Some really small Tootsie Toys

   Some really small Tootsie Toys

  The Great Depression by 1931 was hurting Tootsie Toy sales, and Dowst management came up with a possible solution:  really small models of actual cars.  The 1:1 was the 1930 Buick Marquette (Buick was using Dowst’s philosophy of smaller models to increase sales).  Here’s the 1:1-

And here are the three Tootsie Buicks, each with a single casting, 58 mm. long (approximately 1/72 scale)-

Two more of the small models produced in the early 1930s were the  Caterpillar Tractor (mine has replaced rubber treads) and the Ford Stake Truck (each approximately 1/87 scale)-

All these small Tootsie Toys were sold for five cents instead of the usual ten. Tootsie Toy survived!

                                           Enjoy!    David H