A 1900's Leymann (German) Wind-up Toy

Thursday, February 25, 2016

A 1900's Lehman (Germany)

Wind-up Toy

Please click here to visit the Copake Auction website

There were plenty of new immigrants that were arriving on a daily basis into the United States. As such, the country was getting larger and larger in terms of its population.aThe June 10, 1910 census

determined the US population to be 76, 212,168 people, which was an increase of 21.1% over the 1890 census. 

With such a larger population already, the country easily surpassed the populations of older established (e.g. European) countries of the world. With immigration, there were new jobs, and a booming economy, which naturally would lead to an increase in commerce with countries around the world.

Although the USA did have toy companies, trading with other countries allowed imports, and thus we come to today's 1900's Lehmann truck, a wind-up toy with a length of 5 1/2" (140 mm).

What makes the Lehmann toy interesting is both the wind-up mechanism, as well as the sophistication of the printing process (lithography) of the toy. Toys in the USa were mostly painted and were pressed steel or even the cast iron "heavies". But a toy from France or Germany would be printed lithography, years ahead of most American toys.

Below:

A photo illustrating the patents in years 1903, 1904, & 1906

The wind-up knob on the left side of the toy allowed the coil to get tense and build up energy. THe energy would be released when the toy was placed on the ground. A series of gears increased the sped of the toy, allowing it to be self-propelled. The front wheels had some leeway allowing the toy to turn.

Below:

The steering wheel allowed the front wheels to be turned 

to allow the truck to move to the left or right.

 Below:

A nice side view of the truck. Notice how Copake Auction likes to place an employ Coca-Cola can in the photo as a reference to the relative size of the toy. For a toy that's almost 110 years old, it's not too bad in its condition.

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

Not Yet Seen Toys from Copake Auctions

Sunday, May 31, 2015
Very Cold and Cloudy
 9C or 48 F

Not Yet Seen Toys from Copake Auctions Inc.

  It was a great day to write today. Yesterday was 31 C ( 88 F), and today it's freezing  (9C or 48 F).  Of course, I can't complain. The other day, it was 47 C (116.6F) in India.

Whenever I finish a post ,I will write to the contact person at a company or the person from whom I had the permission to post and of course use their photos. Since I'm returning again to write after a 5 month hiatus (rest break), I wrote to Copake Auctions Inc. and specifically to Mr. James Thompson. James is the  website/technology, marketing & media person at Copake Auctions Inc. That's certainly a big title and lots of responsibility. I like to ask the person that I contacted just to proofread the post for anything that he or she might like me to change, add, remove, or edit. James thanked me, and provided me with an address for a search on Copake Auctions Inc. for "toy- 2006-present".

   Of course, I'd written about Copake Auction Inc.'s toys before, but it didn't hurt to take a look at what James Thompson had sent me. No sooner had I  looked at the first 2 pages of 10 (total 466 toys), did I select 4 toys that I had not seen before. Actually 1 was a "mascot" for RCA. 

Please click here to visit Copake Auction Inc.'s start page

Please click here to visit the search results for "toy-2006-present)

Below is a nice articulating horse with a Sheffield Farms Company milk wagon. I don't see a string, but the toy look like a "pull toy". There's no date provided for the toy, but it appears top be early 20th century or slightly later.

The photography is very good, and I especially like the wide-angle close pup of the roof of the wagon. That illustrates the roof quite well, and shows you the iron step for the milkman to step up to the wagon.

Here's something that I had not known before - another RCA figure - RCA Radiotrons.

Everybody who is older that 60 certainly know the most famous  RCA Mascot. 

Hint: He is a dog

Answer: Nipper

Answer:

 Here's another discovery for me-another articulated toy with a horse and buggy.

I think that this is also another pull toy. I selected this because of its' realism, that reminds me of those travelling salesman samples.

And here's yet one more "discovery". I think I've mentioned or posted a toy from "Oh Boy", but not this one. It's quite large for a toy, and certainly illustrates the early types of car racers that it was modelled after.

This post was certainly an "eye-opener".  I was able to find 4 new toys that I had not seen before in a matter of a few minutes, and the fun of it was that I found them on an exceptional auctioneer's website whose specially is antique bicycles, but of course sells other merchandise.

As the expression goes "leave no stone unturned"…..

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