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Pumper Truck

Complete History Of Vintage Fire Trucks.

The toys manufactured in the 19th century which were modelled after the then existing fire trucks visibly depicted the advancements in the fire department. Similar to the full-size versions, the first miniatures were rather crude. Fallow's manufactured a toy fire truck pumper of stenciled tinplate that was just than two barrels joined at right angles -- highly simple and rough. Early fire fighting toys by Brown and Ives were similarly crude. It was only in the late 1800's that the fire-fighting trucks and gear became moreclassy . 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. Carpenter, Hubley, and Pratt & Letchworth were considered to be the major producers of fire-fighting toys. Horse-drawn fire-fighting toys continued to be made well after 1900, although by then most communities had converted to collectible automotive vehicles.

 

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

Also commonly seen 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 marketed as Fire Engine in a Hubley catalogue of 1922, when full-size pumpers were drawn by motor vehicles rather than horses. An amalgamation of a conventional 19th-century-style fire truck pumper or other piece of fire-fighting equipment with a truck body made by Hubley and other manufacturers was highly famous as it resembled the vehicles used by fire fighters of the those days. Even today these are considered to be highly prized vinatage collectibles.

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

Few of the More Well-known Makers of Collectible Fire Trucks and Toys

Dent Hardware Co. -- Henry H. Dent formed the Company in 1895, and manufactured his first forged 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 slowly replaced the forged iron ones in the early 1900's.

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

Kenton Lock Manufacturing Co. -- Kenton Lock Manufacturing Co. was established in the the first part of 1800's and in 1894 became the Kenton Hardware and begun making forged iron toys. Horse-drawn vehicles, fire engines, nodding toys, and comic strip characters were some of the best known toys of the company. "Kentontoys" was a trade name that the company sometimes used.

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