Jaymar Specialty Co. Wood & Wood Composite “Midgies: The Complete Miniature Mobile Army” Set in Box *SOLD*

Jaymar Specialty Co. Wood & Wood Composite “Midgies: The Complete Miniature Mobile Army” Set in Box

We have for you this wood and wood/paper composite “Midgies: The Complete Miniature Mobile Army” set in box that was manufactured by the Jaymar Specialty Company of Brooklyn, New York.

What a great set of toys! This is a humble “Midgies” set of toys from World War 2. The composition figures are used and fragile. The set contains a flag, jeep, tank, gunner truck, as well as soldiers. We believe two slightly larger wood trucks were from a five-and-dime; they fit with the set and are extras. The box has a corner repair as well-worn seams and wear.

These pieces are in good to very good all original condition with no breaks, restorations, repairs, or touch-ups. These pieces show the usual patina, fading, dust, chips, scuffs, surface rust, scratches, missing accessories, and wear that is to be expected from age and play. We invite you to view the photos to further determine quality and condition.

A brief history of the Jaymar Specialty Company of Brooklyn, New York: 

1920’s – 1990

Founder: Jacob Marx (Father), Rose Marx (Daughter), David Marx (Son)

Jaymar Specialty Co. was by all accounts a family business. In the 1920s, famous toy maker Louis Marx’s father Jacob, his brother David, and his sister Rose started the Jaymar Specialty Company. The Marx family businesses never competed with each other. Instead, they worked together sharing resources. While Louis Marx Co. specialized in lithograph tin toy products, Jaymar Specialty Co. focused on toys and playthings made from cloth, paper, and wood/wood composite.

Many of their toys were character pieces representing familiar cartoon and radio characters from the 1920s to the 1950s including Little Orphan Annie, Popeye, Amos and Andy, Puss ‘n’ Boots, Moon Mullins, and Ignatz the Kat, Betty Boop, Joe Palooka, and so on. Other, generic characters such as the Midges line of soldiers, circus figures, animals, and various types of people were also produced. The faces of these toys were usually stamped rather than hand painted. The name of the character was often stamped on the toy’s body. Sometimes, “Made in USA” was stamped on the sole of the foot or shoe. Some of Jaymar’s toys are also marked with the name MarJay.

The “Yo-yo” as we know it has existed in some form or another since at least 480-500 BCE and was brought to America from the Philippines in 1928 by Pedro Flores and featured in the July 1929 issue of Popular Mechanics. Due to its popularity, in 1932 businessman Donald F. Duncan bought out Pedro Flores and obtained the Flores’ assets and the rights to the trademark “Yo-yo”. During this time, Jaymar was instrumental in promoting the popularity of the Yo-yo, serving for more than 20 years as the distributor for Duncan Yo-yos helping them sell well even throughout the Great Depression.

After World War II, the company evolved and started manufacturing items such as pianos and puzzles. During the late 1940s to the 1950s, Jaymar held the Disney license for die-cut cardboard jigsaw puzzles.

In December 1987 the Jaymar Specialty Company, Inc. was dissolved and Jaymar stopped manufacturing and selling toys by 1990.