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Friday, March 6, 2015

MPC Horse Drawn Steam Pumper Fire Engine

Today is Fire & Emergency Vehicle Friday and we've got a nice little number here from MPC (aka Multiple Plastics Co.). I'm a sucker for fire engines as it is but the old horse drawn steam engines are really a treat. This one from MPC is in red, yellow, and white soft plastic, as is most of their stuff and features the ubiquitous MPC driver, two generic ringhand figures as firemen, two generic MPC horses, and two removable ladders.. The driver is in a red to match the color of the fire engine but the two other figures are in a rust color. The figures which came on my sample didn't have accessories but they probably came with helmets, axes, pikes and belts when new. Firefighting is dangerous profession as evidenced by the 'amputated' arm on one of the men! There is a black bulb on this thing which over the years has become hard and brittle and gnarly looking but at one time was probably pliable. BUT what was it used for? I don't think it was used to pump water but may have been used to puff out talcum powder to represent steam expelling from the boiler. OR maybe it was used to represent the steam dome as seen in the photo below. Anywho, that's just a guess. I've included extra photos to show the detail lavished on this toy by the folks at MPC. They did a real fine job capturing the scroll-work, gauges, and various appurtenances of the engine. The rig measures 12" (30.5cm) L x 3 5/8" (9.2cm) W x 5 1/2" (14cm) H Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

This was taken many a moon ago (1977) on Mackinac Island, Michigan. I believe it's been moved to an inside location now. Look at that large dome just forward of the boiler, not unlike the one on our toy. 






















What's left of the bulb...


...it sits here just behind the driver




Check out the detail work on this engine - quite nice









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