Toy Ships from the Georges Carette Catalogue

Sunday, March 11, 2018
Overcast with snow
2 C  35.6 F

Toy Ships from the

Georges Carette Catalogue

The pages that I selected were from a company called New Cavendish Books. This fine catalogue reproduction was first published in 1975, and later reprinted in 1979. This fine publisher also published many other company toy catalogues of old toys and models. The 1914 Georges Carette catalogue is 260 pages with another 40 pages for the supplements of 1907 and 1914. The immense catalogue illustrates just how successful and popular the Georges Carette toys were. The trains are probably the most popular today as these toys were the most numerous of that era. After the trains, the model cars are most in demand today garnering large final results at auction. Third in the list of popularity are the ships, which also achieve high prices at auctions today. Many of the models illustrated below came in varying sizes as you can see. There were 2 kinds of propulsion offered. One was the steam engine, while the other was a key wind-up spring motor mechanism.  There were plenty of details on these ships, and the ship[s were names after the names of the real ships and battleships of that era.

It's truly amazing just how many toys the company manufactured, and that these toys are still in existence after 100 years or more. When you see high-quality photos of the original ships, you are truly impressed with the high-quality of these toys and models.

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great part 

of the day or evening.

Stacey Bindman

Toysearcher@gmail.com

New Cavendish Books

Wednesday, December 6, 2017
Cloudy with sunny periods
3C  38 F

New Cavendish Books

( Old Car Models)

Please click here to visit this fine publishing company

   Old catalogues and books are great resources for those who like to collect toys. These resources offer excellent information, and help to identify and try to authenticate if your toys are exactly what you think they are. 

New Cavendish Books  is a fine publishing company that happens to have an extensive collection of books about toys, as well as reproductions of old toy catalogues. I'm planning to write a post about some of the fine Bing toys that Morphy Auctions is listing for sale.

Yoy can in fact visit Liveauctioneers at the address below to see the fine toys

that are up for auction in the December 16-17, 2017 auction . That address is below:

Please click here to visit the Morphy Auctions' auction

The scans below are from the 1912 Bing Toy catalogue.

You can use these scans as a resource to see which of your toy cars from the Morphy Auctions' auction resemble the cars up for auction. Of course, this is the 1912 catalogue, so some of Morphy Auctions's items may not match the catalogue, as they are from earlier years. Nevertheless, the scans illustrate to the viewer the style and resemblance to earlier toys.  And of course, Morphy Auctions is a very reputable auctioneer who has specialized departments and personnel who  research and authenticate old and antique toys.

So that's it for today.

Thanks for dropping by,

And as always,

Have a great part of the day or night,

Wherever you may be.

Toysearcher@gmail.com

Stacey Bindman

Some of George Carette's Electric Trolleys

Friday, April 18, 2014
         (Cloudy and warm)

Some of Geroge Carette's

Electric Trolleys

  Two days ago, I posted about some of the nice trolleys that will be coming up for auction at Bertoia Auctions (Vineland, NewJersey, USA). As the warmer seasons approach, the auction houses list more and more auctions. Everyone likes to get out in the warmer times, especially antique toy collectors. I had posted about  American Trolleys, but I saw several of Georges Carette - the famous German toy manufacturer in the early 20th century. I knew I would add a post about George Carette's trolleys, because I would be able to add some pages from his  original catalogue that was reproduced in 1979 by New Cavendish Books.

Please click here to visit the fine website of Bertoia Auctions

Please click here to visit the interesting website of New Cavendish Books

It's hard to find George Carette toys on the Net, especially in North America. So when they show up, I like to write about them. If you ever get a chance to look or buy the Carette  1979 catalogue, look at it or buy it. It's an encyclopedia of information of a once fantastic toy company.

What is interesting with this very newly-introduced toys (at the time) was that electricity on a commercially large scale had only begun a decade or so earlier, thanks to the American inventor Thomas Alva Edison.  You can imagine how people must have felt to have electricity, when just 

a "moment in time" before, they were using candles made from wax and whale oil!

What's interesting about these early electric toys is that the power came from above on an elevated electrical system.

I only selected 10 pages from the  approximate 300 page reproduction of New Cavendish Books.

These trolleys or trams certainly are colourful. What's also interesting is that these electric trollies would have replaced the previous horse drawn versions.

You can see the actual elevated [poles that suspended the electrical wiring and current that would propel the trolleys.

Not all of the trolleys would have  elevated mast to conduct electrify from the overhead wires to the motors of the trolley. In this case, the engine would pulse the trolleys.

The page below illustrates the transformers, then called "commutators" that would reduce the household power to a manageable and save power level for children. These commutators would allow the train and trolleys to go either frontwards or backwards.

As an aside, I don;t know if any of you gave elver seen old wiring in a house. It would be cloth covered,and periodically there would be porcelain attachments in the wood house construction to  continue the electrical current all over the house. Also, there would be the older fuses that would have a thin piece of metal encased inside a piece of see-through glass. This fuse would then screw into a socket where the master fuse box was. Too much power would cause the piece of thin metal to melt, and cut the electricity. This invention saved the wiring from overheating and causing a fire.  Today, recent and antique fuses are collectibles.

Many of the trolley and train accessories were magnificent pieces. What's even more interesting was the fact that some were hand painted, but most were hand assembled!

AS well as the trollies, there were of course trains. I added a page just to shops everyone. 

I have posted about Georges Carette several times before, and if you search my blog, you'll find these posts.

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com

Some Carette Cars and Their 1911 Catalogue Illustrations

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Some Carette Cars and Their

 1911 Catalogue Illustrations

   Yesterday in Montreal, we had rain in the morning following by the strongest winds I've seen in a long time. Thankfully, the meteorologists  got their forecasts corrects to warn everyone of the strong winds that followed. There were 750,000 people without power in the Province (Quebec, Canada), including my wife and I,and Buddy (our dog). The wind was so strong (65 mph/ 90 kph that Buddy refused to "pee". I sent him out to the front lawn tree, he gave me a pleading look, and came back in after I gave him the OK to come back into the house. today's newspapers will be interesting to see what happened overnight. Our salmon trout never got cooked in the oven (power failure),and we had asparagus, salad,and crackers. 

  As you know, I received the Carette catalogue a few days ago, and naturally like to go through it. I like to try and match up actual antique items with their catalogue counterparts. What I find amazing about early cars is that they became so sophisticated and ornate for having been around for so short a time ( 15 years).  There are only a few pages in the catalogue devoted to cars and trucks. I was able to match up cars, but I couldn't find any trucks (some are called wagons). The Carette catalogue is the second New Cavendish Books catalogue that I've purchased. These are reproductions, but already seem to appear on Amazon and AbeBooks as collectables,with high prices to match. Of course, some are not in excellent condition and if you like old toy books, you can purchase them at lower prices. If someone has a solution as to how to eliminate that musty old book smell,I'd be very thankful!

Please click here to visit the New Cavendish Books fine website

Please click here to redirect to Bertoia Auctions fine website

I haven't described the cars as I normally do on the photos.
I decided to let you, the viewer match up the actual toy photos with the 1911 catalogue sketches.

What's interesting about these toys is all of the hands-on workmanship that was needed to paint and install the accessories (e.g. lamps) to the toys). Also,some of these lamps are nickel-plated,which nowadays would be prohibitively expensive to use as parts for a toy. Also,you have to look closely for the detail.Notice the large hand brake to the right of the driver, the steering wheel is on the right side, and finally, the brake. If you look at the second photo from the bottom, there is an arched device that is on a rod and slightly away from the rear left tire. That was the brake in those times! What's also interesting is the costly options such as having rubber tires on the wheels. Imagine, that was a toy option in 1911!

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always, have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

Stacey

write to me anytime at

toysearcher@gmail.com

The Magnificent Steam Engine Systems of Georges Carette

Friday, November 1, 2013

The Magnificent Steam Engine Systems of 

Georges Carette

   I received an outstanding catalogue reproduction printed by New Cavendish Book.This company prints a cornucopia of outstanding books about collectibles, as well as other types of books. However, old and antique toys is my area. The book I received was printed in 1979, and arrived with a beautiful antique sepia-yellow tone to the pages, as well as the usual musty "old book" odour. I sometimes leave the aged pages "as is",but I cleaned them up today. I sent a note to New Cavendish Books for permission to use their pages,but I haven't heard back from them yet.  Hopefully, they'll allow me the use,and won't ask me to remove the post.

Please click here to visit the fine resource of New Cavendish Books

Steam engine toys of the late 19th and early 20th centuries are exceptional machines of a long ago era when toys were modelled after real machines. Before electricity, most machines were powered by water  or by steam. In the case of the toys,the fuel was usually by methylated spirits or  denatured alcohol. I'm sure parents were very protective and cautious about allowing their children to work with these toys.

As you will see, these exceptional machines were not  just toys, but learning tools. Each machine was modelled after their larger cousins that worked in real life. The machine would produce power through a  rotating wheel. That power would then be transferred via what I assume are rope or belts (e.g. rubber coated cotton rope or heavy duty thread) to other moving machines or small human figures in motion at their various crafts.  

These book in excellent condition actually are collectibles. Mine cost about $ 75.00 U.S. plus $ 28.50 shipping from Australia. It's not in mint condition, but I use these books as references.However, a book such as this in excellent condition will fetch a hefty price for someone who does collect books.

This particular model cost 360 at the time. I'm unsure of the monetary unit, but perhaps it's in shillings. Nevertheless, it is one of the most expensive models in the section on steam engines.Of course,there are plenty of choices in the lower price range.

I added this pages because It was pleasantly amusing. I assume for those who didn't have elecgtricity yet, they could run a fan off steam power!

These models are great because they explain how an electrical plant would operate.

The page above shows you the shafts and pulleys that would be attached by a belt to the steam engine.The more powerful the engine,the more power could be transferred. 

"Real" workable machines could be used with the steam engines. I assume a model ship builder would be able to craft his pieces on such machines. If you look at the sentence until the larger-font title, you'll read "Cheap class in japanned tin". I think that back then the word "cheap" had a different meaning than today.  As for the word "japanned", that's a method of applying many coats of carefully applied lacquer to  place a fine finish on the models.

Above is a collection of "working models (figures). Notice that each model had a wheel that would be attached to either a large group on spindles on a shaft or directly to the steam engine as one unit. Imagine a wealthy father who would buy a collection of models for his son or daughter (probably very rare for girls to work with these models). 

Imagine the noise of the steam engine,the pulleys,and the factory workers hammering and sawing! an

Here's another page of examples of model workers for the steam engine.

Model steam engines are still being made and produced for children and adults. I've written about some  of today's fine companies that manufacture these machines. I'm sure that today, like  other models and toys,the quality of production and the materials and ores form which they're made are of a better quality then back then. 

I'm sure however, that many of you would want to try out the 1914 model - I know I would! 

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

Stacey

write to me anytime at:

toysearcher@gmail.com