Sunday, September 21, 2014
Overcast with thunderstorms and raining
There are Hidden "Other" Toy Treasures
in Stout's Train Auctions
I wanted to tile this post "I went to a fight tonight, and a hockey game broke out". However, Most of you, my readers may not have understood this expression. I live in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where our most successful sport here is hockey. The Montreal Canadians or Les Canadiens De Montréal are one of the most famous and successful teams in any sport. The regulations and safety concerns for the players has changed for the better over the years. This is even more important to everyone, especially when your paying the team players millions of dollars per game (yes,per game!) to play and perform.
Years before there would sometimes be lots of fighting, and thus someone invented the expression "I went to a fight, and a hockey game broke out". So now you're wondering how this is related to a train action - specifically today's auction company - Stout's Auctions?
As I continue to write, I have learned many things, one of these being how to find interesting toys. Stout's Auctions motto is "America's Premier Toy Train Auction Company". Of course, as I started to search out new people and companies, I wrote Stout Auctions to ask if I might write about them. They helped me out and wrote yes. I read their motto,knew I wanted to write post about trains,
which would be different form all the other toys, and I searched for very nice toys,which I found.
One day however, by shear accident I found a "non-train" toy. OK, maybe it's a "fluke" and an anomoly,I thought to myself. SO I searched some more, and lo and behold, I found many other very nice "non-train toys. So I learned a lesson - Never assume anything when looking for toys!
The toys presented today are part of the October 4, 2014 auction
Stout didn't provide much information on the years these toys were manufactured.I would think that they were made in the 1940's or early 1950's. I hadn't seen this Wyandotte before, so I selected it.
Whenever you search for a Wyandotte toy, make sure to add the word toy. If you don't you will find plenty of Wyandotte chicken photos in your search results. These are very famous chickens and are beautiful.
I had to check if Major Segrave's name was spelled properly and it was. Of course, being very curious, I need to know what his initials stood for.
They stand for (Sir) Henry O'Neil de Han Segrave.
Sadly, Sir Henry's lefe was short lived and he died in a terrible crash racing a speed boat.
It's interesting to see two if this super-fast race car toys coming to auction at the same time in a train auction. I also like the 3 photos for each item. THeir well done!
The coiled metal wires or cord are missing from this toy. THe mechanical operation of these toys was very cleverly designed. The larger groove in wooden wheel in the centre of the wheel axle would have a metal copied band that attached to the the left and right propellers. As the toy was moved, all three propellers would rotate at the same time.
Don;t forget that you can view these photos in Blogger "slide mode" where they are presented larger and against a black background.
THe views are much better like that.
Here's a nice Big wind-up toy car (automobile). But what I especially like is the 3D looking garage window features. The drawn shadows on the sides are great! The front of the garage actually opens to allow the car to be driven and housed.
I've written several posts about toys like the one below.This is an "accessory" that would be attached by special cord to a live steam engine pulley. The cord would be attached to the black wheel. As steam was produced, to was converted into energy. If you had another special accessory that resembled a large lathe, and had anywhere from 4-8 wheels like this toy,you could attach 4-8 different figures similar to this one, and create "whole working factory" of people!
From the 1870's-1930's cast iron banks were very popular in America. These are "regular banks" as compared to the "Mechanical versions". These simple accept or store money, mostly coins.
A "mechanical bank" usually had a spring that was cocked ,like the hammer of a gun. A coin would be placed on part of the toy,and the figures would "perform". Eventually the coin would be deposited in a secure storage part of the bank.
Cast iron banks were usually made by hardware companies that made home accessories such as locks, keys, door handles, and other metallic home accessories. Hardware companies must have seem toy production as a great idea to make money and keep their workers working when the hardware business was slow. cast iron toys and banks caught on and became extremely popular. Even today, cast iron toys are very collectible in America, and the rarer ones are in very high demand and of course win high prices at auction.
Thanks for dropping by to visit,
and as always,
have a great part of the day or night,
wherever you may be,
Stacey
toysearcher@gmail.com
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