Toy Sleds: Just One More Run
by Douglas R. Kelly When my editor, Judy Gonyeau, pinged me a while back and told me that toy sleds might make for a fun topic for this Holiday issue of the Journal, I thought, “That’s a great idea … I…
Antique Toys
Collecting Collectoys
by Douglas R. Kelly Louis Marx is never far from my mind. I didn’t know the man, but his company made so many cool and wonderful toys in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s that his name appears on my radar…
Micro Signage
by Douglas R. Kelly My great friend of many years, Renny Schoonmaker, likes to call these kinds of things “go-with items.” These are the displays, the ads, and the accessories that came with—or were marketed with—the main act. In my…
The T in Tinplate
by Douglas R. Kelly Most people familiar with automotive history know that Henry Ford’s Model T put America on wheels. In fact, the T changed the course of history, being the first automobile to be built using true assembly…
The Toy Box: Originals and Reproductions and Telling the Difference
By Douglas R. Kelly There’s a box full of empty boxes in a storage space under the eaves of our house. The empties once held toy and model cars, but that was 60 or 70 years ago. Now they…
A Bird in the Hand
by Douglas R. Kelly American toys that are made in Asia are nothing new. Over the last 35 years, many American producers have switched production to China. Before that, Japan and Hong Kong were toy manufacturing powerhouses. While…
Coin Banks: Cold Hard Cash
by Douglas R. Kelly Strange, but I don’t remember ever owning a piggy bank. What I did have growing up was a plastic bassett hound bank, which I’ve since learned was made by Union Products and was around 15 inches…
Gavels 'n' Paddles: Bulls and Bears toy game, $20,740, Pook & Pook, Inc.
Results of Recent Auctions From Near and Far by Ken Hall A scarce McLoughlin Bros. Bulls and Bears – The Great Wall Street Game, patented in 1883, sold for $20,740 at an Antique Toy Auction held Dec. 7-8 by Pook…
Lots to Consider: March 2018
Auction Items Worth a Look Horse Weathervane Sharon Boccelli & Company – March 28: Three dimensional running horse weathervane. Copper with zinc head, from an Alstead New Hampshire farmhouse. Auction Estimate: $850-$1,200 sbauctioneers.com Decorated Box Pook & Pook, Inc. Auctioneers…
Morphy Auctions' June 2016 Premier Antique Toy, Doll, Marble, and Figural Cast Iron Sales Event Plays With Almost $1.5 Million In Sales!
This three-day auction included over 2,100 carefully curated lots, including many extraordinary highlights and rarities from the Jack Herbert collection of antique vehicles. Denver, Pennsylvania, July 11, 2016 – It was a race to the finish at Morphy’s recent Premier…
What's Selling on eBay: December 2015
by Deborah Abernethy and Mike McLeod $3,750 (19 bids, 9 bidders): Antique German Carette Wind-up Tin Toy Car – All 4 Orig. Passengers & Headlights. This is an early 1900s German tin car by Georges Carette. This car is an…
A Child's World: Childhood in 19th Century New England
A Child’s World: Childhood in 19th Century New England New Exhibit at Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge, MA Opens October 13 In an age before super-sized toy stores, pampered children, and helicopter parents, a new concept of a child’s formative years…