 | ||||
Climbing Fireman Toy
Trumptonalia.
A 1960's mechanical Trumpton Climbing Fireman,produced by Louis Marx.
The firemen spawned very little in the way of merchandise.
Which is pretty amazing really,when you consider just how popular they were.
Not only was there nothing at all from the likes of Corgi or Dinky.
But the only stand-alone toy that featured all of the firemen together with their fire engine was a late-in-the-day effort produced by Bradgate ( page here )
Anyhow,here's how this was described in the 1967 Louis Marx Trade Catalogue :-
Quote Ref.735. Trumpton Town Climbing Fireman.
Straight out of one of the best-loved children's tv features.
A delightful toy for the younger child,
with its base gaily decorated with other Trumpton characters.
The solemn-faced fireman with his "golden" helmet,blue coat and black boots and his bright yellow ladder.
Wind him up and watch him climb.
Measures ( fireman ) 9.5" tall ( ladder,fully extended ) 22" high. Attractively boxed." End
A few interesting choices of words in there :-
"tv features" - betraying the company's american roots.
"gaily" - from more innocent times,even allowing for the spelling.
The one shown above corresponds with a lot of the examples I've seen and actually has a silver coloured ladder rather than the "bright yellow" one mentioned above.
And,just to muddy the waters further,there are also examples where the ladder is indeed yellow,but the fireman has a much lighter,pale blue jacket ( same box )
Example here.
Either way,here's what you got ...
A 2 piece slot together ladder .... Integral wind-up key .... Flick the bum switch to see him climb to the top .... No batteries required .... And no hose supplied !
In short .... the sort of quality item you'd expect from Marx.
