Cast-Iron Toys Bring High Prices From Car Lovers
Question: In my toy collection, I have some items--including mechanical banks and circus wagons--that were manufactured by the Hubley Co. What history can you give me about Hubley?--A.W.
Answer: The Hubley firm, founded in the 1890s by John Hubley, produced iron toys at its plant in Lancaster, Pa.
Collectors covet Hubley toys because they are made of cast iron and well built; they show the firm paid great attention to detail.
By the start of World War II, Hubley had become one of the country’s largest producers of cast-iron toys. But the cost of production and competitive pressures forced the firm to start making cheaper toysof die-cast zinc alloys.
During the war, Hubley converted almost all its productions facilities to the war effort, making bomb fuses. It was well qualified for such work, since over the years it had also become a leading maker of cap pistols.
Depending on condition, Hubley cast-iron trucks and cars can resell for well in excess of $100 each. In fact, a Hubley Packard, which the firm produced in 1929, was listed in a toy book with a price range from $2,500 to $5,000.
This particular car, which is about 11 inches long, has been eagerly coveted by collectors. It has about 20 parts, doors that actually open and even a driver.
Generally, what makes Hubley items, and others like them, so valuable is the detail and the accuracy to scale and proportion. Decals and hand painting by the original manufacturer also can enhance the value of toy cars and trucks.
Smaller cars, about four inches in length, are also popular among collectors; they have brought prices generally between $10 and $100, according to dealer catalogues.
Mail Bag
With the Grammy Awards coming up in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Neil Maken thought it would be the right time to remind readers of the roots of the word “Grammy”--that is, Gramophone.
Neil has an intellectual--and financial--interest in such things since he deals in antique phonographs through his business, Yesterday Once Again, P.O. Box 6773, Huntington Beach, Calif. 92615, (714) 963-2474.
He writes:
“Thomas A. Edison invented the talking machine and named it the ‘Phonograph’ in 1877 . . . (The earliest use of the word ‘phonographically’ that I have found dates to 1860.)
“Shortly after Edison’s invention, associates of Alexander Graham Bell took the phonograph and modified it. They did not call it a phonograph, but merely switched syllables around and called their machine a ‘Graphophone.’
“Both the Edison ‘Phonograph’ and the Bell ‘Graphophone’ played cylindrical-shaped records.
“The limited technology of the mid-1880s did not provide a system for duplication of cylinder records from a single master, so each record sold was an ‘original.’
“To solve this problem, a German immigrant named Emil Berliner produced a disc-shaped record--flat and with the sound recorded in a spiral groove from the outside of the record to the inside. . . .
“Berliner named his record-playing machine and the records the ‘Gramophone.’ In Europe, the world ‘Gramophone’ is still used generically to mean record player. . . .
“Within a few years, Berliner’s small company grew and evolved into what became known as the Victor Talking Machine Co. And the small business of record-making developed into the billion-dollar industry that today presents ‘The Grammys.’ ”
