Is It or Isn't It?

Thursday, April 24, 2014
            (Sunny and Very Cold)

Is It or Isn't It?

   I sometimes get a question akin if a particular toy is authentic or a reproduction. My first reply is to ask for photos so that I can search out the "real" toys,and then try to make an educated guess. I'm not an expert, but I try to compare. Also, I like to post this question, because I'd like readers to help out if they can.

   Betty Watkins wrote to me yesterday asking about a cast iron Kenton Ice Truck. Betty mentioned that the truck had screws in it. Most of the time,  cast iron toys have bolts. One end is rounded, and the other was moved through the left and right sides of the cast iron parts. When the 2 halves were tight, the factory worker would take a pean hammer (round headed) and hammer the flat end flat to attach the 2 halves together. The newly-flattened end would tighten the side its on, and keep the entire toy together. In "rare" cases, I have seen nuts and bolts or even threaded bolts with nuts attached, but this is extremely rare, and I've only seen a driver or a truck secured in his seat with a nit and bolt.

  I wrote Betty back and asked for large-sized photos with lots of different camera angles and the underside. Many cast iron companies of the case iron era would hammer their name into the underside and sometimes even added numbers.

  when I awoke today, I had plenty of photos, and after my usual Tim Horton's Coffee and low-fat muffin, I came home. I searched for a "real" Kenton Ice Truck on Liveauctioneers, but only found one that I have permission to use. It was from Bertoia Auctions.  I saw another image on a search engine showing a Kovels.com image, but I don't have their permission to use their mirages.

Please click here to visit the exceptional Bertoia Auctions website

I'm going to have you, the reader look at the Bertoia authentic Kenton items and Betty Watkin's presentation (reproduction) and compare the two.

So?

How many differences did you notice?

The very apparent differences:

1. Betty's truck had painted wheels rather than nickel-plated wheels.

2. Betty's wheels are spokes, while the Bertoia wheels are solid and disks.

3. The Bertoia trailer has a rest underneath so that when the trailer is detached 

from the truck,it can rest on the ground.

4. There are no threaded screws on the Bertoia item.

5. Bertoia's  trailer hook had flat surfaces, while Betty's are round.

6. The paint on the authentic Bertoia's item is solid, whereas Betty's item

had black brush strokes underneath the colours to "age" the toy.

7.  Bertoia's item was better cast with smooth surfaces and no filing marks.

8. Bertoia's item again is smooth without any dents or chips.

9. Bertoia's   truck is painted red, while Betty's is a deeper purplish/mauve colour.

There are a few other differences, but I think I've covered enough of them 

for you to see the major differences.

  I'm 99.99% sure Betty's item is a reproduction, and she even wrote today that she also felt that it was. Her other question today was when might have her "reproduction" been made and who made it. I can't answer her for sure, but I'd say probably anywhere from the 1980's-2000's. If anyone reading this post has the answer or a similar "reproduction" please feel free to write me. Also, if you have an "authentic" Kenton truck and tandem trailer, would you please send me lots of additional photos, so that I may add them to this post.

Thanks for visiting,

and as always, 

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may  be.

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com

A New Kenton Toy Catalogue Supplement for 1927

Wednesday, September 11, 2013
                      ( Post # 2 of the Day)

New Kenton Toys for 1927

( A supplement for the 1927 Catalogue)

   I received the 1927 Kenton catalogue and it also came with their new toys for 1927. Because it's smaller, I decided to scan it, and add it as an extra post for today. What's interesting about this catalogue is that there are newer toys. Yet when one looks at the "regular' catalogue for 1927, there are lots and lots of items that seem outdated for 1927. There are many horse-drawn fire wagons -  the precursor to the fire engine truck, many stoves,  horse drawn carts, surreys, coupes, and other types of wheeled items for moving merchandise and people.   What fascinates me is that these items were being produced in 1927, approximately 15 years after the automobile (later called a car), fire trucks, regular trucks, and airplanes were now around, and more common. I would agree that the airplane was not that common, but as a toy, I would have thought that every child would want the "latest, latest toy". flash forward to 2013, and this week Apple started producing different and supposedly less expensive iPhones. What do people actually do with the previous 1 year old iPhone?

By the way, Google Blogger will stop my writing and change the letters to disappear if I make a mistake and wait for me to correct it, but when I typed in iPhone, the lettering didn't go white. Their spelling checker already had the correction of iPhone!. Notice how the lettering disappeared, but when iPhone is properly written - nothing happens. It's amazing what Google and Blogger can really do when money is involved!  I've written to Blogger dozens of times to ask them to improve their spell check, but they don't reply - ever. So when I make a spelling mistake, the writing goes white!

Tomorrow, I'll be writing about Mr. Harmjam Heeling, the owner of the website above.

His website is a partner with ebay, and  it's an excellent site for information about almost evert toy manufacturer that you can think of - old and new!

I decided to simply screen-capture his well-written history of the Kenton Hardware Company history.

I've made these scans extra large, but you'll have to view them in slideshow mode in Blogger to see them at their best. By the way, I use the maple leaf seedlings as my watermark. If you ever need to use these catalogues for an article or research, just write to me, and I'll send them to you without the copyright notice and  watermark.

What fascinates me about this catalogue is the fact that  15 years after the automobile and the airplane have been around, Kenton now decides to update their catalogue of toys. Also, have a look at the weight of the toys for shipping. It's true that the US government gave the railroads  most-generous  concessions and land in return for building the railroad across the vast nation. However, at some point in time, the railroad costs, and I'm sure their wanting to make larger profits entered into the changing of shipping charges. They also had big expenses, as they criss-crossed America North to South, and East to West. I can now see how historians and  history scholars now can make their research valuable in understanding certain things. Whether all of the "hypotheses" that I've mentioned entered into the demise of so many of these fabulous toy cast iron companies, will have to be written by the historians, unless of course, they already have!

Of course in our decade, we saw what happened to the 2 of the 3 major car manufacturers in 2007-2009. 2 of them needed financing by the US government and I think went bankrupt, while Ford did not reply on the government for support. But that's another post for another time, on another blog.

As the expression goes :

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it"

(George Santayana from his book  "reason in Common Sense"

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com