Comic Books Store

The toys manufactured in the 19th century which were modelled after the then existing fire trucks clearly depicted the developments in the fire department. Like the full-size versions, the first miniatures were quite rudimentary. Fallow’s manufactured a toy fire truck pumper of stenciled tinplate that was nothing more than two barrels attached at right angles — very simple and rough. Early fire fighting toys by Brown and Ives were equally primitive. However, in the 1880s more classy cast iron fire-fighting trucks and equipment were relased. Complete sets of fire fighting equipment were also released into the market by Ives. They included , hose carriage, hook and ladder truck, fire patrol, and chief’s wagon. Other key producers of fire-fighting toys were Carpenter, Hubley, and Pratt & Letchworth. Horse-drawn fire-fighting toys continued to be produced well after 1900, though by then most communities had shifted to collectible automotive vehicles.

 

The most different types of antique toy fire trucks come from a line of cast iron toys vehicles. Thousands of types of makers existed, yet these were the last forged iron playthings to appear on the market. The manufacture of the cast iron fire wagons ultimately ceased in the early 1900s.

Also widespread were such highly specialized vehicles as antique fire engines and police cars, trolleys, motorcycles, racing cars, and even collectible sprinkler trucks from the city streets.

The pumper was advertised as Fire Engine in a Hubley catalogue of 1922, when full-size pumpers were drawn by motor vehicles instead of horses. An amalgamation of a conventional 19th-century-style fire truck pumper or other piece of fire-fighting equipment with a truck body produced by Hubley and other makers was extremely famous as it resembled the vehicles used by fire fighters of the those days. These are still highly prized vintage collectibles today.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the fire patrol wagon transported members of the company and equipment like buckets to the scene of a fire. The fire wagons carried fire-fighters on rounds, enforcing fire laws in their district where no crisis threatened.

Given below are some of the noted Makers of Collectible Fire Trucks and Toys

Dent Hardware Co. — Henry H. Dent established the Company in 1895, and made his first cast-iron toys in 1898. The firm first made horse-drawn fire wagons (fire trucks to you and me), then followed them up with many versions of other vehicles. Die-cast toys gradually replaced the forged iron ones in the early 1900′s.

Hubley Company — Established by John Hubley in about 1894, the Hubley Company made forged iron toys. Its initial products were trains and trolleys powered by live steam, electricity, or spring mechanisms, but they soon also added horse-drawn fire trucks and wagons in the 1920s. By 1940 Hubley had transformed into the world’s leading maker of cast-iron toys. Hubley slowly changed to die-cast toys made of a zinc alloy due to rising freight costs and international competition.

Kenton Lock Manufacturing Co. — Kenton Lock Manufacturing Co. was founded in the the first part of 1800′s and in 1894 became the Kenton Hardware and begun making forged iron toys. The company was renowned for its horse-drawn vehicles, fire engines, nodding toys, and comic strip characters. Kenton also used the trade name “Kentontoys”.

At VintageToyTrucks.org, you will find tons of information about vintage tonka trucks, vintage metal toy trucks, and vintage hess trucks.