When I am not hunting waterfowl or other game, I can often be found scouring Flea Markets and Antique shops stalking these WWI toy soldiers. They were manufactured by two companies: Manoil and Barclay.
My collecting began at about the age of seven when my parents, both antique hounds, bought me a soldier for about 25 cents one day to shut me up when I wanted to leave a Flea Market. What was at that time a pacification became a collection. These items now cost quite a bit more than a quarter....if you can find them.
One of the benefits of my litigation practice is that I go far afield to various Courthouses all over PA. On the way back to Philly I can stop at antique and junk shops around the Commonwealth to try and find a piece for my collection. The two American companies pumping out these "dimestore soldiers" thrived in the 30's, cut production during WWII and then faded in the late 40's and 50's when plastic soldiers became cheaper and more popular.
When I met up with ADG of Maxminimus, we discussed our shared obsession with toy soldier collections and I have been meaning to post about my collection. The pix are not very high quality...but you get the idea. The display is in my living room atop a family heirloom piece of furniture that used to sit in my Great Grandmother's "parlor"...a fitting pedestal for these relics of past play.
This is really cool. When I was a kid I played wargames with play soldiers. Made up my own rules (probably that's why my brother never won).
ReplyDeleteAs an adult I got into a WWII game called "Flames of War" for awhile. I played Stalingrad versus an actual German. Lots of fun. This is a very interesting (and perhaps unexpected) post.