Friday, November 28, 2014
Cloudy with light snow, seasonally mild
Hubley's actual cast iron taxi looks exactly like the Thomas reproduction . However it was painted only in yellow or orange, and never had that checkered pattern of black and white squares alone both sides of the car body.
Cloudy with light snow, seasonally mild
The Hubley Yellow Cast Iron Cab
Yesterday, I presented a fine Thomas reproduction Hubley Checker Cab (Thomas Toys,Inc). The cab or the more proper name - "taxi" was not produced by Hubley ( I will have to "check"). The real "Checker Cab " was in fact an American-made taxi manufactured by the Checkers Motor Corporation of Kalamazoo, Michigan that the taxi company, Checker Taxi used. The story of the Checker Cab is quite interesting and you might want to go to the Wikipedia link below to read up on it.
Hubley's actual cast iron taxi looks exactly like the Thomas reproduction . However it was painted only in yellow or orange, and never had that checkered pattern of black and white squares alone both sides of the car body.
Hubley's cast iron taxi,for dome reasons I know not of, came in different variations.
If you compare the two diptychs (a larger photo of 2 smaller ones) you can see the following differences:
1. The driver varies from nickel-plated to hand -painted black and skin-toned.
2. The luggage rack at the back of the car varies from silver to black
3. The actual colours vary from yellow to orange.
The Thomas Checker Cab is an excellent reproduction of the original Hubley. Mr. Julian Thomas started his company in 1969. He had worked for GM (General Motors),and during a downturn in the economy, decided to form his own company manufacturing antique toy replacement parts. His fine series of cast iron toys were produced in the early 1990's and can be found in the resale market of older toys.
Thanks for visiting, and as always,
have a great part of the day or night,
wherever you may be,
Stacey
toysearcher@gmail.com
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