Tootsietoy Grahams Matched with Their Catalogue

Wednesday September 18, 2013
            (A Beautiful Late Summer Day)

Tootsietoy Grahams Matched

with Their Catalogue Drawings

   My cousin Marty and his girlfriend just dropped off his dog Fritz. I'm doggy-sitting, while they're off for a small trip to France. I asked if I could perhaps fit into their luggage, but they're flying light with take-ob tote bags - well I tried!.

    I just received 2 nicely printed toy catalogues - a 1933 Tootsietoy catalogue reprinted by  Noble House in 1989 (Mundelein, Illinois, USA), and an a 1940 Arcade Cast Iron catalogue from the same publisher.  Both are beautifully printed on heavyweight glossy paper. Both are also larger-sized at 8 1/2" x 11" (215mm x 280mm).

   When you have an actual catalogue or a reproduction of the real catalogue, it helps any collector. There is the written information such as size and colours, as well as the catalogue numbers. I can see why some purist collectors who have collections frequently do well when they sell their collections. They have the items as they were originally. When I bought toys, I would sometimes repaint them, little knowing that  the authentic colours I simply repainted the toys from the colours that they had when I received them. were so long ago. I didn't do exact searches for exact colour-matched, so some of the photographs are not "true" to the original 1940 catalogue descriptions.

   Tootsietoys are some  of my favourite die cast toys.  They're quite small - these particular cars or automobiles as they were called in the 1940's, are about 4" (102mm). The reason that I like them is the detail that there is for such small toys. I would assume that's why Dinky Toys are also so popular- especially the really old ones. I'll be posting other Tooysietoy catalogue pages to match up with the real toys.  I like the Tootsietoy catalogue, but I prefer the earlier toy catalogues from earlier times, such as the pull toy bell toys. The artwork there is more to my liking, especially with lots of detail!  

   I was fortunate enough to be able to go to just one  auctioneer- Lloyd Ralston Gallery, and be able to screen-capture all 12 of the Tootsietoy Grahams. The original real Graham graham-Paige) automobiles are beautiful, and you might want to do a search to see how they also looked. 

Please click here to redirect to the fine website of Lloyd Ralson Gallery

I've added my maple seedlings watermarks to the catalogue pages.  The catalogue is printed with  the illustrations (drawings) on the front page, and the descriptions on the back. It's a bit of an inconvenience if you have the catalogue, since you have to turn the page. Scanning the originals does have its merits in this case!

 You can see how easy it is to get confide unless you have a catalogue. As an example  0614 and 0612 are exactly the same in terms of the casting. However it's the beige top of 0612 that informs you that its' a convertible. I think  that the material of the convertible tops back then was made of heavy-duty canvas, ergo the beige colour.  So imagine if someone did not have a Tootsietoy Graham in his/her collection, he/she could easily repaint the roof to make it an instant convertible! Of course, that, as the British would say, is simply "not sporting".

I have to go mow the lawn now.

How come the grass is always best in the spring and fall?

Thanks for dropping by, 

and  have a great part of the day or night, 

wherever you may be.

Stacey

(toysearcher@gmail.com)