Thursday, December 24, 2020
8C (46.6 F)

Mr. Christopher Ferrone Sends me
a Christmas Present  in the Form of
His Latest Creation

     I haven't been posting for the longest time, so I was pleasantly surprised when Christopher Ferrone sent me his lastest creation. If you haven't read my blog, Christopher has sent me lots of his creations in 
the past. He happens to be the president of  Americoach Systems Inc. in Glenview, Illinois, USA.  He has a degree in Mechanical Engineering, so I can see where he gets his talent from.

He discovered my blog, and started to send me his marvelous toy creations, and so as they say "the rest is history". I don't know how he finds the time to create such fantastic work, but he does.  His latest work of art is a fire engine, and I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

        As you can plainly see, his work is very exceptional. He's able to visualize what he wants to do, and from there, he goes along making his toys.  Sometimes he takes old toys and works with them, and at other times, he'll take an old toy and remodel it to what he has in mind.

So that's it for today.

I'm a bit rusty at writing, from not having posted in a while,

but I hope that in the New Year I will get back to writing.

I'm always happy to have people send me photos, along with a narrative about their creations or old toys that they have come upon.

 Please take care of yourselves and your family during these very difficult and trying times. It's not the time to let your guard down, and with several pharmaceutical companies now having been approved to make the Covid-19 vaccine, hopefully, we all will be vaccinated.

Time will only tell when all of us will have received the vaccine,

but there is a shing light at the end of the tunnel.

In closing, 

I would like to wish each and every one of you, my readers

a Merry Christmas, and a very healthy and Happy New Year.

Sincerely,

Stacey Bindman

December 24, 2020

Information Needed About a Nice Tethered Car

Sunday, August 2, 2020

Overcast, rain, with thunderstorms

26 C  79 F

Information Needed About

A Fine Old Tethered Car

There's an expression that says "when it rains, it pours". What it means is that when you have a problem or incident, many more will follow. My "problems" are very minuscule (very small) in proportion to this to this horrific Corona-19 virus. My new computer (It's actually old) was given to me by my brother. I'm having issues with the computer (hard drives), freezing of the screen, etc. Also, the program Blogger decided to create a "new and improved" software, that is all but "new and improved". I went to the help center, and all comments to peoples posts have been disabled. I assume that the Blogger staff have decided that the new Blogger software is going to replace the older (better) version "come "heck" or high water"!

In any event, my small problems are very small compared to what has happened to the world over the last 5 months, so please excuse my very small "complaints".

I heard from a reader by the name of Mr. Federico Tinoco.

He has a nice old tethered race car.  A tethered model race car is one that is attached with a strong string. It is gasoline powered, and once started, it rotates around a round track, guided by the operator with the string.

Federico wanted someone to help him out with more information on this fine tethered car. 

So if anyone out there knows about this gas-powered car, would someone please e-mail me, so that

I can pass on the information to Federico.

My e-mail address is: Majortrout@hotmail.com

and I'm (Mr.) Stacey Bindman

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

Stacey Bindman

Toysearcher@gmail.com

Another Old Toy to Identify

Sunday, August 2, 2020

Overcast with Thunderstorms and Rain,

26 C 79 F

Update:  December 24, 2020

Hi Stacey,

It’s Bruce ______, a reader of your blog.   I found the car that you posted on August 2nd,  2020. 

It is made by American National, from Toledo Ohio.  The car is a Packard, made between the 20s-30’s.  An old value book I have lists it’s value at $1,000 or a bit more. 

Great news!
Have a nice holiday.   

Bruce

Hello Everyone,

It's been a while since I added a new post. It's mostly due to lack of readership. It's hard to write when there are few people writing to me for answers to their toy ID, or trying to find new material to publish. My apologies to all of you who have followed me over the years.

About a month ago, I received an inquiry from Mr. Robert K. Klimt, Jr.  He has a nice toy, and wanted me to ID it. I couldn't, hence my writing this post to see if someone of my readers can help Robert and myself out.

This toy measures 26" x 13" x 14.5 " (Length x Width x Height). 

In metric, that is 660 mm x 330 mm x 368 mm.

In his own words:

"I have attached some photos of a toy car that belonged to my father.  He was born in 1921 and got this when he was three years old (for Christmas).  He would sit on the roof, push it around with his feet, and reach into the car to steer it with the steering wheel.

I was curious if you have seen anything like this before and if you think it has any value.  Just wanted to get your opinion and feedback if you don't mind the trouble.

Thanks for any assistance you can provide.

Robert K. Klimt,Jr."

The car appears to be made of pressed steel, and perhaps has rubber tires.

If anyone out there can help out in identifying this nice toy, please do not hesitate to write.

I can always be reached at:

Toysearcher@gmail.com

Changing subjects, I have to mention the terrible Covid-19 pandemic that is currently  a most dangerous and lethal disease. Up here in Canada, our municipal, provincial, and federal governments are working very hard  to try and prevent people from getting the disease or worse still - dying! There are people out there who believe they are immune from the disease or believe the disease is a hoax. Believe me, it is not!!!!!

Personally, My opinion is that this disease is going to get worse as the approaching fall (autumn) season approaches. However, the good news is that pharmaceutical companies around the world are working on vaccines. We can only hope that there will be a vaccine soon to help control the virus, and provide everyone with immunity to the disease.

Please take care of yourself and your loved ones and friends!

I can always be reached at:

toysearcher@gmail.com

As always,

Have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be,

Stacey Bindman

Two Exceptional Toys are

Sold at Bertoia Auctions

(May 7-8-2020) 

Please click here to visit this exceptional toy auctioneer

Mikado Mechanical Bank

(Kyser and Rex Co.)
Circa 1886

blue table version, an extraordinary design with remarkable action, coin deposited involves placing it under right hat, turning rear crank and watching, the coin reappears under left hat, intriguing and rare. Minor enhancement to face, otherwise paint appears to be original throughout with a clear-coat varnish applied to brighten and preserve paint, (Excellent Condition)

Freedman's Mechanical Bank

Manufacturer: Jerome B. Secor (Bridgeport, Connecticut,USA)

Circa 1880

Manufactured by Jerome B. Secor, Bridgeport, CT, circa 1880, less than ten known examples still exist in what has come to be considered one of the best known historically important banks ever made. The front panel reads, "Freedman's Bank," which gains its inspiration from the Freedman's Bank for newly freed slaves as established by U.S. Congress. When coin is deposited and clockwork is activated, the seated black man is able to thumb his nose, as if to give a jeering look to all depositors, quite a remarkable concept that must be seen to be appreciated!

Both of these toy mechanical banks are extremely rare, hence the high prices 

that were purchased at auction.   The Mikado Mechanical Bank was purchased for a final price of $ 46,600.00 USD, while the Freeman's Mechanical Bank went for $ 36,000.00 USD. It's great to see that during these trying times of the pandemic, people still are trying to continue with caution, but with their normal routines.

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great part of the day or night.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com

An Extremely Rare Wilkins Street Sweeper

Wednesday, May 27,2020

Sunny

37 C.  99 F

(A record-breaking high temperature)

An Extremely Rare

Wilkins Street Sweeper

Please click here to visit the listing this fine seller on ebay, and this fine listing

It's not often that I see a toy with the price set at 5 digits , being offered on ebay! So naturally I was curious to see what the toy was all about. It turns out that it's a Wilkins street sweeper made in the 1890's, It's a cast iron toy, that's in very good condition for being 100 or more year old.

It's length is 12 1/2" (317 mm).

I contacted the owner and asked for permission to use the photos, and to write about the fine toy. As it turned out, the owner of the toy is Mr. Aaron Phelps, whose ID on ebay is apbubba1.

Aaron's photos are excellent, so that I had very little work to improve them, but for resizing them to a smaller size.

In Aaron's own words:

"I've done some searching and it looks to me this was the last one to sell since 2005.  From a collection out of Minnesota. I don’t believe there is too many that are still around.  Thanks Aaron Phelps."

It's amazing that the bristles for the street sweeper are still  

on the toy, and that the letters (D.P.W.) standing for Department of Public Works

are also still on the toy. 

From this photo below, you can see a brown string

that is attached between the rear left axle of the toy, and the 

bristle gear on the shaft of the wheel.

The 2 photos below help you to better understand

how the sweeper rotates along the surface that it is  cleaning.

If anyone has some information about the Wilkins company, 

please send me the reference so that I can add it to this post.

So that's it for today, having written this second post.

I hope that this fine toy will sell, and that someone will enjoy

owning it.

Have a great part of the day or night.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com

The Kingsbury Racers

Sunday, May 24 , 2020
Sunny
25 C 77 F

The Kingsbury Racers

Please click here to visit Liveauctioneers and the page relating to these toys

A page from the 1920's catalogue

In the 1920's there were a lot of British race car drivers who wanted to set the world record

for the land speed record. Malcolm Campbell set the record in Great Britain.

# 335 Napier-Campbell Bluebird Racer

The original car was driven by Capt. Malcolm Campbell in 1928,

which broke the land speed record of the time by going 207 mph.

Wind-up spring motor with Dunlop rubber tires.

Length:  19" 482 mm

Model of the famous Sunbeam Racer, driven by Major Seagrave,

that made the world's speed record of 203 mph, on Daytona Beach (Florida) in March, 1927.

Heavy gauge metal, Dunlop rubber tires, and a strong steel spring motor.

Length:  19" 482 mm

Length:  19" 482 mm

Major Seagrave's Golden Arrow Racer

An exact reproduction in which Major Seagrave broke the World's record 

by driving at a record speed of 231.5 mph.

length: 20" 508 mm

Kingsbury "Thunderbolt" Racer

Pressed steel, painted in red, rare toy racer, seated driver,

with a tall tail fin design. A land speed racer.

Clockwork driven with a strong wind-up mechanism.

Length:  17 3/4"  (450 mm)

The Kingsbury company made lots of other toys besides racers. Mechanical wind-up trucks, cars, airplanes, and fire trucks were all made in the Kingsbury plant in New Hampshire, USA.

Take care, and have a nice
part of the day or evening.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com

Two fine Arcade Toys Come up for Sale at Z & K Antiques

Saturday, May 23, 2020
Sunny
23 C 74 F

Two fine Arcade Toys Come up 

for Sale at  Z & k ANTIQUES

I've been returning to the websites of many of my contributors to see how they are doing. 
Several years ago, I discovered this fine seller by having done a search. What I like about  this website is the excellent photography that they have of their merchandise, and the research that they use to carefully describe each the items that are for sale.

Please click here to visit this fine American Merchant

The scanned pages for the 2 toys come from a nice

small booklet for Arcade Toys circa the 1920's. The booklet of 76 pages was

reproduced by the publisher Noble House in 1988.

Dimensions:

L x W x H: 

 8 1/2" x 3 3/8" x 3 3/4"

215 mm x 86 mm x 95 mm

I was able to find the patent of the toy on the Internet.

Thanks for dropping by.

and have a great part of the day

or night wherever you may be.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com

Theriault's - The Curator of the World's Dolls

Friday, May 22, 2020
Sunny
27 C 81 F

Please click here to visit this world-renowned dollmaster

I seldom cover dolls, but when I was browsing the Net the other day, I saw the name Theriault's several times with regard to a search that I was doing. When I visited  the website, was I surprised! Theriault's is  one of the most famous sites for dolls, and when you  venture over to their website you will see why. If I can put this into words, they are the keepers of the tradition of collecting dolls for now and the next generation of children and adults who get pleasure form collecting, and perhaps playing with them as well.

In their own words

ABOUT US

"Founded in 1970 by Florence and George Theriault, the firm has specialized exclusively in the appraisal and auction of antique dolls and childhood playthings throughout its 50-year history. The firm's offices and cataloging center are headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland, although its live auctions are conducted in major cities throughout the United States. Also, because of Theriault's stellar reputation, collectors and museums worldwide participate in bidding on dolls through a well-developed system of phone, absentee, and Internet bidding. In addition, collectors and estate specialists worldwide - from Asia to Europe to every small town in America - have commissioned their dolls to Theriault's for auction."

EXPERTISE

Theriault's was an early leader in the movement toward specialization within the auction industry. "Traditionally, collectors have been confounded by the contradiction of desiring an object, yet fearing its flaws," notes founder Florence Theriault. We wanted to create an auction firm with a profound knowledge of the subject of the dolls, as well as the mere ability to present an auction. The principle has been well-served, not only offering assurance to the collector of dolls, but also ensuring sellers that their dolls will be marketed intelligently.

Theriault's appraisers have freely contributed their time and knowledge at collector gatherings ranging from small town-club meetings to international  conferences. Informative articles concerning doll collecting and the history of dolls have been contributed to various journals, and an extensive research library is maintained by Theriault's and its sister company, Gold House Publishing, that has published more that 60 books on specialized subjects of doll collecting, with a network of knowledge and respected authors.

Theriault's has sponsored a number of public appraisal clinics to the benefit of museums and public libraries as well as other non-profit organizations and, additionally, hosted many one or two day educational seminars conducted for collectors in major citied around the United States that are free and open to all. Additionally, Theriault's has sponsored a scholarship program in conjunction with the UFDC to support ongoing research in the world of dolls.

Description

6" (15 cm.) Each has bisque shoulderhead, muslin body, bisque lower limbs, including lady with mohair wig arranged with ringlet curls, glass eyes, closed mouth, wearing fine antique gown with lace trim and matching high top bonnet, model 1160 by Simon and Halbig; and gentleman with sculpted black hair and moustache, wearing wonderful original costume and top-hat. Condition: generally excellent. Comments: Germany, circa 1890. Value Points: wonderful original costumes, the woman with original dainty wig.

You can read from the description, that each and every item for sale is most-carefully researched. It's truly amazing how antique dolls have been so sell kept over a period of 130 years. Moreover, these dolls represent how well-off people and their children would have dressed in the 1890's! Even the assembly of the dolls, and their costumes are truly classic!

I decided to not include the written descriptions, so that I could present the pictures by themselves for viewing. The photos are excellent in terms of the nice material that the dolls are on. However, it's the lighting that caught my eye. They are using at least 3 lights to photograph the dolls. There is a light from the back, and 2 lights from the front.  Also the file sizes are very good enough to see plenty of detail, as well as fine detail. It's as if each doll is having her/his portrait taken!

Below is an exceptional "boutique" of miniature 

19th Century decorative objects and silver

Width x Height x Depth

22"  x 13" x 11''

558mm x 330 mm x 280 mm

The wooden-framed open shop with angled sides has built-in shelves back and sides with painted finish to simulate marble and accented with gilt beading and decoupage trim, wooden parquet flooring, hanging tri-arm chandelier, matching ormolu framed mirrors on alternate walls. The shelves are laden with more than 60 miniature treasures including silver tea service, bird cage, tiny dolls in miniature silver chairs, Berlin porcelain statuary, collection of clocks, rare book press, and much more. Excellent condition. An outstanding original presentation of rare antique miniatures in early shop. 

Mid-1800s.

 Height: 17" (430 mm.) 

Bisque swivel head on kid-edged bisque shoulderplate with modeled bosom and shoulderblades, blue glass paperweight inset eyes with spiral threading, dark eyeliner, painted lashes, mauve-blushed eyeshadow, brushstroked brows, accented eye corners, shaded nostrils, closed mouth with outlined lips, dimpled chin and philtrum, pierced ears, blonde mohair wig over cork pate, slender kid bebe body with scalloped upper edge, kid-over-hinged hips, wooden lower legs, kid-over-wooden arms, bisque forearms. Condition: generally excellent, restoration to one finger on left hand. Marks: Bru Jne 5 (head and shoulderplate). Comments: Leon Casimir Bru, circa 1884. Value Points: splendid eyes are featured in this beautiful bebe from golden age of Bru, original body, lovely antique costume, leather shoes signed "Bru Jne Paris 5".

13" (33 cm.) Bisque swivel head on kid-edged bisque shoulderplate with modeled bosom and shoulderblades, blue glass paperweight inset eyes, dark eyeliner, painted lashes, brushstroked brows, accented eye corners and nostrils, closed mouth with outlined lips, brunette mohair wig over cork pate, slender kid body with scalloped-edge kid collarette, kid-over-wooden upper arms, bisque forearms, wooden lower legs. Condition: generally excellent. Marks: Bru Jne 4 (head and shoulders), Bebe Bru...(partial original paper label on body). Comments: Leon Casimir Bru, circa 1886, Value Points: charming fellow has original body, great expression and painting of features, antique costume, cap, and shoes, and carrying faux-tortoise mandolin and leather case.

I certainly do not know much of the lexicon of the world of dolls.However, you can see just how much research goes into describing these true antiques! I still cannot believe just how great these toys have lasted for a hundred years, and through the 1800's, 1900's, and 2000's.

I'm sure these exceptional genre of "toys" will survive much much longer. 

Their legacy  is truly a marvel over the ages!

I certainly was elated to find such a fantastic company, and I would especially 

like to thank Mr. Stuart Holbrook, the President and chief auctioneer of the firm. When I wrote to him, he was more that happy to help me out with this post, but all the thanks is from myself to him.

His experience and knowledge is most exceptional, ah truly is an expert extraordinaire in his genre of the doll world!

I hope that everyone enjoyed this post, and will now have a great resource for researching any dolls that they have or will have seen at auctions, marketplaces, and in special antique stores. 

Have a great part of the day or evening,

and thanks for dropping by.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com