Monday, November 21, 2016

The 1930's Toy Racers

Tuesday, November 21, 2016
Overcast and cold
0 Celcius  32 Fahrenheit

The 1930's Toy Racers


Almost as soon as the  automobile was invented, races of various sorts were organized. The first recorded race was in 1867. Early races were more for the reliability of the automobiles, in order for manufacturers to exhibit the reliability of their products. By the 1930's specially-constructed automobiles were constructed exclusively for racing.  There were long distance races, racing on a specially designed oval with angled embankments, and there were the famous land-speed racing on the Bonneville Salt Flats (Utah, USA), as well as on the beaches of Daytona (Florida, USA).*

* Citation:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto_racing

Most of the autos presented today would race around a closed-circuit oval, with the audience seated in the grandstands.  However, there are 2 autos that were designed exclusively for land-speed records. They are the Kingsbury Golden Arrow,  the Lindstrom land speed race car, and the Buffalo Blue Bird Land Speed Racer.

Most  toy racers were manufactured from pressed steel or tin, and would have been lithographed with the design and colours of the toy. Of course, in the 1930's cast iron was still used for many toys, and several manufacturers did design and manufacture race cars.

Like all popular real-life things, toy car racers were quite popular for people to go to watch, and these events were photographed for newspapers. As such, most of the toy manufacturers manufactured toy car race cars for the marketplace.

French Tin Clockwork Race Car
Extremely thin pressed tin.
Lithographed tin with clockwork "motor".
Circa: 1930's
Length: 8"  204 mm


Buffalo Toy Company Silver Dash Racer
Light weight tin, lithographed tin men.
Movement via the spiral rod winder that was used on most of their toys.
Scarce racer.
Circa 1930's
Length:  13 1/2" 342 mm

Citroen (France) Clockwork Racer
Large heavy pressed steel with rubber tires.
Key wound clockwork mechanism.
Circa 1930's
Length:  17"  430 mm

Lindstrom Land Speed Race Car
Lithographed tin with clockwork wind-up (key) "motor".
Circa 1930's
Length: 5 1/2" 140 mm

Hubley Cast Iron Closed Cabin Racer
Painted cast iron with nickel-plated driver.
Rubber tires on wood rims (appear replaced).
Circa 1930's
Length:  8"  203 mm

Kingsbury (USA) Golden Arrow Land Speed Racer
Pressed steel based on the famous Golden Arrow Land Speed Racer.
Painted pressed steel with clockwork motor.
Circa 1930's
Length:  19"  482 mm



Buffalo Toys Blue Bird Land Speed Racer with Original Box
Rare to find an accompanying original box with this toy.
Painted light weight tin.
Powered by a long pull rod attached to a coiled spring.
Circa 1930's
Length:  21"  520 mm

Mettoy 1930's Tin Racer
Lithographed tin with a windup clockwork "motor"

Marx Rocket Racer
Very light weight construction.Difficult to find in this condition.
Wind-up clockwork mechanism
Circa 1935


Hubley No. 5 Cast Iron Racer
A smaller-sized cast iron Hubley racer.
Painted cast iron with nickel-plated driver.
Pressed steel wheels with nickel-plated driver


No comments:

Post a Comment