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23/02/2010 12:42 pm
For Stuart Schaller and John Roberts, rubber Pontiac (pic)
Stuart, I am impressed with your power of recall. Here is what I found in an excellent source, RUBBER TOY VEHICLES by Dave Leopard.
Dave described these rubber Pontiacs as a "small rubber toy" without giving scale. The Perfect Rubber Company of Mansfield, Ohio, made the 1935 and 1936 Silver Streak 4-door and, with the encouragement of Pontiac, offered it in gross lots to Pontiac dealers.
Dave wrote that the only difference in the Perfect Pontiac models from 1935 to 1936 was the placement of the door handles, as 1936 was the year that Pontiac abandoned the "suicide doors."
Perfect also made rubber models of the 1935, '36, and '37 Plymouth, as well as a 1935 Dodge and 1935 Dodge truck. These were offered to dealers in the same manner, and Dave Leopard includes a full page picture of Perfect's offer to Dodge dealers.
For our British members, the Empire Rubber Company of Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England, made rubber toys in the 1946-'51 years. Several were depictions of American cars, including the '35 Ford and '40 Dodge that were similar to but not exact copies of pre-war American designs.
23/02/2010 1:46 pm
David, that book looks like an excellent reference .............
source. Nice to see the late Gates Wilard acknowledged.
Cheers Chris
Autominologist residing in the Robin Hood County
Nottinghamshire England UK
23/02/2010 1:48 pm
37 Plymouth
Dave - Does the book have a photo of the 1936 or 37 Plymouths? Was wondering if they are sedans or coupes? Thanks - Ken
23/02/2010 4:18 pm
Gates Willard is a name I haven't heard for years along with Clint Seeley, who used the pseudonym C.B.C.Lee
in many of his writings
23/02/2010 4:19 pm
When I lived in LA I was often at the collections of people like Carl Natter, Don Veta, Bob Blake, and others who really collected "toy" rather than model cars, in all scales. I'm almost certain Don Veta had one of those..
23/02/2010 5:24 pm
It's a good one, Chris, and Dave is a nice guy, very knowledgeable. He also has some information on Viceroy rubber toys in Canada and Duravit in Argentina. The peak years for rubber toy cars were 1935-1941, with production stopping during World War II and very little resuming after the war.
23/02/2010 6:03 pm
Thanks Dave
24/02/2010 7:14 am
David, perhaps one of the reasons for the decline of rubber ....
used in toy car production after WWII was the introduction of modern plastics.
I have a few old toy cars made in Britain from plastic but here zinc alloy ruled the roost post war. Toy car ranges in plastic were popular in France and Italy in the immediate post war years and in the case of French production this lasted until the late 1960's.
Cheers Chris
Autominologist residing in the Robin Hood County
Nottinghamshire England UK
24/02/2010 12:02 pm
Don Veta - there's a name from the past!
I met him at a toy show once upon a time...
24/02/2010 12:03 pm
Of course you are right, Chris. Auburn Rubber had a line of rubber toys, including some pre-war models, after the war, but by the late 1940's plastics replaced these. A few companies switched from rubber to latex and made such toys into the 1950's.
24/02/2010 12:55 pm
me too. He did me a huge favor for which I am grateful- so he is remembered fondly by me.
24/02/2010 5:21 pm
I knew Don for years. He passed away about 3 years ago, and his daughter sold his condo in west Hollywood. I don't know what she did with his collection. Don could be very difficult to deal with at times, but he was also EXTREMELY knowledgeable.
Don's biggest collector friends were Bob Blake (who recently sold his collection through Rallston gallery), Carl Natter (who is sill a practicing doctor in the Long Beach, California area) and me...until we had a falling out around 1992. I don't even remember why....
24/02/2010 11:42 pm
Me too - I meet him once at a toy shop in Copenhagen of all places! Small world,eh?
25/02/2010 10:18 am
I used to meet up with Don at many swap meets and stores all over western Europe, circa 1978 through circa 1987. I remeber 2 shops in Copnehagen. One was a hobby shop and the other was a general antiques store. If I remember correctly, both places had many early Tekno models which you could never find in the US
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