Fun Farm - Vintage 24 Piece Paper Farm

There being very little time for projects anymore I haven't posted any vintage paper for quite a while. I got this 24-pc vintage 'Fun Farm' paper kit years ago and always meant to print it out and build it but...

Okay, so maybe I'll never get around to actually building this but at least you'll have a chance, which is why I'm posting it here today. The kit itself appears to be one of those cereal premiums one sent away for by including a couple of box tops from your favorite cereal along with a few cents, however, there's no mention of a cereal company anywhere. The kit itself was made by Reed and Associates, Inc., Chicago, Illinois but Google searches turned up no clues about the business. The artwork is on the small size and the sheet only measures 8 5/8" (21.90cm) x 12" (30.48cm). I have a large format printer and IF I ever got around to building this I'd format the art to fit on a 11" x 17" piece of cardstock so that it would build into a larger size. Anywho, that's just wishful thinking but at least you guys can - Enjoy!  Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

BJ George - Paperville Small Super Market

Here's another building courtesy of B.J. George, the Paperville Super Market. Based on a Plasticville Super Market made by Bachmann, this one builds into a structure suitable for 1/64th scale. While I went ahead and built the building, I just didn't feel like doing in-progress shots so this is a rather bare bones post. It's a straight-forward build and, like all my other structures, is braced with stripwood on the inside corners and walls. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

The figures out front are 35mm Marx

Here's a look down Main Street, a temporary set-up on my train layout. 

Bradley's Toy Village Set #4552 1909 - Pt 3

Today we'll look at the second house in Bradley's Toy Village Set #4552 from 1909. Sometimes we have a romantic idea that things made in the Good Old Days were of better quality than now ('They sure don't make them the way they used to') but that's not entirely so, it's just a misconception. In fact, many things made back then weren't quite up to par. This house is a good example. The color registration is off, making a couple of the sides look blurry and the printing does not match up exactly with the way the houses were cut out of the sheet of cardboard (or the cardboard was cut wrong). Not quite the perfection we cherish so from days gone by. Still, it's another fine example of vintage paper and I like it.  Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

Bradley's Toy Village Set #4552 1909 - Pt 2

Milton Bradley's Bradley's Toy Village set from 1909 includes three houses but two of them are the same. Today we'll look at that doppelganger. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

Bradley's Toy Village Set #4552 1909 - Pt 1

Toys & Stuff is pleased to bring you another vintage paper toy: Bradley's Toy Village Set #4552 of 1909 by the Milton Bradley Company. The company was formed way back in 1860 and quickly gained notoriety as a game manufacturer. It was the first American company to produce and sell a complete croquet set and during the Civil War they noticed how bored soldiers were during the lull between fighting and developed a game which the men could carry with them. but it was board games which placed the company on the maps. 

Although strictly speaking today's toy is not a game, if you read the 'instructions' on the inside of the box they certainly tried to make the toy educational. It consists of a paper landscaped playmat, three houses (two of which are identical), a store, and three accessory cardboard pieces with metal stands. The box measures 9 1/4" (23.5cm) L x 7 1/4" (18.4cm) W. The landscaped playmat is quite small measuring 15 7/8" (40.3cm) L  x 6 5/8" (16.8cm) W and when all four buildings and the detail pieces are placed on it it's pretty well hidden. The building walls measure 4" (10.2cm) L x 2 3/4" (7cm) D x 4 1/4" (10.8cm) H (w/o roof). The roofs on all four buildings are the same red roof w/shingles. The roof, when flattened out, measures 4 3/8" (11.1cm) W x 5 7/8" (14.9cm) L

Back on  November 17-21, 2014 we featured the Ready Cut Village featuring five different buildings. There was no manufacturer listed but the stamping's are nearly identical (on today's set all the buildings have peaked dormers while the buildings in the Ready Cut Village have both peaked and rounded dormers). The lithography on the sets are different as well but because of the sizes and basic design the two can be sister sets. Over the next few days we'll look at the different building's included with Bradley's Toy Village. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

The accessory group

One piece metal stands like this were commonly used to hold cardboard pieces back in the day.

Governess Cart

4" (10.2cm) L x 2 7/8" (7.3cm)  H

1909 Touring Car

5 1/2" (14cm) L x 2 9/16" (6.5cm) H

The result of a brutal police interrogation?

Nah, this lady lost her head a long time ago judging by the wear on the piece. She's a vendor and is meant to sit outside the Village Store.

2 5/8"  (6.7cm)  L x 2 1/16" (5.2cm) H

Marx Unknown Set#: Pt 3 R.R. Station and Billborad

This is the last of the Marx cardboard buildings I bought a month or so ago which belong to an unattributed set number. Along with the three buildings there was a billboard which is included here as well. They measure: 

R.R. Station; Walls 6" (15.2cm) W x 3" (7.6cm) D x 2/3/8" (6cm) H
                Including Roof: 7 3/4" (19.7cm) W 4 1/4" (10.8cm) D 3 3/4' (9.5cm) H

Billboard: 5 1/4" (13.3cm) W x 2 1/8" (5.4cm) H

Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

Scans

Billboard Scan

I've included a scan of the type of bases used in Marx paper villages