Hubley 1906-1919 Large Fire Engine No. 544 Pumper Wagon Truck *SOLD*

Hubley 1906-1919 Cast Iron Large Fire Engine No. 544 Pumper Wagon Truck

This is a spectacular cast iron Hubley Large Fire Engine no. 544 that was manufactured between 1906 and 1919. According to page 85 of John J. Olshefskis’s catalog Cast Iron Horse Drawn Toys: Fire and Police Wagons this “fire engine was painted either black, white, or it was nickel plated. The wheels were painted yellow or red. The toys came with a removable standing fireman figure in the rear and driver.” Our fire pumper wagon comes with two cast iron horses, two removable cast iron firemen, and a cast iron pumper wagon. One horse is nickel plated and one is painted black. We noticed a repair on the hitch, but no other breaks, repairs, or touch ups. The chains that attach the wagon to the horses are not original. The bell underneath does not ring when the wagon is pushed across the floor. All wheels roll and the axles are sturdy. Overall, this fire engine is in great condition for an over 100 year old toy with all of the usual patina, light surface rusting, chips, scratches and wear associated with age and play. We encourage you to look at all of the photos of this really neat piece to further determine quality and condition. This horse drawn fire engine has and overall length of approximately 21 ½” in length.

A brief history of Hubley Manufacturing Company of Lancaster, Pennsylvania:

The Hubley Manufacturing Company was first incorporated in 1894 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania by John Hubley. Their slogan was “They’re Different”. They were occasionally known as Lancaster Brand Iron Toys which manufactured electric toy train equipment and parts. In 1909, they purchased the Safety Buggy Co. factory and moved to the site. The first Hubley toys appeared in 1909 and were made of cast-iron, with themes that ranged from horse-drawn vehicles, fire engine, circus trains, different breeds of dogs, tractors, steam shovels, horses, banks, and cap guns.

The Hubley Manufacturing Company produced a wide range of cast-iron toys, doorstops, and bookends. Toys, particularly motor vehicles and cap guns, were also produced in zinc alloy and plastic. The company is probably most well known for its detailed scale metal kits of Classic cars in about 1:20 scale. Starting in 1960, Hubley participated for a couple of years with Detroit automakers as a plastic promotional model maker. Many Hubley toys are now sought-after collectibles. Hubley’s main competition in the early years was Arcade as well as a bit from A.C. Williams.

By the 1930’s autos became the headliners. By quickly converting to cheaper smaller toys during the Depression, they avoided financial woes experienced by many other toy companies. Iron shortages in WWII and commitments to fill war contracts did stop the toy division in 1942, until after the war.

As of 2019, Wikipedia tells us that, “Perhaps Hubley’s diversification in the 1960s overtaxed its profits, weakening it financially by the 1970s. Hubley was purchased by toy maker Gabriel about 1969 who continued to make its regular kits and diecast kids toys through the 1970s. A series of colorful but rather unexciting generic make diecast toy trucks were available in a variety of forms (dump truck, tow truck, etc.) up until about 1980. Gradually, the Hubley name was downplayed in favor of Gabriel.

Around 1980, Hubley was acquired by CBS Toys which later sold many dies to Ertl and Scale Models, both of Dyersville, Iowa. For example, the Hubley Ford 4000 tractor was reproduced by Scale Models, up through the 1990s and perhaps later (Scale Models 2010). In the 1990s, some Hubley vehicles like the school bus, were also reissued with minor variations from the original casting.

Ertl has now stopped production of all of the original toy dies and molds purchased from Hubley. As a result, all remaining Hubley/Ertl metal kits are fairly rare. They can be purchased from auction web sites as well as from collectors and older hobby stores.”