Sunday, October 25, 2015
Overcast and raining, seasonally cold
Overcast and raining, seasonally cold
The 1930's Metalcraft Trucks
Bertoia Auctions is having a nice auction on November 14, 2015. There's a diversified collection of toys, but what caught my attention was a small grouping of Metalcraft toys, and specifically, the 1930's line of trucks. The lengths of the trucks range from 11 1'2 - 14 1/2" ( 290 mm - 368 mm).
What most interesting is that the styling of the trucks is "Art Deco" with oversized and rounded fenders and wheel wells. Also, the trucks are almost similar in design and can easily be recognized. Some however are more sophisticated and have battery-operated front headlights.
IN the truck above and the one below, you can see the beautifully contoured wheel wells and side fenders. The Meadow Gold Butter truck has battery-operated lighting. Also notice the small vertical stop or "lip" in the back of the open back of the truck. This is a small deviation from the other trucks, and wass most probably designed to hold "cases" of cargo. The lip would prevent the cargo from spilling out.
The truck below is similar in design and construction to the ones above.
The difference is in the flatbed portion in the back of the truck. BOth trucks have battery-operated lighting, but the second one below is missing its' headlights.
The oil carrier toy truck below must have been quite popular in the 1930's. I base my statement on the fact that this truck was reproduced by 2 different people in modern times. It certainly had lots of features and additions to make it attractive to children in the 1930's.
What you notice below is how the Bertoia Auctions company is quite knowledgeable about toys.
Now I know that Mr. Al Korte was the chief Metalcraft designer in the 1930's. As well, this particular toy will most probably be bidder up highly, since this was a prototype, and was never manufactured. I like how the rounded lines are well integrated into the front and back portions of the 2 parts of the truck. Even the dumpster has a nicely-rounded lip. This was done for both aesthetic and for safety reason for young children. It's to bad the toy never went into production, because it would have been lots of fun to play in the sandbox with this sleek toy.
So that's it for a dull and rainy day up here in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It's not winter yet, but the leaves are falling and it's windy as well. So writing a post today is fine, since I don't have to go out.
Thanks for dropping by to visit,
and as always,
have a great part of the day or night,
wherever you may be,
Stacey Bindman
toysearcher@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment