An Unbelievable Discovery - Lehmann Toy Collection (A Private Collection)

Sunday, January 7, 2018
Overcast with Flurries
1 C   33. 8 F

An Unbelievable Discovery

Lehmann Toy Collection

(A Private Collection)

Please click here to visit this most amazing website

This cold weather has been keeping everyone in the house. It was -24 C ( -11.2 Fahrenheit) yesterday, and not even Buddy, our dog wanted to go out in this cold. The snow was blowing so hard from the west, that snow was creeping into our house from the strong blowing winds. 

Yet today, the temperature is 1 Celcius (33.8 Fahrenheit) - a "crazy" jump in the weather. 

I was doing a lot on Internet"surfing", when I entered the words "Lehmann Toys". 

Sure enough, I got a lot of websites showing up, but one of them clearly stood out. It was the second entry from the top of the search results, and the words - 

"Lehmann Toy Company / A Private Collection of Rare Tin Toys" 

showed. That perked my curiosity, and when I went to this website, I was in awe. Here was a website whose owner, Mr. Bill Pepper collects Lehmann toys, and he had 100's of Lehmann toys that were presented and catalogued, with some interesting narrative to go along with the excellent photography. Normally, I like to remove the background and foundation of these areas that the toy is on. However, the photography of Mr. Bill Pepper was so professional, that I didn't do this. It's very rare when you have a toy collector or seller that has professional photography accompanying the listing on a website!

In Bill Pepper's own Words:

This website was developed in order to archive and display the wonderful tin toys produced by Ernst Paul Lehmann Patenwerk in Brandenberg, Germany from the 1880s to 1930s. Please understand that these toys are in a private collection and they are not available for sale or inspection. They are shown here solely for educational purposes and to help generate interest in collecting these interesting, innovative toys. Every angle of every toy and box are shown. None of these toys have been restored or repaired except for the two or three repairs that are expressly noted. These toys are the finest original examples the collector has thus far been able to find, but the search continues and is ongoing.

The educated viewer will note that several rare Lehmann toys are not yet included in the collection, such as Quex motorcycle, Roon motorcycle, Salus ambulance, Lo and Li, Boxer Rebellion and others. And certain of the toys are shown without the box. Therefore, please contact us if you know where any of the following may be purchased:

• 1. Toys not shown in this collection.
• 2. A mint or near mint toy that is nicer than the one in the collection.
• 3. A boxed example of a toy that is shown in the collection without a box.
• 4. Entire collections of Lehmann toys.
• 5. Incomplete toys or boxes for Lehmann toys.

Our hope is that this website will serve as a useful reference tool for Lehmann toy collectors and will help foster interest in this enjoyable hobby. We hope you enjoy it. And perhaps in the process this collection can be enhanced and improved.

Made between 1901 and 1935 in Germany by Lehmann and designated EPL 470, this toy tells a story.  The instruction sheet says the driver steers “to and fro” to keep the startled bride from getting out of her cart.  She rises up and down while waving a hanky at her reckless driver.  The windup three-wheeled cycle was also sold separately as “Mars Cycle” EPL 471.  This mint toy comes in the original box with great graphics. 

What's also of interest is that this toy comes with its' original box.  It's very, very rare to have

the original  117-82 year old box in very good condition, along with the toy in excellent condition!

Made from 1889 to 1918 in Germany by Lehmann (designated EPL 170) this toy, with a mail slot on the top and envelope insignia on the side, shows an African boy riding on a two-wheeled mail cart being pulled by an ostrich. The toy moves forward by string drive as the boy guides the ostrich with reins and a whip in his hands. This is a rare version with no slot for mail in the rear hinged door. The rear “spindle press” trademark panel is yellow, and the bird’s legs are brown instead of yellow.

This was the first toy depicting a commercial bus for passengers.  It is a large toy, some 

8”  (203 mm)long.  It has steering, automatic spring arrest and coil spring drive.  It will drive straight or in curves.  Faux wood grain adorns the seats on top and bottom floors.  These were made from 1907 to 1945 and were designated EPL 590.  They were made in red and white as well as brown and white.  This is the rare brown version in near-mint condition.

This was the first toy depicting a commercial bus for passengers.  It is a large toy, some 8” long.  It has steering, automatic spring arrest and coil spring drive.  It will drive straight or in curves.  Faux wood grain adorns the seats on top and bottom floors.  These were made from 1907 to 1945 and were designated EPL 590.  They were made in red and white as well as brown and white.  

This is the rare brown version in near-mint condition.

This Bertoia/Kaufmann windup toy designated EPL 777 came with battery-operated lights.

For those who don't know already, Bertoia Auctions is a world-renowned toy auctioneer, and  the late Mr. Donald Kaufmann was a famous American toy collector. 

The lights have not been checked, but the toy is in mint condition as if never used.

Known as EPL 431, this beautiful and colorful toy was one of the most popular of the animal toys produced in Germany by Lehmann.  Made from 1898 to 1935, this windup toy flutters its wings and crawls along the floor or table top in a realistic motion. Shown with the original box in mint condition.

I counted 136 different toy on this website!

Bill Pepper certainly doesn't have ALL of the Lehmann toys that were produced, and he's always

looking for new toys that he doesn't have already. Most of his collection of Lehmann are in 

very good-excellent condition. So if you have one toy that is not in his collection and is in excellent condition, you might want to send him an e-mail along with very-good quality photos, along with different camera anglesshowing the different dimensions (front, back, sides, top, and underneath) of the toy.

As the old expression goes - "it doesn't get any better than this"!

Meeting Bill Pepper via the Internet was a fabulous experience, and I will most certainly be writing more about him and his toys in the future. Also, this is a great resource for information about  Lehmann that I will; refer to and use whenever a new contributor to my blog does not have enough information of these fabulous Lehmann toys of long ago!