The Tri-Ang Toy Company

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

The Tri-Ang Toy Company

     Yesterday, I wrote about  Minic Toys  which was a sub-division of the Tri-Ang Toy Company in Great Britain. The company had been formed by 3 brothers before WWII, by the surname of Lines. As I was searching out information, I was fortunate to discover the wonderful site developed by Mr. Joop Ventrik from the Netherlands.

Please click here to visit this fine website

   Joop's site is an encyclopaedia  fill of great photos and information about the Tri-Ang company.

He encourages collectors to send information and photos to broaden his wonderful website. I've screen-captured both the writing and the photos. As for more information, I'd rather everyone go directly to Joop's site. 

   As for the Tri-Anf toys,they certainly were well made and nicely designed. In the beginning the company (Lines) had made carriages and baby items mostly of wood. As the lines company evolved, they made larger-sized toys or mini-cars that children could fit into.c

     Joop's collection of both toys and old ads are certainly great.  I like the old  ads as much as the toys. They're just so "period", meaning that they are unique to a certain time in history! I also liked Joop's graphic design of his website, making the toys stand out nicely, and reading easy to follow through the site. Of course, except for doing some Photoshop on some images, I also saved some time.

    The time certainly is  moving fast and approaching Christmas and the New Year.   I can't believe this year is almost over. It's been a wonderful year for writing my blog, especially with the help that I've been getting from around the world through auctioneers, E-Bay sellers, and collectors.

    Although I'm a bit early, I'd to wish everyone and their families a Merry Christmas and a healthy and happy New Year. Of course, I'll make sure on December 24 to do the same and wish everyone again a merry season.

Added December 20, 2012

  I always try to write a thank you note to contributors and people who allow me to use their photos. I also ask  the contributors to proofread and make suggestions, or inform me of corrections. I wrote to Joop yesterday, after I posted this post, and he wrote back. I had erred on when the Tri-Ang company had started.It was before WWII and not after as I had written.  However, what was more interesting was the Canadian connection of the Tri-Ang company to Canada. The Canadian company was called Thistle.

  I turned out that  after WWII companies were eager to expand and continue with what they made before the war. AS a result, the Tri-Ang company took a foothold right here in Montreal, Quebec, and in Sutton, Quebec (in a forested area of the province). Because of trade barriers and taxes (tariffs), it was better for foreign companies to create their own satellite offices and plants in the respective country of operation.

I'll going to let you look at some of the photos that I added from Joop's Canadain portion of his website, but please visit the site itself. 

A Brief History Lesson

  The top left photo is the Thistle factory near the Lachine Canal. That canal was around up to thde late 1950's and served downtown Montreal, and all of the factories along the canal. Montreal has a lot of rapids around the city, so to allow ships to come to the city, the Lachine Canal was built. Lachine was called Lachine, an actual city, because the explorer Jacques Cartier though he was in China when he first came here in the early 1500's. The actual canal is about 25-30 km, but it no longer functions. It was replaced by the St. Lawrence seaway in the 1955 0r 1956 by a joint American-Canadian venture. 

   The canal had locks that raised the ships from each part of the canal to higher levels approaching the downtown areas of the city. Ships would come from the west and approach the city to the east. 

    Today, I don't recognize that part of the canal at all, in the upper left corner. Today, the canal is used by recreational boaters only,and there are great bicycle pathways along the entire canal and Montreal in general. I cycle in the summer 3 times a week for about 20 miles (32 km), and when the spring arrives, I'll try and check out where the factory was located.

Copyright 2012      Mr. Joop Vendrik

Material taken with his permission from his site (www.triang.nl)

Please do not copy without his written permission

Copyright 2012      Mr. Joop Vendrik

Material taken with his permission from his site (www.triang.nl)

Please do not copy without his written permission

Copyright 2012      Mr. Joop Vendrik
Material taken with his permission from his site (www.triang.nl)
Please do not copy without his written permission

          Sutton, Quebec is located in the  forested area of Quebec, about 1an hour's drive SE of Montreal.  What's interesting is that a factory at the time could survive and exist in the 1950's. Sadly, we all know now that almost everything is made out-of-canada (e.g. China). Sutton is a wonderful summertime area, and very nice in the autumn (fall) to look at the chainging of the maple leaves and their brilliant colours. Also, there are nice apple orchards when the farmers allow you to pick your own apples.

    Copyright 2012      Mr. Joop Vendrik

Material taken with his permission from his site (www.triang.nl)

Please do not copy without his written permission

     What would a great country like Canada be without its politics. In the late 1960's and 1970's , French Canadians (Quebec) decided to  start a cultural revolution. They were "fed up" with the their idea that Quebec was monopolized by the English or Anglos as they, the French-Canadians call us. If you look at the Thistle labels you will see they only say "Made in Canada" and not "Fait au Canada in French. 

The French-speaking Quebecers did have some justification to complain, and many changes have been made over the last 40 years that went far and above the rights of English speaking and non-Englisj speaking (allophone) people. Sadly however, there have been several secessionist political parties who have created draconian policies and laws, and would have Quebec separate from Canada altogether. 

 As a consequence of a Separatiste party ( Parti Quebecois) coming to power in the mid 1970's there was a huge exodus of English-speaking people moving to Toronto. They had feared problems of language rights, and monetary disaster as a result of the part coming into power. Once again, we now have this party back in power, in a minority capacity. Sadly however, the parti is encroaching on our English basic rights of language and where we can send out children to English schools. Montreal, which once was the shining jewel of Canada  up until the mid 1960's and the centre of finance of Canada, has long ago lost its' glory. It still is a fine place, but currently, corruption both in the city, and in the province has plagued her! 

Copyright 2012      Mr. Joop Vendrik
Material taken with his permission from his site (www.triang.nl)
Please do not copy without his written permission

Thanks for dropping by, 

and have a great part of the day, 

wherever you may be.

Stacey

ld fit into .