Well, Toys & Stuff has already featured the large and small tin-litho chicken coops that came with the Marx barn, so I s'pose it's time to feature the barn itself :-) The one featured today came out about 1967 and more than likely would have had a very nice tin-litho platform base, giving the barn extra height, and giving the kid's extra play value. Like so many of the playset pieces I buy, the barn structures and pieces were all purchased separately. There are two plastic cupolas on the roof one of which should have provisions for a weather vane, but both of mine are solid at the peak, so while they make the barn appear complete, it is not accurate. The farm playsets offered by Marx had as many operating accessories (if not more) as other types of playsets, like space or military. This particular barn has an operating hay bucket which could transport the hay from outside of the barn to the feed stall inside. My sample is missing the rope and pulley mechanism that would have been used to raise bales of hay to the loft. Other farm sets had operating conveyor belts, silos that could be filled and then have their contents emptied, and then of course there were the tractors with all the implements. Farm sets were some of the more popular, and longest produced, types of playsets Marx made and with all the play value they offered, it's no wonder why.
The barn measures 13 3/4" (34.9cm) L x 11" (27.9cm) H x 9 1/4" (23.5cm) D and the silo 3 7/8" (9.8cm) Dia (metal tube) x 9 3/4" (24.8cm) H. You can tell by looking at our sample that mom or pop had a heck of a time trying to bend the roof piece as it's pretty crinkly. I've run into this so many times - where parts were not bent very well and look ill-fitted. Maybe that was one of the reasons why manufacturer's didn't want to pursue tin-litho anymore - besides the cost of producing tin-litho here in the States. In any case We Enjoy it So can you Fritz & Bettina :)
