Cast Iron Wreckers

Tuesday, November 22,2016
Overcast  with sunny periods
6 Celsius 41 Fahrenheit

Cast Iron Wreckers

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As soon as the automobile was invented, there were bound to be accidents. As such the "wrecker" was invented to tow away the vehicles that were damaged in the accidents. Later on, the term "wrecker" was changed to "tow truck"- a milder word. As toys always replicated relief items, sure enough, the wreck toys came on to the marketplace. The major manufacturers of cast iron toys made these wreckers. Arcade was the most prolific, and the other manufacturers made them also, but to a lesser extent.  Kenton, Kilgore, Hubley and Champion all made these nice toys.

Some wreckers were simpler coming with only a hook, while others came with a simple winch. The larger Arcade wreckers came with the most sophisticated mechanism for both lifting and towing the "wrecked:"car or truck.

A Cadillac 1931 tow truck from Springfield, Mass., USA

The cast iron phenomena  was almost exclusively in the United States. There was one Swedish company by the name of Skogland & Olsen that made cast iron toys including the wrecker below.

The lithographed  tin manufacturers in the United States, such as Marx, and Chein also made wreckers, but I chose just to present the cast iron version today. In my search, I didn't find too many lithographed tin wreckers, but that's not to say that more weren't manufactured.

Thanks for dropping by, and as always,

Have a great part of the day or night,

Wherever you may be.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com