Ideal No. 4904 U.S. Army Mobile Canteen - OD HP

Our U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Battalion has done a lot of work of late and the guys are gettin' hungry. Time to call in the Mobile Canteen. Today a vehicle like this would more than likely just be referred to as a Food Truck and it would probably end up appearing in "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives", "Bizarre Foods", or some Travel Channel special on food trucks, but mobile canteens have been a staple of work crews everywhere for a long time. An early non-motorised predecessor was the Chuck Wagon developed by Texas cattle rancher Charles Goodnight who outfitted an Army surplus wagon as a mobile kitchen to feed the cowhands along long cattle drives back in 1866. In the '50s the Army authorized the use of mobile canteens on Stateside bases and 'roach coaches' (as they are still referred to today) became a staple of life on military installations. Today however the trucks are run by civilian vendors with a license to come on base vs. those trucks in the past operated by military personnel.

Like the bulldozer we've been looking at the past few days, Ideal took their civilian delivery van and re-purposed it for the military. My reference lists this as being produced in 1951-52. The civilian versions were available in multi-colored varieties and all included operating doors and the typical lump of featureless plastic which passes for a driver and measures 5" (12.7cm) L x 2 1/8" (5.39cm) W x 2 1/8" (5.39cm) H. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

Ideal No. I-788 Pick-up Truck with Mother-in-Law Seat

Here's a variation of a truck we've featured before here on Toys and Stuff, the Ideal I-788 Pick-up Truck. This one appears to have a mother-in-law seat with a cover in the back! Mother-in-law seats, also called rumble seats, were seen more on the backs of coupes or roadsters and were kind of built in to the trunk. To this day it's not unusual to see pick-up trucks with jerry-rigged seats in the back deck like that shown on today's toy. My sample has a hole in the deck cover but is otherwise in decent shape. Buying toys with small defects is a often times a way to save a few bucks on a purchase because so many people insist on pristine examples. Not me. If I can use it on the train layout a few bumps and bruises is fine with me. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

****UPDATE****

Apparently these Ideal pick-up trucks were a modification made by the Deluxe Game Company for one of their playsets. The 'cover' behind the rumble seat is meant to be a 'gas' tank the kids could fill with water. Now it looks as though I'll have to find one of those games the truck is referenced in

Ideal Novelty and Toy Co.No. I-4790 Panel Delivery Van

Yesterday I was had wanted to post a Mattel Hot Wheels Crooz Batmoblie but the photos turned out pretty crummy. This new Fujifilm I bought doesn't do the kind of job for macro shots I wanted it to. Our older Fujifilm did pretty good for macros but that one got worn out. Bettina's Canon Sureshot isn't any better. You see, in order for these to work well, the you don't use the zoom function. Rather, you set the camera to 'macro' and get as close as you can to the subject. The problem is that sometimes I have to zoom in - putting my subject a 1/4" away from the lens doesn't always work. I've had to re-take a whole lot of my photos which ends up slowing down progress on the blog.

Okay, that being said, I did get off some shots of this Nifty '50s Ideal Novelty and Toy Co. (aka 'Ideal') No. I-4790 Panel Delivery Van. These were made in a variety of colors and markings. Some had stickers/decals on the side vs. the hard plastic sign, some were one solid color, while others (like this one) were multi-colored. They were produced in 1951-52 and measure 4 3/4" (12.1cm) L x 1 1/4" (3.2cm) W x 2 1//4" (5.7cm) H. My sample had a small fender-bender in its long history and is missing a tiny chunk but it displays well enough. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and ma Bettina