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Antique and Vintage Toy Model Fire Trucks

Toy fire engines first appeared around 1880, made of cast iron and tinplate. Known as fire wagons, these toys included pumper wagons, horse-drawn chief's wagons, ladder wagons, and other accessories.

Interestingly, the toy fire trucks of the 1920s predicted the engines of today. Toy makers combined the traditional horse-drawn wagons with a truck body to create something similar to today's fire engine. The three most famous makers of these early fire-fighting toys are Dent, Kenton, and Hubley, though other companies like Tonka and Marx would later make smaller scale tin and steel engines...

Note that cast-iron fire trucks have been frequently reproduced, so it's important to look at authenticity.

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Interviews & Articles

An Interview with Firefighting Memorabilia Collector Don Croucher

I started collecting firefighting memorabilia in the 1960s around the time I became a volunteer fireman here in Orange County. My … [more]

An Interview with Show Rod Model Car Collector Dave Rasmussen

I got interested in show rods as a boy in the late 1960s. We all built models back then. There was no Nintendo and only three or f… [more]

Japan's Best Postwar Export? Tinplate Cars

I used to have a huge collection of diecast 1/43rd-scale Dinky Toys, Corgi Toys, and things like that. I had so many that it got t… [more]

An Interview With Antique Toy Model Car Collectors Ron Sturgeon and Rodney Ross

Ron Sturgeon: I had an automotive repair shop in about 1976 and spent a lot of time repairing Mercedes. About 1979 I decided to st… [more]

Guest Column: Collecting Toy Cars, A Healthy Addiction

I’ve been collecting vintage toys since 1982. I started slowly and methodically, partly for lack of information, mostly for lack o… [more]

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Ron Sturgeon's excellent gallery of fancy model cars and other vehicles. Nice high resolution shots with classy mus… [read review or visit site]

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Clubs & Associations: Firefighting

Other Great Reference Sites: Firefighting

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Recent News: Model Fire Trucks

Source: Google News

Rail City museum photos, memorabilia to be given away ...
WatertownDailyTimes.com, May 24th

The place even had its own firefighting equipment with a fire department that responded to many blazes in the community. Rail City, the first museum of steam-operated trains in the country, chugged along from 1955 to 1974, attracting scores to the...Read more

Collier County donor looks for antique firetruck
The News-Press, May 17th

Some years later, Wimer's fire truck was sold at a silent auction for $500 to an unnamed volunteer fire fighter. The firefighter then allegedly took it home and kept it stored in his parents back yard. Wimer said a private investigator found out that...Read more

Missing fire truck 'probably at a junkyard'
WZVN-TV, May 11th

A Collier man is still searching for his antique fire truck that he gave the East Naples Fire District. And after weeks of searching, we found out he may be closer to finding it! A 74-year-old valued member of Claude Wimer's family is missing...Read more

'Red hot' deals, antique fire truck highlights of shopping event in Downtown ...
The Flint Journal - MLive.com, May 11th

By Dana DeFever | ddefever@mlive.com FENTON, MI – An antique fire truck will be on display Thursday during Downtown Fenton's Third Thursday shopping event. This month's event, which features sales in participating downtown businesses, will benefit the...Read more

Check out antique fire truck and fundraise for fireworks
Wareham Week, May 9th

Not pictured: Marie Oliva, Jamie Souza, Ginny Cubellis, Layne White, Lorraine McDonald, Mary Crowley Visit Walmart and Stop & Shop on Cranberry Highway in East Wareham on May 19 from 10 am to 2 pm to check out a 1932 Maxim Pumper fire truck and help...Read more

Naples man says fire department lost his antique fire truck
Wink News, May 8th

Pictures are the only reminders Claude Wimer has of the 1936 pumper fire truck he purchased back in the 1970s. Like a vanishing act, Wimer says the truck has disappeared. Around 1980, the former county commissioner says he lent it to the East Naples...Read more

Antique Fire Truck Catches Fire
CBS Local, May 4th

DENVER (CBS4)- An antique fire truck on display at the Denver Firefighter Museum caught fire early Friday morning. “It's everything. I'm going to get emotional here,” said Denver Fire Department Museum spokesman Dan Farley. “It's devastating for me...Read more

Antique fire truck catches fire
9NEWS.com, May 4th

The fire truck is used for active, retired and line-of-duty funerals including parades. It caught fire after the rig was just getting back from a funeral. The engine backfired and caught fire right outside of the museum. It was completely extinguished...Read more