Newsletters | Advertising, Toy & Doll Division
May 26, 2015 – Small Change Means Big Business by Andrew Truman
A while ago I went to Las Vegas. As I walked into a casino, I was overwhelmed by the lights, the sounds, and the sights of rows and rows of “one armed bandits”. It is so tempting, you get to play for as little as a penny, a nickel, or a quarter – small change for a few minutes of entertainment. Our society has always been a bit more willing to part with small change than we are with large sums. Because of this, and an appreciation for convenience and autonomous amusement, coin-operated commerce took a strong foothold early on. In the late 1800s with the Industrial Revolution making global waves, the era of coin-operated machines really began to develop with early vending machines (even though it saw its origins much earlier). During the very early 1700s, pipe tobacco and snuff vendors started to appear around England. Legend has it that even earlier, historians indicate even as early as 2,000 years ago in ancient Egypt, a primitive holy water vendor would provide a small splash of water for a worshiper’s coin. [Read More]
March 25, 2015 – Notes from the Road (Show) by Andrew Truman
For the better part of 20 years, many of us with even a passing appreciation for antiques have enjoyed tuning into the Antiques Roadshow nearly every Monday night. We’ve watched with great anticipation as the expert appraisers either fulfilled people’s wildest dreams or dashed them to pieces. Whatever the outcome, the show has given us hopes of discovering a valuable heirloom in our own attics. There are also those among us who long for our fifteen minutes of fame by appearing on the show. While I have yet to find a priceless antique among my own possessions, I was recently afforded the opportunity of being a part of this long-running series, but in a way I never thought possible. I was given the honor of being invited to be an appraiser on the Roadshow. [Read More]
February 11, 2015 – 20th Century German Toy Innovation by Andrew Truman
In the early 1880s, at a time ruled by cast iron, Ernst Paul Lehmann revolutionized the toy world in Brandenburg, Germany by producing wonderful and imaginative mechanical playthings out of tin, a material that hadn’t been used as extensively for toys until then. As the new century replaced the previous one, the company began to see great success and was recognized as innovators in the field. In fact, one of Lehmann’s advances was the patenting of the locking mechanism for clockwork motors, a component still used to this day. [Read More]
December 10, 2014 – Collect What You Like, But…
The adage of real estate states the importance of “location, location, location”. In antiques and collectibles, a similarly repetitive maxim is often uttered. But instead of location, it’s “condition, condition, condition”. While there is a varying threshold of acceptance for items that have been around sometimes for a century or more, it stands to reason that collectors in general will spend considerably more money for an item in excellent condition than they will for one in average condition. Of course quality and rarity cannot be disregarded, but that’s a thought for another day. [Read More]
November 3, 2014 – History Lessons You Won’t Learn in a Classroom
It often feels that working for an antique auction company is a daily history lesson. One gets to experience pieces of the past that provide a window to an earlier time. Sometimes it shows us changes in the social and political mindsets. Other times it’s the evolution of technology or the levels of craftsmanship. Sometimes it’s just the inherent changes that happen to popular culture over time. Unless one is a student of the industry, a historian, or a longtime collector of antiques, the general public (not typically having access to this knowledge) does not always understand it. For instance, some find it shocking to see certain toys that do not display the same racial sensitivity our modern minds are used to. [Read More]
September 22, 2014 – Life in Miniature
With today’s technology and advances, it’s safe to say if one can dream it, one can build it. However, artisans in the late 1800s and early 1900s did not have the benefit of the same modern tools or computerized precision, and yet were able to fashion some of the most detailed objects, fixtures, machines, accessories, etc. the world has ever seen. [Read More]
July 21, 2014 – The Inanimate Springs to Life
While the concept of automated mechanics has been around since before recorded time, the ability to engineer them in the modern sense did not come until much later. With the dawn of the Renaissance period of the 14th and 15th centuries, as technology began to catch up with human intellect, the ability to craft such working mechanisms became possible. Continuing on to the Industrial Revolution, intricate clockwork apparatuses eventually made their way into the realm of mechanical toys for the amusement of both children and adults. [Read More]
May 15, 2014 – All Aboard!
People on both sides of the Atlantic and around the globe seem to have had a long love affair with transportation. Machines that have made our world bigger by allowing us to expand beyond our immediate surroundings have also made our world smaller by bringing what was once distant land within reach of just about everyone. Before the automobile commanded the world’s roads and well before air travel became commonplace, one of the most popular means of transporting large groups of individuals from Point A to Point B was the rail system. [Read More]
March 27, 2014 – Cast Iron Aviation Toys Expected to Soar
Long before Wilbur & Orville Wright’s historic flight in 1903, the general public was enthralled with air travel and human flight. Our fascination with flight likely even predated Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings, designs and experiments that centered on the same, and remains to this day as we continue to explore the “final frontier.” Commercial aviation marked its 100th anniversary on January 1 of this year, and even though our species has been flying the friendly skies for just over a century, who still doesn’t pause in amazement when one of these huge monstrosities flies overhead, or gets butterflies when preparing for takeoff? Who of us is not impressed by these spectacular feats of engineering? [Read More]
February 25, 2014 – Steiff Titanic Mourning Bear, Just the Tip of the Iceberg
History has shown that nearly every generation experiences an event that defines that generation. Unfortunately, these events are oftentimes catastrophic in nature. These events vary in intensity, but are shared experiences nonetheless and burn themselves into our memory and help shape our collective consciousness. With few exceptions, we have all experienced such events, or have heard stories about them from our parents or grandparents, or at the very least seen documentaries that detail them, be it 9/11, the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, the assassination of President Kennedy, the Hindenburg disaster, etc. [Read More]
November 19, 2013 – Antique Advertising Through History
Antique advertising covers an extremely broad spectrum that would take literally volumes upon volumes to detail. Companies discovered unique and colorful ways in which to get their name in front of the general public to help sell their product or service. In fact, centuries ago, before the days of widespread literacy, shop owners and the like could not rely on the printed word to attract customers. Instead they would craft figural signs in a form that would represent their particular enterprise and hang it above the entryway of their business. For instance, a dentist might have a large molar, a blacksmith might have a large iron horseshoe, a tavern owner might have a large mug of grog, and so forth. [Read More]
November 5, 2013 – A Brief History of Music Machines
Long before digital media and iPods, before compact discs, albums, and cassettes, even before Marconi sent his first radio signal in 1895, music boxes provided entertainment to the masses. Automatic music machines originated in the 18th century using metal discs and cylinders set with various pins, powered by a clockwork motor that would pluck a series of tuned “teeth” on a steel comb, producing various notes and sounds. These inventions developed in the mid-late 19th century from musical snuff boxes of all things, bringing music out of concert halls and into the home. [Read More]
September 30, 2013 – Dolls, a Cultural Tradition
Dolls have been around in every culture since before the dawn of time or recorded history. Their role has changed significantly over the centuries from playing a part in magic and religious rituals, or used as representations of a deity, to a traditional plaything for children, to a collectible for adults for their nostalgic value, beauty, historical importance or financial value. [Read More]
June 13, 2013 – Pressed Steel Automotive Toys; A Unique Childhood Toy
Many of us remember the treasure toy from our childhood that sparked our imaginations and at times allowed us to travel to another world on an adventure. For many young boys, the steel automotive cars did just that. The shift from cast iron to pressed steel in usage, particularly for toys throughout the early and mid-20th century, began in the late 1850s. Because steel was both more malleable, stronger and easier to work with than cast iron, and less likely to rust or crack, it became the preferred material for manufacturers. For consumers, it meant goods lasted longer. Everyone was a winner. It also allowed for greater flexibility and more realism than ever before. Because pressed steel was stronger than tinplate and other materials, large models could also fully support a child’s weight. In fact, some companies even marketed their toys as unbreakable. Over sized pressed steel model cars and trucks, with working components, allowed children to act out their playtime fantasies. By the 1930s, U.S. policy makers raised the tax on imported goods to encourage growth of American industry. This, along with the post-war baby boom, resulted in a major boon to the toy market, creating a huge market for toy vehicles. [Read More]
May 12, 2013 – Salesman Samples
Salesman samples are an exact miniature of a larger, life-size object that would be on display in a showroom with limited space or something a traveling or door to door salesman would use to show and discuss the details and attributes of a product to prospective clients. People often confuse mere miniatures or toy examples or even patent models with salesman samples and mistakenly lump them all together under the “salesman sample” umbrella. [Read More]