My Tin Toys

In 1935 Lionel introduced the Hiawatha Streamliner. The new 250E Hiawatha loco was the top of the line O gauge engine until the 700E Hudson was introduced in 1937.

The Hiawatha came in both passenger and freight sets, and was the first Lionel loco with a die cast shell. Prior locos had cast frames cabs with sheet metal boilers.

Streamliner toys were big sellers in the 1930s, and most toy manufacturers made toy streamliners. Lionel’s City Of Portland set introduced in 1934 was such a popular seller it helped Lionel emerge from bankruptcy. I am sure Lionel had big plans for the Hiawatha.

In order to build support for the new Hiawatha, Lionel gave away these cheap Japanese friction toys at the toy fair.

Every year in late January or early February the American toy manufacturers gathered together in New York for the annual toy fair. At the toy fair, companies would display their new lines, and take orders from jobbers and large department stores.

The toy fair allowed manufacturers like Lionel to judge demand for their products and allocate production lines. If a new toy wasn’t well received by retailers it might not be produced.

This 1935 Hiawatha friction toy might have been Lionel’s first specially produced giveaway. If Lionel did promo items before 1935, I’ve never seen or heard of one.

Made of lithographed tin with the Lionel name and the number 250 on the side, this cheap friction toy was made in Japan.

After I found the Lionel example shown above, I spent a year buying every similar toy on eBay. I assumed Lionel had custom ordered a cheap toy with special graphics, and was looking for the original version.

As you can see in the photo below, I found the original.

There is no maker’s mark on this cheap toy. It just says made in Japan on the cab. The original toy is blue and lettered for the New York Central. The New York Central was the largest railroad in the heavily populated northeastern corridor. It makes sense that a manufacturer of toys would use a railroad name commonly seen in it’s biggest market.

Here’s another view showing the other sides:

I have no idea who made these toys. I know they are from the mid 1930s based on the introduction of Lionel’s Hiawatha.

I’ll take a picture of the Lionel Hiawatha and add it to this page so you can compare the tin toy with it’s full scale brother.

Here’s a link to see Lionel Hiawatha locomotives on eBay

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This tin buildings were made by Skyline manufacturing in Philadelphia Pennsylvania in the late 1940s early 1950s. Shown above is the Middleton train station. Here’s another picture showing the other side of the station:

Skyline is the descendant of the A. Schoenhut Company. Schoenhut is famous for their Dolls and Circus Figures, but they also made wood buildings for train layouts. These were sold under the name Hollywood Homebuilding.

In the early 1930s Schoenhut started making wood and cardboard building kits for toy train layouts. By 1934 the name had changed to Skyline.

After World War 2, Skyline continued to make the cardboard kits, but also made a small line of tin lithographed buildings. The station shown above is one of them.

Skyline also made houses as shown below:

The houses measure 7 inches across the front, 6 inches deep, and 4 inches to the top of the chimney. The window and door locations change depending on the lithography. This simple stamping change results in a wider variety of toy houses with very low costs.

Here’s another picture of the two Skyline houses shown above:

Here’s a picture showing four mint in the box (three are still sealed!) Skyline houses. The boxes are dated 1949, and the red with green roof came out of a box marked M5. I assume the box marked M4 has a red roofed house. Also shown in the picture below is a sealed envelope with the original bulb assembly. The

The Skyline houses were much bigger than the H&H Sales houses. I’ll add a comparison picture in the near future.

Skyline also made other railroad buildings. A freight shed, a signal tower, are two of them. I’ll add pictures of the other Skyline items when I get them out.

Here’s a link to see Skyline train buildings on eBay

00-05 CHEVY IMPALA SKYLINE DuraFlex FULL BODY KIT

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This was made by Gebruder Bing (means Bing Brothers) in Germany. Probably late 1920s early 1930s.

It’s a windup, all tin unlike the Marx and Lionel handcars of the 1930s. While it is O gauge size, it’s probably a floor toy.

Here’s another picture of this fragile handcar:

This is one of my favorite tin toys. Great action. The men pump their arms up and down making the toy look more realistic.

Here’s a link to see Bing Trains for sale on eBay

BING RAILROAD TRAIN CROSSING SIGN 4 SMITH MILLER TONKA

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Tom Thumb trains were made in the early 1930s. These are just junk. Cheaply made to sell for a few dollars during the depression few survived long.

One innovation of the Tom Thumb trains was the transformer inside a station. I’ll add a picture of the transformer after I dig it out.

The set shown above has a 881 electric loco. This runs forward only and doesn’t have an operating headlight. Looks like they might have made a version with an electric headlight because there are tabs for one on the roof.

A tangerine orange colored 1903 tom Thumb railroad tank car follows the locomotive. I don’t know if the dome is correct on the tanker. Looks like it’s the insert from a can of brake fluid. It even says cut out in reversed type.

Next up is a 1901 Green and black gondola. Nothing interesting to mention here. The couplers on the set shown above have been painted black. They should be unpainted metal.

Following the gondola is a Fast Freight 1902 box car. Wood sided with brown roof. This is probably the same basic car as the passenger cars, as it looks more like a baggage car.

Bringing up the rear is the 1904 Tom Thumb Railroad Caboose. These cars ride low on the track by having the wheel recessed into the frame.

The loco is 7.5 inches long. The cars are 6.5 inches long. Measurements don’t include couplers.

You can see Tom Thumb Toys on eBay here.

This is a wonderful set of trains. I just bought this a few days ago. I think this is from the mid 1930s. I’ve seen other versions of these cars that appear earlier. My dad has a similar engine that is a bit more detailed.

This is a Marklin RV 12890 steeple cab electric loco. The same loco was sold in a wind up version as the 890. This has a hand reverse lever.

The cars are a Marklin 1750 Rheingold baggage car, and a 1st class sleeper without a number on it, but I think it’s a 1780. The passenger car does have a insert with bunks. Here’s a picture of the interior:

I also got the small station and the semaphore shown in the picture at the top, and this bigger station:

This station is only marked with the words “foreign made,” but the man who got the train said it was purchased in Germany before his family moved to the US in the late 1930s.

Here’s a link to see Marklin O gauge trains on eBay