A Nice Kingsbury Fire Truck Identified

Thursday, November 20, 2014
Overcast (cloudy) with sprinkles of snow

A Nice Kingsbury Fire Truck Identified

   I've been getting a number of e-mails lately asking me to help identify toys. I'm not an expert by any means, but I try. My luck hasn't been  so goo lately, and the collectors have been providing g me with their information that they found before I did.It's great to see how enthusiastic people are about their collectibles. 

   Lisa C. Hall wrote me to me earlier in the week to ask if I could help provide her with the date that the toy she just acquired was made. Fortunately, I could, and I'll send her the answer after I add her post.  It's most interesting that she & her husband just moved to Keene, New Hampshire where the Kingsbury Toy Company was located. The company was  still in business as recently as 2011,,but stopped making toys long ago. I thought the new company still occupied the old company, but Lisa had written to say that where she lives is the abandoned one. She wrote asking if I'd like some photos of the old building, and I said yes, but asked her just be careful and not to trespass.

Kingsbury Fire Ladder Truck

Painted pressed steel, black rubber tires, wind-up mechanism, with a spring activated main ladder. The ladder gently opens to the vertical position when touched.

Circa 1930's

Length:  23"   584  mm

I removed some of the surrounding room to better focus on the toy. As you can plainly see, that ladder is certainly very high. It must be at least  38" or .965 M in height.
I've seen this toy before, but never realized how long that ladder was!

I like the contoured (gently rolled) silver grill on the front of the truck.

The wind-up movement can be seen at the back between the 2 rear wheels.

That wind-up mechanism was specifically patented and was used only by the Keene Company.

It must have been well engineered because it was on every one of their toys that moved, and they made lots of different toys. Mind you, I bought one, and its' wind-up didn't work!

When the toy hits something,the folded ladder springs open and rises to its fill extension.

Well at least I found an answer to Lisa's question. This toy was built in the 1930's.

I wrote to Lisa to say that her toy was missing the original driver, but she was 1 stop ahead of me. She already had ordered a replacement driver to complete the toy.

I just looked again, and there was another fireman on the ladder,
 that could move up or down with the pull of a string.

Thanjks 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