Friday, May 29, 2015
Sunny and warm
The Early Toy Cars From Europe
One of my favourite genre of toys is the early European toy cars. These were mostly modelled after the "ritzy" cars of the time. Elegant , big and long, the exemplified the cars that only the rich could possess at the time. I happened to revisit Morphy Auctions, another of the fine people who have helped me out with my writing. There are plenty of nice items for sale, but my eye caught these elegant toys.
Mr. Dan Morphy has expanded his company through hard work and through the acquisition of another auction company. He now auctions off old cars, and I'm going to write to ask if I might use some of the car photos. If I can find old cars, it would be great to match them up with old toys.
I always like the free-standing headlights on these cars.m Also, notice that the sun visor is on the outside of the car, rather than on the inside. If you look to the front of the driver, you can also see a searchlight.
There are no headlights on this car! Also, have a look at the large number of air vents on the side of the hood. What also amazes me is that for the European toys of the time (1920's-1930's), the Europeans had established a quality process of lithography. If you compare many of the American toys of the time, most are cast iron.
I like the driver and those "balloon tires. And notice how the driver in the above 2 cars is on the right hand side of the car, unlike American cars which were on the left.
I once purchases a Kingsbury car solely for it's battery -operated headlights. I had to do minor repairs to get the lights to work. Having a toy with headlights must have been extra fun for kids of the time.
What I noticed discovered yesterday after 60 years (I'm, 66), is that a car trunk as we know it today was based on a real steamer trunk. A steamer trunk was used for people who travelled on ships. It was large and people would take a month's worth of clothing, portable vanity mirrors that would stand on a table, personal ink pens and stationary for writing, and all kinds of toiletries and sundries.
Not only were these cars long, but the engine compartment and the engine block were also.Just look at the photos, and you'll see just how large the engine compared with the car and passenger compartment was.
The first and last cars were also wind-up cars.
That's it for today. However, please venture over to the Morphy Auctions website. There are lots more of these early European toy cars to enjoy looking at. I've been busy with taking car of my lawn, planting herbs and vegetables in my leased municipal "mini" garden plot, and walking our dog Buddy more. He's turning 14 in June, and I'm trying to keep him in good shape. He's a poodle, and that's him when you visit my opening page of my blog.
He's starting to show signs of old age (just like me). He's wary of walking dow the stairs to the den, and yelps four his "personal carrier" when he wants to join me. Also, he recently had to have teeth removed since they were loose - a sign of age and not enough toothbrushing on our part.
My wife Heidi feels that since Buddy's dental operation, Buddy is more spunky and has a lot more energy. Of course, the miserable long winter didn't help. Most of the time, both Buddy and myself were not in the mood to go for walks outside in the minus zero record breaking cold February.
Buddy still has some carryover symptoms of the operation, and we're going back to the vet to see what can be done. He seems to be in anguish (feeling pain), and constantly paws his face. I'm thinking there might be some residual nerve pain from the operation.
Thanks for dropping by,
and always,
have a great part of the day or night,
wherever you may be.
Stacey Bindman
toysearcher@gmail.com
