Cast Iron Wrecker (Tow) Truck Toys

Friday, August 2, 2013

Cast Iron Wrecker Toys

(Tow Trucks)

    This is my 500th post. Writing a blog post each day keeps you busy,so I hadn't prepared for this milestone. As of today, I average between 180-380 page views per day, and will be approaching the total 100,000 mark probably in November. As of this point in time, the "pageview" number is 85,557.  A "pageview" is a count of the numbers of pages read. One person might read 20 pages, or 20 people might read 1 page each . However, Google does not present such detailed statistics.

    The tow truck was invented in 1916 by Ernest Holmes, Sr., of Chattanooga, Tennessee (USA). His invention, as usual follows the old expression "necessity is the mother of invention". Mr. Holmes, Sr. was a garage mechanic who had been called upon to pull a car out of a creek (a very small river). He had to use blocks, ropes, and six men, so he decided to work on a better way. That led to him to manufacture wreckers or tow trucks.*

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tow_truck

 Of course, the main part of any tow truck or wrecker is the boom, and the 2 main manufacturers were the Weaver and the Manley brands. Thanks to Gdawg - the name of an E-Bay store,I was able to use one of their numerous old catalogue photos.

In the upper left hand corner of the page above are the 2 actual photos of 1925 cranes made by Weaver and Manley.

Photo courtesy of:

GDawg

Please click here to visit Gdawg's very interesting ebay store

  So with the information and history of the wrecker or tow truck, and the boom, it's certainly easier to date a cast iron toy. Oc course, cast iron toys (Mostly USA) were made between 1900-late 1940's. WWII and the entry of the USA into it created constraints and limitations of metal manufacture of toys then. Also, the cost of transporting cast iron, the newer replacement of pressed steel, and faster processing of the newer material changed the nature of toys forever.

Please click here to visit Bertoia Auctions fine website

When you read the description for this toy, you'll see that someone went through a big effort to restore the box and flaps.  THis item must have had fond memories to someone who placed so much effort and cost to pair up an original box with an original toy!

I got a bit "fancy" using Photoshop, and added some bright areas called "highlights" with a process called "dodging". Dodging is a photography term used in the darkroom to hold back light when you are making prints.

For sure, this trio of wreckers came in one of those interchangeable sets of toys. This is the only pair of photos for the listing, but you can see how the upper body and lower chassis of each toy are separate. Bertoia did have a few other listings of sold toys, and some were kits. I'll check to see if these toys in fact are interchangeable body parts, and update later.

I also did some dodging on this Hubley wrecker. I'll try and find out the dates that I don't have on some of these photos. This particular toy is one of my favourites because of its grill. It's made from nickel-plated iron, and is beautiful. I also like the light sky blue/tan colour combination, and of course those rubber tires on red wood rims! And of course that simpler tow boom with the "hook" compared with the other toys that are much more complicated and sophisticated!

Of course, if you've been reading my blog, you'll by now know that I couldn't let a special event such as a 500th post be so simple,even though I did not prepare for it. So tomorrow's post will be a continuation of the toy wrecker or tow truck. That post will continue through to the pressed steel toys. Being a person who likes to do things well (My wife of course would disagree), this "ad-libbing" for tomorrow's post is  my "make-up" for not truly being prepared for today's milestone.

Bad boy, Stacey!

Thanks for dropping by to visit,

and as always,

have a great part of the day or night, 

wherever you may be,

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com

Please feel free to e-mail me with requests, corrections, or even wanting me to write about you and your toys.

I'm always looking for new topics and sources of inspiration.