A FIND IN THE CHILDREN’S TOY AREA

BY ESTHER NUNLEY

Original Publish Date: December 30, 2022

Vintage toys, in a collection at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum, represent the work of the imagination of those who used materials from home to make enjoyable toys and later on, as technology grew, the many toys made in mass production.

Children of all ages can enjoy looking through the many different toys that were a joy to some youngster perhaps on Christmas day after opening a wrapped gift found under the tree. Some of these toys could have been in the mind of a youngster who traveled downtown and saw it displayed in the store window only to be dismayed when it disappeared and then to find it underneath the tree on Christmas morning.

Our toy collection represents toys once owned by children as far back as 1745-- the year our oldest doll, Abbie, was born in Rhode Island. Dolls of wood, cloth, bisque, and china are a part of this extensive exhibit. Most children’s toys were either handmade or carved from wood until the mid-1800s. The industrial revolution brought in metals which replaced the wood and companies started to mass produce toys. By the turn of the 20th century, toys were available in stores. Stores in Athens advertised a collection of rocking horses, small wagons, trains, marbles, tea sets, and dolls.

Among our collection are many different cast iron, pressed steel and tin toy models that include figures, motorcycles, cars, trucks, airplanes and a complete train set.

Think of the joy little Buddy Lindahl must have felt when his dad, Fred Lindahl, gave him a small pressed steel truck made from the scrap at his company. He founded the Moline Pressed Steel Company in 1910 in order to make fenders and auto parts for the automotive industry. He supplied parts for the McCormack Deering Line of farm implements and the International Harvester Company for its trucks. While doing that, he noticed he was accumulating a lot of scrap steel. He had a desire to do something special for his son, Buddy, and made him the truck.

He began mass producing toy cars, trucks, fire trucks, delivery vans, construction equipment, and trains under the Buddy “L” name. Some were large enough for kids to ride while others were pull toys. Marshall Fields and FAO Swartz marketed the toys. Lindahl sold the company during the Great Depression. Over the years it became owned by Empire Industries--a subsidiary of Empire of Carolina. The line did well until the year 2000 when a safety recall called in 113,000 battery-operated ride-on toys that were found to cause fires and potentially injure children. The company Empire of Carolina and its subsidiary Empire Industries filed bankruptcy soon after.

Our Buddy “L” aerial ladder fire truck was made in 1924. It is unique for its time in that it has life like functions that feeds the imagination. It is a large toy truck, measuring 41.25 inches by 8.5 inches by 9.5 inches. The ladder includes a real-life hoist system that allows the ladder to extend three times its size. It can also rotate similarly to the function of a real ladder truck. The truck was a dream come true for an 8-year-old one Christmas morning as its bright fire engine red color stood out among the other gifts placed under the tree.

A faded red cast iron plane carries the name “Lindy” on its wings and an eyelet on its nose for a string to be attached for pulling. It was made around 1930 and has rubber tires just like a real airplane. It is small measuring 4 3/8 inches by 3 ½ inches by 1 ½ inches in size. It is a replica of a plane owned by the famous pilot Charles “Lucky Lindy” Lindbergh. Lindbergh is famous for his long distance flying and was the first man to fly from New York City to Paris, France in 1927.

The plane bears a stamped number that is similar to those made by the Hubley Manufacturing company of Lancaster, PA. They started out making toys using cast iron with many themes including horse-drawn vehicles, different breeds of dogs, horses, tractors, steam shovels, banks and cap guns. They also produced door stops and bookends. Later on, some of their models were made of a zinc alloy and plastic.

They were best known for their 1:20 scale models of various classic cars. In the 1960s they made plastic promotion models for automakers. Iron shortages affected the toy production during WW II but production continued as materials became available. CBS Toys bought them in 1980 and sold dies to Ertl and Scale Models both of Dyersville, Iowa. Today, all production of Hubley toys have stopped which makes them very rare and only available at auction web sites, from collectors, or older hobby stores.

The McMinn County Living Heritage Museum is a nonprofit organization with a mission to collect, preserve and present artifacts, documents and other items related to the history of McMinn County and the region for the education and enrichment of its citizens and others.