U.S. Metal Toy Manufacturing Co. Santa Fe Trail Covered Wagon

Just going through my computer and digging up old photos it seems I have a whole bunch of Western toys that were photographed, but never blogged. It appears my last big thrust into the Old West was two years ago and there were a lot of posts as well as a lot of un-posted photos dating from that time. Also, I found a bunch of pics taken prior to 2023 that can be used. Okay, well this will be a welcome respite from spacemen and aliens - although that will still be an on-going theme for a while.

Up first in this latest round of Old West toys is this U.S. Metal Toy Manufacturing Co. Santa Fe Trail Covered Wagon which have been featured on the blog off-&-on since 2014.

Be Blessed and Relish Life! Ed 

U.S. Metal Toy California Trail Covered Wagon No. 1

Okay, we'll probably be taking a break from Old west type toys for awhile simply because I have to start photographing some more. We'll see what I'm able to come up with. For now though, let's take a look at what a U.S. Metal Toy Manufacturing Co. covered wagon would look like new from the box. Here you can see the complete 2-horse hitch with two very underfed looking horses :-) These are 'flats' and probably explains why you don't see too many of these around nowadays as many of them no doubt got broken many years. The box features typical '50s era artwork of Cavalry protecting a wagon train from Indians. I like the slogan used by U.S. Metal Toys: "Joys With U.S. Toys", perhaps a double meaning meant to evoke not only the company name but as a jab against the spate of imports hitting the American market back then. You'll notice the box art shows two different wagons, the "Santa Fe Trail", and "Forty Niners" while the wagon inside is the "California Trail". Yesterday we showed you the "Chisholm Trail" wagon, so that's at least four different variations available from this company. The wagon with hitch measures 7 3/4" (19.7cm) L x 3" (7.6cm) W x 3 3/4" (9.5cm) H. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

 

U.S. Metal Toy Chisholm Trail Covered Wagon

Continuing our look at Old West wagons we've got this Nifty '50s tin-litho offering from the U.S. Metal Toy Company. We've featured a bunch of their small tin-litho buildings before but this is the first wagon. U.S. Metal Toy made several variations of this, generally changing the banner on the side read something else like, "Santa Fe Trail", "California Trail", "Davy Crockett", and probably more.  The hard plastic wheels came in a variety of colors and there would have been a 2-horse hitch included as well. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina