Tootsietoy No. 4653 Fire Watertower Truck Gilt Wheels 1927- 1933

It's been a busy week here at the Berg Homestead. Visitor's from Germany came this week along with other personal commitments means almost no time for posting. When the grandbaby goes to bed in the evening I have time to do stuff but by then Bettina and I are too pooped - we got no 'oomph' - oomphless as it were. I managed to pull some more toys out to sell but haven't gotten them eBay ready yet. During those 'oomphless' moments during the evening I sit and wonder just what I want to do out there in The Cave and lots of ideas come to mind but they're all like the goo in a lava lamp forming nebulously for a second or two then breaking apart again almost immediately. What a quandary! 

Well okay,  between all this mulling about and doing practically nothing I did manage to grab some shots of this beautiful Water Tower Fire Engine from Tootsietoy made back in 1927-33. She's a beauty and a perfect match to the engine we featured on February 23rd. It measures 3 3/4" (9.52cm) L x 1 1 /4" (3.17cm) W x  1 1/4" (3.17cm) H / 2 1/2" (6.35cm)  H with tower raised. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

                      

An Update on Google Friend Connect

Kind of shows you how behind we are in our reading. This was posted on Blogger Buzz (Googles newsletter for bloggers) last month and I just now caught it:

"In 2011, we announced the retirement of Google Friend Connect for all non-Blogger sites. We made an exception for Blogger to give readers an easy way to follow blogs using a variety of accounts. Yet over time, we’ve seen that most people sign into Friend Connect with a Google Account. So, in an effort to streamline, in the next few weeks we’ll be making some changes that will eventually require readers to have a Google Account to sign into Friend Connect and follow blogs.

As part of this plan, starting the week of January 11, we’ll remove the ability for people with Twitter, Yahoo, Orkut or other OpenId providers to sign in to Google Friend Connect and follow blogs. At the same time, we’ll remove non-Google Account profiles so you may see a decrease in your blog follower count.

We encourage you to tell affected readers (perhaps via a blog post), that if they use a non-Google Account to follow your blog, they need to sign up for a Google Account, and re-follow your blog. With a Google Account, they’ll get blogs added to their Reading List, making it easier for them to see the latest posts and activity of the blogs they follow.

We know how important followers are to all bloggers, but we believe this change will improve the experience for both you and your readers.

Posted by Michael Goddard, Software Engineer"

Tootsietoy No. 4652 Hook and Ladder Fire Truck 1927- 1933

The fire and emergency vehicle fleet continues to grow, albeit at a smaller pace, with this nifty Tootsietoy No. 4652  Hook and Ladder Fire Truck w/gilt wheels and 3 ladders made from 1927- 1933. This diminutive gem measures only 3 3/4" (9.52cm) L x 1 1/4" (3.17cm) W x 1 1/4" (3.17cm) H. It's a perfect fit for some of the smaller vintage cardboard fire stations we've posted here on the blog and as time permits I'll post pics of the truck posed along with one of them. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

Slik Toys No. 9700 Fire Truck

Here's a nifty little fire truck from 'Slik Toys' line of the Lansing Company of Lansing Iowa, part of the growing fleet of small cast metal fire trucks in the collection. The Lansing Company was founded by J.M. Turner in 1897 and produced peral buttons from Mississippi clam shells but by the 1940s his grandson, Leo Hufschmidt began producing toys. By the 1960s all production had ended. The truck measures 3 5/8" (9.20cm) L x 1 3/4" (4.44cm) W x  1 1/4" (3.17cm) H. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina