San Francisco Tin Litho Cable Car
These little tin litho toy cable cars are common as dirt. I think they were sold in gift shops in San Francisco. They are about O scale size at 7.5 inches long and 3.5 inches tall.
They are letter for Bay and Taylor Streets on one side - note odd placement of “Sts.” before Taylor on roof signboard - and Powell and Mason streets on the other side.
Here’s another view showing the other side:
This is a good item to use as an introduction to how Toy production moved around the world.
There is no makers mark, but they are lettered made in Taiwan on one step. This is visible in the bottom photo. This dates them to the mid 1960s or later. If they were made earlier they would be have been made in Japan. If they were made after 1975 they would probably be made in Hong Kong. Cheap toy production moved around the world to the low cost countries.
This is a fairly easy and USUALLY reliable way to date cheap toys. As the cost of labor and the skills of the workforce increased in each country, production moved to other countries.
Production dates for Asian countries overlap a bit, but they are basically Japan 1946-1970, Taiwan 1965-1980, Hong Kong 1970-1985, Singapore 1980-1995, Macao 1985-today, Thailand 1990-today, China 1990-today.
The movement of production between Asian countries fascinates me. If you have any information about movements among different countries, please drop me a note from the contact page.
Now back to the cable car. This is not a trolley. A trolley runs off an electric motor that receives current from a pole on the roof. That’s where the name trolley comes from. It originally referred to the roof mounted pole. Later it became the name for any small rail vehicle with a pole or pantograph used within cities.
This is a cable car. It doesn’t have a motor in it. The motor is mounted in a building at one end of the line. The motor pulls a cable running just below the middle of the street. The car has a clamp the motorman closes around the cable. The car is basically dragged around on the cable.
Here’s a view showing both ends:
This is a friction toy. That means you spin the wheels by running it along the floor. Once the wheels are moving fast, you let go and it continues to move. The cable car also has a bell that rings when the car is in motion.
These two cars are the same, but the positioning of the passengers is different. I doubt the assemblers paid much attention when they attached the men.
Here’s a last picture showing the “Made in Taiwan” lettering on the step, and a passenger that looks like a cartoon bank robber:
There are similar cable car toys made in Japan. The Japanese cars are lettered a bit differently, and have stamped poles on the open end. The Taiwan cars have steel rods for the poles.
Old tin cable car San Francisco...Japanese, friction
 | US $9.99 End Date: Monday Dec-01-2008 19:24:13 PST Buy It Now for only: US $9.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list |
SAN FRANCISCO TWA TRAVEL POSTER CABLE CAR TIN SIGN
 | US $8.99 End Date: Monday Dec-01-2008 21:28:54 PST Buy It Now for only: US $8.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list |
Vintage Tin Litho Toy Trolley Cable Car Friction Power
 | US $4.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Monday Dec-01-2008 23:30:00 PST Bid now | Add to watch list |
Vintage Tin Friction San Francisco Cable Car - Japan
 | US $16.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Tuesday Dec-02-2008 11:39:00 PST Bid now | Add to watch list |
VINTAGE TIN TROLLY,FRICTION,CABLE CAR,JAPAN,WITH BELL
 | US $9.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Tuesday Dec-02-2008 18:00:00 PST Bid now | Add to watch list |
