Contest - An Old Toy Needs Identification

Tuesday, November 3, 2015
           Seasonally warm (15F/59C) 
              with partly cloudy skies

An Old Toy Need Identification

   One sure way to get me motivated to write is to have someone send me an inquiry. So when Mr. Bruce Jacobs wrote me to say he need assistance in identifying an old toy car, I immediately wrote back and asked for photos.  Bruce send me 4 nicely-photographed photos of the  toy,and so that's the post for today.

Hi Stacey,

I changed computers and lost your blog site until now!  I have always appreciated your museum quality photos and super commentary.

I came across what I feel is a VERY early toy racer, and need your help to learn more about it.  I have a number of Metalcraft, Dayton, Schieble, etc., but have never seen one that actually is large, wood vehicle wrapped in tin. I know I have seen this racer in my time, but just cant seem to find it when I need to.  I am still amazed that this car has as many original parts as it does.  There are no rubber tires on it, but it has the original wood rims, the front original moving axle, (back axle was replaced), original seat, seat backs, paint is amazing, wire mesh cooper grill, old license plate, original gas tank in back, and actual moveable wood steering wheel?  I didn't think so because of the wood color, but when you look at the underside of the steering wheel it is the exact color as the car, and the shaft underneath is also very old (amazing).  It is missing the spare tire that sits on the trunk lid.  If you or your readers can help me identify it that would great.  Dimensions are 16.5 inches long, 6 inches tall, and 7 inches wide from wheel to wheel.  From my experience, this seems to follow the very old Dayton and Clark autos with their paint and pinstripes, but the wood block undercarriage, firewall, steering wheel, rims, axles, and gas tank. It's a real treasure, and wanted to share!

I would imagine this is around 1895 to 1910, but not sure.

Thanks Stacey.

Have a super day.

Bruce

I have to confess about 1 thing in Bruce's introduction. Except for the first 40 posts, all photography is taken by the people companies, or museums that I write about. What I do is simply isolate the toy from the background and place it on white. I try to select quality photography, and what I've noticed since the digital camera, the tablet, and the cell phone have advanced in quality and capability, so has the higher level of photography.

Bruce knows his toys! When Bruce mentioned Schieble and Dayton (as in Hillclimber), I knew that Bruce was a toy aficionado (someone who has a high interest in something, such as a hobby).

Dimensions

Length x Width x Height

16.5"  x  7"  x  6"

419.1 mm x 177.8 mm x 152.4 mm

When I first saw Bruce's photos, I initially thought hand-made, . However, for sure this is not  hand-made! It's quite sophisticated in features (the gas tank, the front grill, the bevelled wheels, the cotter pin  at the end of the steering column, and so forth.

Below you get a good view of the bevelled wheels. I wonder if there where rubber tires on them?

As well, you can see the underside of the side steps, one for the driver, and one for the passenger. As well, the unique steering wheels column is integrated into the underside frame of the car.

The yellow line (pinstripe) on the blue background was made by a toy manufacturer because of the fine quality. I also like the front grille.

 The overall car toy resembles early car racers from the 20th century, with it's side steps, gas tank in the back, and the front large-sized and flat grille mesh.

Now all we need is to have a reader  find us an identification to Bruce's fine toy that he most kindly shared with us, and took the time to photograph.So I'd like to ask all readers if they might help me out and try to find an identity to this fine toy. 

 To make the search all the more interesting, I'd like to offer 2 toy books. One for the person who finds the identity to the toy, and one person who corroborates that the first identifier of the toy was right. I'm not going to highlight this last paragraph too much, but I'm going to be quite excited if I can get just a few people to help us out.

All participants to the "mini-contest" will have to provide  addresses to the photos (copyright infringement) or their owwn photos if they have one of these toys, with some written narrative to prove the toy identity. I will ask for permission to the 2 winners.

As for Bruce, I hope he'll not mind if I don't offer him a book. But a high thank you to Bruce for helping me with my blog and for keeping me interested in writing. Otherwise, I'd have to deplete my collection to go back in time and offer all the people who have helped me by sending ion their toys for identification. And one final note - this is not a contest so I hope Google will allow my small offer without any rule or legal  "red tape".

Thanks for dropping by to my blog,

and as always,

have a great part of the day or night, wherever you may be,

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com