Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Outstanding all Around!

Wednesday, May 1, 2013


Outstanding All Around!

The Story Behind the Story

   I wasn't able to post yesterday, as I want to get back into shape.  I like to cycle, and I've been doing that off and on. For my 60th birthday, my wife bought me (I asked) a fine road bike from a local store. I told her that I'd use it, but  I haven't used it as much in the last year. It's an Allez  from Specialized with the Shimano 105 gear set. It sounds fancy, and it is, but it's the basic model. Nevertheless, I should be using it! SO yesterday, even though it was my second time out this season,without any winter indoor cycling on a "trainer", I went out for  a ride, and ended up doing about 36 kilometres (25 miles). Of course, that's a lot if you are not a cyclist, but there are people who manage to cycle 20,000 kilometers or about 12,000 during the "extended season". That means that they'll cycle unless there's 1 foot of snow on the ground!

    Returning to the topic of toys, I wanted to come up with a title to catch your attention and your curiosity, and I hope I did. I've been fortunate to have the pleasure and permission to use some of the finest auctioneers, toy-sellers, and people who love toys allow me the "privilege" of being able to use their fine photography, as well as the toys. Bertoia Auctions is one of them. The company is  owned by Jeanne Bertoia, the wife of the late Mr. Bill Bertoia.  Bill's brother Rich Bertoia is the auction cataloguer and  coordinator, which Jeanne's son Michael is the one manages the new digital  technology that allows us to view the great site,and find the toys that I write about in an instant. 

     The company that I'm writing about today is the Distler Toy Company that started out in the early 1900's and closed in 1962. Almost all, if not all of today's toy's came from 1 collector and collection called the Donald Kaufmann, after the late Mr. Donald Kaufmann. Mr. Kaufmann, and also his wife were toy collectors for almost 55 years. The collection took an amazing  number of days to sell in 2009, by Bertoia Auctions. Sadly. Mr. Kaufmann did not live to a nice old age, but passed away in 2009.  His name lives on through the collection, as well as the many children and grandchildren that he has. If you simply do a search for the 

"Donald Kaufmann  Toy Collection", or simply "Donald Kaufmann", you will find his bio, and of course the fabulous collection of toys.  If you also go to the Bertoia Auction site, you can see all the collection . Of course, it will take you days, to look at the fine photography, and the toys. You can even maybe still purchase some catalogues.

The Distler Toy Company

      Distler was started in 1900 by Johan Distler in Nurenburg, Germany in 1895. The company stayed in Business until 1968,and was called Johann Distler KG. Initially, the company produced what are called "penny toys",which were lower-cost toys for the market.  However, these toys, as many other penny toy companies of the time, produced fine-quality toys.  Eventually after getting larger and partnering with other people, the company began to specialize in lithographed tin toys with many of them being able to move through a wind-up mechanism.

      For toy aficionados (fans) who like to learn and see toys, the combination of the names Distler, Kaufmann, and Bertoia has helped myself and others to be able to see the fine toys that once were a big success and please many, many children in Europe and the world over time.

    I'm only presenting 12 cars today, since at one time, Distler produced about 500 toys during this "golden age of toys". I will present other Distler toys in the future.











When a antique or in this case an old toy is described by a writer or auctioneer as being "attributed to" a specific company, that means that they cannot with 100% certainty attribute the creation to that specific person or company. However, it most-likely is. If you look at the yellow  # 27 racer (third from the top), you can see that "Alligator texture" on the side pipes or exhausts.  Bertoia had written in their listing of this toy - "Very scarce, probably due to limited unsuccessful production span".

I guess Mr. Distler and company were allowed  to veer of the "regular, regular" type of toy form time to time!
Collectors of all kinds of collectibles like to have the "original box" or packaging come with the item.  The only boxes that I ever collected were for my Meccano and Minibrix sets of construction toys. Where else would I put 500 parts of a kit but keep them in the original box?  Of course, all of my other toys could be kept out of the box, so my toy guns, and other toys were used as is, and stored in the cupboard.

I remember in the early 1990's when the "New Boomers" children of Generation X children started to purchase cases and cases of playing cards. Those are the cards that sometimes came with gum. This was for investment rather than for playing.  What exact pleasure would a young child get out of having 1000 packs of these cards that had to stay in their cases?


For those who still don't know (myself included) what generation you are named:*

1925-1945                                                Silent Generation
1946-1964                                                     Baby Boomers
1965-1979                                                       Generation X
1980-2000                                  Millenials or Generation Y
2000-Present       New Silent Generation or Generation Z 

*http://geography.about.com/od/populationgeography/qt/generations.htm

The above names are attributed to demographers. These are people who study populations in terms of age, sex, profession, place of residence, country of origin (Immigration), health and disease, and so forth.


Just look at that raised texture on the running boards of the touring car above.
What also noteworthy is the lithographed tin and colour of the drivers and chauffeurs.

That cracking effect on the side of the car between the door and the hood is called crazing. Sometimes, the paint does not dry or age properly due to imperfections,and as a result you get that effect.


    As you can see, many of the toys are in excellent condition. Most of the toys are large-sized,have wind-up mechanisms to allow them to roll on the floor or road,and some even have battery-operated headlights. Today's selection are also lithographed tin. When this process was perfected, it moved toy production into a new state of technology. Now, toy makers could  mass-produce high-quality colour exteriors of their toys that could show beautiful detail, at less cost that what was originally done by hand. As well, the tin toy process allowed for massive machines (cutters and presses) to shape and form toy parts and toys also at a faster pace. Of course, the assembly still required the hands of people with fine coordination and skills to assemble these toys.

   It's already 5:50 A.M., and I've been up since about 4:30 A.M. It's time to go for an early coffees and start my day. The Dunkin Donuts where I went closed down in order to have a condominium project built on the land. I now go to Tim Horton's - a hugely successful Canadian Company story!

   ** If you read this, can you please help me? I asked my borhter how he liked my new way of presenting the toy photos. His opinion was that the white background was too stark (harsh) for the toys. He liked my early photos (when I bought and sold toys). At that time, I used different fabric colours, shiny silver or even textures such as burlap. I can;t "modify" the photos too much, but I probably can place the toys against a darker colour or shade of grey. Have you an opinion? If you do, please send your suggestions to toysearcher@gmail.com

Thanks for dropping by,
and have a great part of the day, 
wherever you may be.

Stacey


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