From Collector's Weekly an interesting history about Lionel: "When Joshua Lionel Cohen designed his first electric train in 1900, he wasn’t trying to make a toy for children. Rather, he thought his wooden, open-bed gondola with the words "Electric Express" on the side would make a good vehicle to show off the wares of Manhattan toy-store merchant Robert Ingersol. Ingersol thought so, too, but when a customer purchased the display right out of his store’s display window, tracks and all, Ingersoll contacted Cohen and ordered six more. Cohen and an associate named Harry Grant scrambled to fill the orders and Lionel was essentially born."

If you love vintage toys then the Japanese Toys of the 20th Century and especially the toys of the 1940's-1960's are some of the most charming examples of toymaking the world has ever seen. The sheer array and ingenuity of these toys is staggering. There were many fine examples of incredible toymaking form such houses as Marusan, Asahi Toy Co(ATC), Haji, Ichiko to name a few of the finer names to grace the tin friction cars of the 1950's. But the likes of Nomura, Bandai and Masudaya(Modern Toys) were also quite prolific and made many excellent toys. It's hard to conceive in such a young country as the USA but Masudaya had a toy making presence in Japan dating back to 1724! It's no wonder that along with the likes of Bandai they are one of the few to survive today. Of course the best of the best were often outrageous in their attention to detail and may have been why they became so highly collectible. Unfortunately this same quality may have caused them to lose sight of the bottom line and priced themselves out of the market. Nevertheless the brilliance of their contribution will be forever treasured by toy lovers. Who can look upon a 1958 Edsel by ATC or a Sunbeam Side Car by Marusan without admiring their craft?

TIN TOYS Is it any wonder our fascination with vintage tin toys? From the late 19th century German elaborate tin wind up automatons to the Japanese tin cars of the 1950's, and the strong American presence in between, there is a charm to tin. Perhaps it's the brightly colored lithographed tin surface.  Perhaps it's the contrast to mass produced plastics which fade over time.  Yet much of the tin toys were certainly mass produced.  And although they don't always fade they were subject to complete decomposition by way of rust.  So it wasn't just the metal alloy.  Maybe it was their attention to detail.  There was an amazing 1885 German Clown automaton with discs that were inserted into its base.  The discs were brass and had different cog like patterns on their edges.  These discs were installed in the base.   A clown was at an artist's easel.  A tiny 2 inch piece of paper was inserted between his writing instrument and the paper.  And when the toy was engaged, the clown would draw a picture on the paper!  And it was a lovely line drawing of  a rooster.  And the different discs with different cogs would create different drawings.  It was a wonder because there was no electricity, no battery and just  cogs, springs and tension.           These toys represent true innocence coupled with childlike imagination and wonder.  Surely it's a child's most fanciful imagination that his toys could  walk, talk or even draw.  And to see toys come to life is a confirmation of his imagination-that toys do in fact come to life and are magic.        And tin toys weren't made exclusively by a machine that spit them out by the billions from a mold (although many aspects were mass produced).  At one point someone in a factory in Japan had to carefully fit that wheel to the 1957 Chrysler New Yorker without scratching the delicate lithographed tin surface.  Every aspect of it was a perfect replica of the actual car.  This was in essence a man/woman with the heart of a child at play building and creating a thing of beauty.  Bandai  made toys "for children everywhere".        But lest we imagine that toys were all serious works of art let us not forget the tremendous impact of the United States to create amazing comical tin toys. "There is no reason for even the cheapest toys to be of poor quality." Louis Marx Louis Marx (Marx Toys NY) was called the King of Toys by Time Magazine in 1955 and placed on its cover.  Marx in his ingenuity had a knack for marketing quality toys at affordable prices.        He created toys around cartoon characters and popular entertainment figures: Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd in a classic Car or wind up Popeye, juggling Olive Oyl perched on a chair sitting atop his nose. These were whimsical creations and quality items but most certainly playful.       Starting in 1903 Julius Chein  created beautiful Ferris Wheels and Coney Island Rides entirely from tin and of very high quality.  The merry go round or rocket ride would entertain again and again long after leaving the amusement park.  And there are many others too many to list and whatever the reason for our love of old tin toys.  One thing is clear.  they bring a gleam to the eye, a gasp of wonder and the amazement of a child staring at the shining tinsel on the tree on a cold December morning.