All-NU Products Inc. New
York City, New York
Alps (Shojo Ltd.) Tokyo,
Japan
Althof, Bergmann New York
City, New York
American Flyer Chicago,
Illinois
American National Co.
Toledo, Ohio
Andes Foundry Co. Lancaster,
Pennsylvania
Arcade Mfg. Co. Freeport,
Illinois
Arnold Co. Nuremberg,
Germany
Auburn Auburn, Indiana
Automatic Toy Works New York
City, New York
Barclay Mfg. Co. Hoboken,
New Jersey
Barton & Smith Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
Bassett-Lowke Northampton,
England
Bing Corp. New York City,
New York
Gebbruder Bing Nuremberg,
Germany
R. Bliss Mfg. Co. Pawtucket,
Rhode Island
Blomer & Schuler Nuremberg,
Germany
George Borgfeldt & Co. New
York City, New York
James H. Bowen Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
Bowman Norwich, England
Milton Bradley & Co.
Springfield, Massachusetts
William Britains Ltd.
London, England
George W. Brown & Co.
Forestville, Connecticut
Karl Bub Nuremberg, Germany
Buddy L Salem, Massachusetts
Buffalo Toy & Tool Works
Buffalo, New York
Burnett Ltd. London, England
Butler Brothers New York
City, New York
Cardini Omegna, Italy
George Carette Nuremberg,
Germany
Carlisle & French Co.
Cincinnati, Ohio
Francis W. Carpenter Port
Chester, New York
Champion Hardware Co.
Geneva, Ohio
J. Chein & Co. New York
City, New York and Harrison, New Jersey.
D.P. Clark Dayton, Ohio
Clark & Sowdon New York
City, New York
E.O. Clark New York City,
New York
Morton E. Converse Co.
Winchenden, Massachusetts
Corcoran Mfg. Co.
Washington, Indiana
Corgi Toys, Mettoy Playcraft Ltd.
Swansea, South Wales
Courtenay Miniatures (an extension of a Doran toy makers which dates back to 1892) Duran,
England
Charles M. Crandall
Covington, Pennsylvania
Jesse Crandall Brooklyn, New
York
Crescent Toy Co., Ltd. Great
Britain
1938-1945
Other name: Faben Products Inc.
Founder: C. Frank Krupp
Specialty: Military Miniatures. Krupp designed
and fabricated Barclay's tin helmet line of soldiers, then left to start his
own company. He declared bankruptcy in 1945, but was back in business a year
later.
1948 to date
Specialty: Toy vehicles and novelties. A lot of
these toys were battery operated; mixed tinplate and tin. Space toys are
among the most popular..
1867-1880
Founder: Three Bergmann brothers and the
jobber, L. Althof.
Specialty: Tinplate trains, bell toys, still banks,
horse drawn vehicle. One of the first U.S. toy makers to build carpet
running trains, renowned for painted clockwork toys, notably the hoop
variety.
1907-1938
Acquired by A.C. Gilbert
Specialty:
Electric train engines and rolling stock. Also produced a popular line of
comic figures on bicycle gravity toys, including Charlie Chaplin, Uncle Sam,
Roosevelt Bears (Circa 1912). A.C. Gilbert revitalized the ailing American
Flyer line; following the second world war , it moved to "S" gauge models,
retaining the American Flyer name..
Early 1900s to ?
Trade name: Giant
Slogan:
"Raise the Kids on Wheels"
Founder: Walter, Harry, and William Diemer
Specialty: Scooters, bicycles. Produced sidewalk toys including
pressed-steel trucks, competing briefly with Keystone and Buddy "L" in the
late 1920s.
1919 - 1930s
Other names: Merged with Kilgore and
Federal Mfg. In 1927, and became American Toys.
Founder: Eugene Andes
Specialty: Paper caps and components, airplanes, trucks. First made
paper caps and cast iron components for Kilgore cap guns and cannons. Merged
with Kilgore and Federal Mfg. In 1927 and became American Toys until the
company dissolved a few years later. Specialized in Arctic ice cream wagons,
airplanes, stake and dump trucks..
1868 - 1946
Founder: E.H. and Charles Morgan
Specialty: First made toys and coffee mills in 1884. As late as 1939,
Arcade's toy line included over 300 toy items. Yellow Cab was their first
successful toy. Andy Gump in 348 and Chester Gump in His Pony Cart were
other popular toys for collectors. Arcade also made toy banks, doll house
furniture, and cast-iron penny toys.
1906 to date
Founder: K. Arnold
Specialty: Stationary
steam accessories; nautical toys. Introduced "Rapido" gauge "N" model
railroads in 1960s.
1913 - 1968
Other name: Double Fabric Tire Corp.
Specialty:
English Palace Guards toy soldiers and military miniatures. Made English
Palace Guards toy soldiers, as well as miniatures for the European and
American branches of the military service. Also made a number of animal and
wheeled vehicle toys. Toy division moved to Deming, New Mexico..
1868 - 1874
Founder: Robert J. Clay
Clockwork
tin toys
Girl Skipping Rope, Toy Gymnast, Creeping Baby were precursors
of all Ives articulated dancing platform toys. Bought out by Ives in 1874.
1923 - 1971
Founder: Leon Donze, a Frenchman, and
Michael Levy
Toy soldiers
Introduced a line of toy soldiers in
1932; became the largest U.S. producer of toy soldiers up to World War II.
1890s - ?
Founder: J.Barton
Mechanical Banks
Made cast-iron mechanical banks, including "Boy on Trapeze".
1899 to date
Founder: Wenman J. Bassett-Lowke
Innovated mail-order catalog of toys concept.
The first to recognize
the quality workmanship of German toy train manufactures (i.e. Bing,
Maerklin, Carette, and Ismayer) and to commission specific British designs.
Bassett-Lowke also innovated the mail order catalog of toys concept, mailing
its first edition, with tipped-in photographs, in 1899.
1924 - 1935
Founder: John Bing
Spin-off of German
firm, Gebruder Bing.
Served as jobber for parent firm with mechanical
boats, zeppelins, and steam engines.
1866 - 1933
Karl Bub; toy trains/Fleischmann; toy boats
Founder: Brothers Ignatius and Adolph Bing
Spring-driven toys
Wide-range of spring-driven, cars, buses ,boats. Perhaps its biggest coup
was a line of trains initiated in 1882. Bing went under during the crash of
1929; Karl Bub acquired the toy trains division and Fleischmann the toy
boats.
1832 - 1914
Sold to Mason & Parker, Winchendon,
Massachusetts.
Founder: Rufus Bliss
They were in the toy business
for 100 years.
Bliss had over a one hundred-year history, although the
earliest ad for toys appeared in the New England Business Directory in 1871.
Pioneered in development of lithographed paper on wooden toys including
dolls' houses, boats, trains, and building blocks.
1930 to date
Tin mechanical motor toys.
Logo features
an elephant with howdah..
1881 - 1962
Founder: George Borgfeldt, and
Marcell and Joseph Kahle.
Importer and wholesaler of toys.
Toys
which included comic novelty tin wind-ups under the name "Nifty." Trademark
was "Nifty" smiling moon face. Also distributed "Oh Boy" pressed steel
trucks and cars.
1877-1906
Founder: James H. Bowen
Pattern maker
for J. & E. Stevens mechanical banks.
Designed such classics as
"Darktown Battery", "Girl Skipping Rope", "Reclining Chinaman.
1920s - 1935
Steam-driven locomotives and rolling stock.
1861 to date
Variously identified as
Milton Bradley Co., Milton Bradley & Co., Milton Bradley and company.
Founder: Milton Bradley
Board games.
Launched his business with
"The Checkered Game of Life", a board game of high moral overtones. Milton
Bradley also became well known for educational games, books, kindergarten
teaching aids, and school supplies, as well as a small range of toys.
1893 to date
Founder: William Britain
Three
dimensional hollow toy soldier, largest producer of toy soldiers
Introduced a three dimensional hollow toy soldier line, faithfully
replicating over 100 British Army regiments in their first decade of doing
business. Britains expanded to become the world's largest producer of lead
toy soldiers. (Since 1966, alas, the figures have been made of plastic..
1856 - 1880
Merged with J. & E. Stevens
in 1868
Founder: George W. Brown and Chauncey Goodrich
First
manufacturer to produce toys with clock-work mechanisms.
Beginning
perhaps as early as 1850. Known for classic boats, vehicles, animal
platforms toys, dancing figures, and hoop bell toy, fashioned in painted
tin.
1851 - 1966
Founder: Karl Bub
Enameled tin transportation
toys,
Superbly enameled and later lithographed line of clockwork tin
transportation toys including trains. Many Bub toys reached the American
market via exclusive distributor F.A.O. Schwartz, New York City, during the
1920s-1930s.
1910 to date
Other names: Moline Press Steel(1910-1913); Buddy L
Wood Products(1944); Buddy L Manufacturing (1930); Buddy L Corp.(to date).
Founder: Fred Lundahl
Cranes, steamrollers, trucks, construction
toys.
Buddy L toys were named after the founder's son. Lundahl
introduced the line in 1921, starting with a pressed steel pick-up truck
that expanded into a veritable fleet of almost 30 cranes and other
construction toys some five years later.
1924 - 1968
Lightweight pressed-steel
aeronautical, automotive, and carousel toys.
Many of the toys were
activated by a special spiral rod connected to a spring.
1920s - 1930s
Painted and lithographed tin clockwork vehicles,
including London autobuses.
1876 - 1950s
Largest wholesale distributors of toys
in the U.S. during the first quarter of the 20th century.
Carried the
most elite lines. Sold by catalog exclusively to merchants, with sample
houses in most major cities.
1922 - 1928
Five main lines of small toy automobiles
Cardini's
innovative packaging included outer box that could be transformed into the
cars garage. Toys were marked by a large Cardini crest and the tires were
marked Pirelli-cord.
1886 - 1917
Founder: George Carette (with Gebrudern Bing's
backing).
Mechanical tin boats, cars, and trains.
Many of these
toys were lithographed. Best known for electric streetcars and model trains.
Carette, as a French citizen, was deported from Germany in 1917, thus
closing the firm.
1895 - 1915 (for toy line)
Founder: Robert Finch
and Morton Carlisle
First successful electric train
Produced the
first successful electrically run toy train in the United States in 1879.
Later expanded line included steam outline locomotives and rolling stock.
Also functioned a distributor, handling the first toy automobile. ( made by
Knapp Electric in 1900).
1880 - 1890
Sold patent rights and inventory to
Pratt & Letchworth
Cast-iron, horse-drawn vehicles.
These Toys
included what many collectors view as the creme de la creme, the tally-ho.
1883 - 1954 (toys from 1930-1936)
Founder: John and
Ezra Hasenpflug
Champion Hardware made cast
iron transportation toys, banks and cap pistols. They also made cast iron
parts for other leading toy manufacturers. (Thanks to Mark Schupska for information provided.)
1903 - 1979 (toy producing
years)
Other names: Became known as Chein Industries, Inc., in the
1970s.
Founder: Julius Chein
Specialty: tin mechanical toys,
banks, drums, and tea sets.
Tin toys were lithographed. Chein's line of
comic and circus tin toys received wide acceptance in the 1930s and leading
up to World War II. .
1898 - 1909
Other names: Re-named Schieble Toy & Novelty in 1909
Founder: David P. Clark
Specialty: Sheet-steel novelty and automotive
toys with friction and flywheel mechanisms.
Early 1890s - 1910
Specialty: Board games
Board games such as "Rough Riders", "Game of Golf", and "Yacht Race"..
1897 - early 1900s
Founder: E.O. Clark (Successor to
Clark & Sowdon).
Specialty: Board games.
Board games, including
"The Charge", "The Hippodrome", and "The Owl & The Pussycat."
1878 - 1934 (Mason & Converse until 1883)
Founder: Morton Converse
Specialty: Toytown Complex
"Toytown
Complex" was once recognized as the largest wood toy factory in the world.
Known for Noah's arcs, ABC blocks, and doll furniture, many of which were
lithographs on wood. Made steel toys in the 1890s, comprised mainly of
transportation vehicles with clockwork mechanisms.
1920s - 1940s
Specialty: Large, pressed-steel
riding toy autos and trains under the trademark "Cor-Cor".
Since 1956 (Mettoy Playcraft Ltd.
Originated in 1934)
Specialty: Miniature toy vehicles in metal and
plastic.
1938 - 1963
Founder: Richard and Vida
Courtenay
Specialty: very limited production of lead royalty figures including
Knights of the Round Table.
Frederick Ping with Courtenay made many of his own medieval
figures.Courtenay chose Ping to take over his molds upon his death
(1963).
Ping was one of the most incredible makers of 54mm figures, working in
the
French style of building each figure from layers of lead, on a simple
lead
figure. Ping kept the molds from 1963, until Peter Greenhill purchased
the
Courtenay molds in 1978 and continues to market miniatures under
Courtenay
and Greenhill. (Credit for this information goes to Glenn)
1867-1905
Specialty: Inter-locking tongue
and groove lithograph paper-on-wood joints.
Interlocking tongue in
groove wooden joints that children used to create multiple figure forms.
Some of the more popular sets; "District School House", "Acrobats", and
"Treasure Box". Charles' son Jesse started his own toy business soon after
the Civil War, relocating in Brooklyn. Jesse Crandall was issued a number of
patents for rocking toys, alphabet blocks, and construction toys. Relocated
to Montrose, Pennsylvania in 1875, to Waverly, New York in 1888.
1840s - 1880s
Specialty: Hobby horses, rocking horses,
velocipedes, and board games.
1921-late 1970s
Specialty: Hollow cast lead soldiers and
plastic figures, including "Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future"; also made
die-cast motor miniatures.