy, but the question would be "was it made earlier or later" that the first presentation? Also,it's missing the pair of horses pulling it.

The illustrations of the riders help to zero in on the era that the toy was made. With the first two Bliss toys, the conductor  is wearing a long coat , a cap with metal medallion, and of course the long goatee under his chin.

Below, the "sophisticated" passengers are all well dressed (unlike today!). The "gentlemen" are moustached and beard, and both are wearing hats. The gentleman on the left even has a walking cane. The lady and the young girl are also well-dreeed in dresses and also wearing hats!

I can't date the Hutzler toy below since Bertoia did not give the date. I tried to research the name Hutzler and it turned out to be a store in the USA (I forgot the city). I did find that it continued into the 1950's with a board game. More research will be required! As for the number of Hutzler's toys on Liveauctioneers, there were only two!

Here's another late 19th century or early 20th century trolley toy. The animal is described as a horse, but the long ears lead me to believe it is an donkey,of course I defer to Bertoia Auctions who are of course the toy experts. And as they say, donkeys are very stubborn, and you would not have wanted your donkey to stop in the middle of traffic (horse, horses and carts, drays, phaetons, and a whole host of other wood vehicles in the downtown area.

That would be a traffic jam to see had you been there in the 1880's! 

Thanks for dropping by to visit, and as always,

have a great part of the day or nigh,

wherever you may be,

Stacey 

toysearcher@gmail.com

The Hans Eberl Toy Company

Tuesday, September 24, 2013
    (Continued Fabulous Fall Weather)

The Hans Eberl Toy Company

     It's about 20:00 P.M. EST (Canada Time) and I'll be posting in about 20 minutes from now.  I didn't have time to add the descriptions for the individual toys. It's been another nice day, and the weather forecast is sunny and in the mid 20's Celsius (mid 70's Fahrenheit) for the rest of the week. We have to start getting ready to winter (ugh! I hate dislike the season!). Today, I decided to redesign a framed wooden structure that we have to protect out swimming pool heat pump and sand filter from snow and ice.  For the past 15 years I've used just screws. I set up the structure in the fall, then dismantle it in the spring. The "problem" was that evert time I had to reassemble it, it never came together in the same way. So I figured this year that I'd buy those metal brackets that you use for fences or decks. This worked well in terms of how the structure looks, but some of the brackets did not give good support and the whole structure tilted. I had to use a brace to keep it firmly planted on the ground! So much for my carpentry skills! 

    Tomorrow is clean the garage day, as we need a new motor to close the garage door properly. My wife procrastinates, but when we had a few mice scurry under the improperly sealed door that can't be opened remotely anymore, that was the last straw! I trapped one, and was able to save one. It's not their fault that they ran into the garage and ate my grass seed - what does nature know?  So cleaning the garage is for the garage door man who aptly goes by the name of "Dor Doctor". Cleaning the garage and moving all of the summer stuff( leaf blower, lawn mower, rakes, shovels, weed snipper, etc., etc.,) will save the "Dor Doctor" time in installing a new system!

History 

The Hans Eberl toy company existed in Nuremburg Germany from about 1910 - 1920.  The toys were colour lithographed on tin and many of them came with wind-up mechanisms. Their designs and construction were quite ornate and complex compared with American toys of the time. Today, these fine antique toys yield high prices at auction.  

Magnify these images.The face on this particular toy is exceptional in the tonality, the expression, and the realism of the human face!

The clear windows in the above toy are made of glass. One of the windows is cracked,but the rest are intact after almost 100 years!

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

Stacey

(toysearcher@gmail.com)