The Hubley Elgin Street Sweeper

Wednesday, January 16, 2013
             (Post # 2 of the Day)

The Hubley Elgin Street Sweeper

Background

     I've had my eyes on this toy since I first started to write my blog. It's a very detailed and intricate cast iron and nickel-plated toy. However, I had a personal reason for being more attached to it. Begin very observant, from my days as a photographer, I'd always notice details. One of the  "odd" things that I'd notice for years and years were thin and flat flexible metal pieces. They would be about 14" (L) x  1/8 (W) x 1/16" thick  or 355mm (L) x 4 mm (w) x 2 mm (thick). I could never figure out what they were. I though perhaps they were the flattened "ribs" from umbrellas. I even have a friend whom I asked because he's also very inquisitive and had a large company that makes metal racks for industry. He never could figure it out either. So I never was able to figure out what this piece of metal was.

    2 years ago, a street sweeper passed by me. I always thought that the brush bristles were made of plastic of some wood-based product. Suddenly, I got one of those "Eureka moments". I chased the street sweeper with my dog until the driver stopped at a parking sign, and lo and behold, my problem was finally solved. The metal flat rods were from the street sweeper brushes that would fall off due to breakage - imagine!

The Toy

     The Hubley Elgin Street Sweeper is a cast iron and nickel-plated toy that is realistically modelled after the typical sweeper of those times (1930's). It's nicely-painted, and today is highly-prized on the antique toy marketplace. It was a pull toy,  and children would pull it along the street. As it was pulled, the undercarriage rollers would rotate.

http://www.bertoiaauctions.com

(Please click on the above link to be redirected to Bertoia Auctions website)

    And there's a photo of a street sweeper thanks to The City of Omaha Nebraska, USA. And those wire "brushes" were the metal pieces that I used to see all of those years on the street - mystery solved!

   I decided to selected 4 different sets of photographs from Bertoia Auctions to show you the beautiful nature of this particular toy. By the way, that cord with the metal end, represents a hose that would be attached to a fire hydrant to refill the sweeper with water. The water was used to keep the dust levels low.

Thanks for dropping by, 

and have a great part of the day, wherever you are.

Stacey