|
|
Post by healey36 on Dec 14, 2023 15:56:41 GMT
Thanks...it's been fun running them down. This one's not a photo, but a print ad from 1911 for what likely was the greatest American toy company of the late-nineteenth and early twentieth-centuries (at least IMHO):  I'm fortunate to have a few examples of Ives O-gauge in the collection, and they are pretty extraordinary. |
|
|
|
Post by healey36 on Dec 14, 2023 19:25:50 GMT
Christmas morning, as remembered by a select few:  Some Dads were just off-the-chart great! |
|
|
|
Post by healey36 on Dec 14, 2023 21:33:30 GMT
My first love...S-gauge American Flyer:  A K-5 Pacific heads a long freight. The phone thing intrigues me. |
|
|
|
Post by healey36 on Dec 14, 2023 21:37:25 GMT
Store window:  Postwar Lionel... |
|
|
|
Post by curtis on Dec 14, 2023 23:55:24 GMT
Guess that makes me 3rd in line for liking the old photos. Brings back a ton of great memories.
|
|
|
|
Post by curtis on Dec 14, 2023 23:59:25 GMT
I remember that a lot of stores had trains running either in the windows or inside. Hard to find nowadays. Either the stores or the trains. Most mom and pop stores that use to line the street are long gone.No one even walks downtown any more. Heck the stores use to stay open on Thursday and Friday nights late. It was so great walking the street hearing the carolers at the corner bank and stopping for hot chocolate. All gone but a memory now.
|
|
|
|
Post by healey36 on Dec 15, 2023 20:53:27 GMT
The greatest store in my hometown (other than the small hobby shop) was Joe the Motorist's Friend. That place sold all kinds of stuff through the year - auto supplies and parts, appliances, hardware, paint, just about anything. At Christmas, however, a big section was reconfigured to sell all types of toys, especially electric trains, slot car sets, sporting goods, and bicycles. The owner used to deck out the front window with a big toy train display, and The Old Man would take us over there to check it all out. The store also sold second-hand stuff, typically things that were traded in on new stuff...that's where I got my Schwinn English-racer and my American Flyer Mountaineer set. Just a great store that sadly disappeared years later, replaced by a Western Auto. Not even close to the same.
|
|
|
|
Post by curtis on Dec 16, 2023 14:07:39 GMT
Healey36 I won't take offense at the Western Auto comment. I use to work for a Western Auto store and the guy went above and beyond at Christmas time with toys. They also had the best fishing section anywhere.
Also on wiring, I also tin all my connection wires.
|
|
|
|
Post by healey36 on Dec 16, 2023 14:21:08 GMT
Healey36 I won't take offense at the Western Auto comment. I use to work for a Western Auto store and the guy went above and beyond at Christmas time with toys. They also had the best fishing section anywhere. Hah, please don't be offended. I suspect the store contents hinged heavily on the preferences of the franchisee, as there seemed to be a lot of variability between stores in the "chain". Our Western Auto had a big parts counter specializing in mower and small-engine parts, so a great store in its own right. I had forgotten about the aisle of fishing and hunting gear...both the Joe's and the Western Auto had a decent amount of that stuff. Got one of my first baseball mitts at the WA. Now what's this about tinning connection wires?
|
|
|
|
Post by healey36 on Dec 17, 2023 10:47:48 GMT
Prewar O-gauge American Flyer at the department store:  Likely taken in the years/months immediately preceding WWII. |
|
|
|
Post by josef on Dec 17, 2023 14:13:51 GMT
Christmas 1959, my brother Dale receives the first electric train in our family. It was an Allstate set complete with tracks, transformer and accessories. I have the set still as complete as was given to Dale and run it several times a year to remember. Dale passed away a month and a half later. So the train and this picture have special memories and meaning to me personally. Dad and me had be rebuilding the Farm house but couldn't get it finished in time for Christmas.  |
|
|
|
Post by healey36 on Dec 17, 2023 23:35:11 GMT
Your brother passed away 1-1/2 months after that photo was taken? Wow, that's a personal tragedy, for sure, and you have my deepest sympathy, mate. It reminds me of how melancholy the Christmas season can be; the list of those that once were here but are no more grows long for the living. It certainly takes the edge off the joyfulness for me, but you gotta work through it. Hopefully you have some good memories that you can lean on.
|
|
|
|
Post by josef on Dec 18, 2023 10:56:05 GMT
Your brother passed away 1-1/2 months after that photo was taken? Wow, that's a personal tragedy, for sure, and you have my deepest sympathy, mate. It reminds me of how melancholy the Christmas season can be; the list of those that once were here but are no more grows long for the living. It certainly takes the edge off the joyfulness for me, but you gotta work through it. Hopefully you have some good memories that you can lean on. Thank you. Yes, Christmas brings back many memories from the past for some reason. Good memories to remember.
|
|
|
|
Post by healey36 on Dec 18, 2023 13:56:15 GMT
Hollywood film star Harold Lloyd's Christmas tree:  My tree's not quite there, but it gives me something to strive for, lol. Back when I frequently travelled to California for work, I would occasionally visit an antiques "gallery" in La Jolla. On more than a few visits, they had a few baubles from Lloyd's tree for sale. They went for a good bit of money, but now I regret not getting one (or ten). Lloyd was terrific, a great comic, and one of the few stars that seamlessly transitioned from the silent to the talkie era. Here's a cool site describing Lloyd's tree: Harold Lloyd's Christmas tree |
|
|
|
Post by Adam on Dec 18, 2023 15:05:12 GMT
Hollywood film star Harold Lloyd's Christmas tree: My tree's not quite there, but it gives me something to strive for, lol. Back when I frequently travelled to California for work, I would occasionally visit an antiques "gallery" in La Jolla. On more than a few visits, they had a few baubles from Lloyd's tree for sale. They went for a good bit of money, but now I regret not getting one (or ten). Lloyd was terrific, a great comic, and one of the few stars that seamlessly transitioned from the silent to the talkie era. Here's a cool site describing Lloyd's tree: Harold Lloyd's Christmas tree Where, exactly, is the tree?
|
|
