This is the time of the year I love to get out and really snoop for some good buys at local flea markets, and believe me, there are tons this year. I suppose it may be the economy at present as I am seeing far more highly collectible items surfacing on the open tables.
Mechanical toys [...]
There are those who believe the small sewing machines are toys and those who believe they were mostly salesmans samples. They were actually both of the above items.
The toy sewing machines were not always really a toy. Quite a few were indeed a salesmans sample. The company would manufacture small versions of their products that was easier for the salesman [...]
Cast Iron toys commonly called iron toys have been of great interest to both children and adults since they first came on the scene in 1825, in America. The earliest of iron toys was a simple little iron that rested upon a trivet. You can almost imagine a child pretending to slave over the hot [...]