Unusual Text on Hubley Lindy Airplane.

[alumtube]

My newest restoration project just purcharsed: 10" Hubley Lindy airplane with unusual New York to Paris text. Assume this was a commemorative issue prior to the regular Lindy Toy airplane.
No hole in propeller spinner/hub for pull-string. Body and wing has traces of the regular gray paint. Do anyone know what color on wings text? ( different from the red lindy? )
Just missing the 1.5" wheels and a axle.

[grwebster]

Nice find, did you notice Lindbergh was spelled wrong?
GR

[alumtube]

Thanks for reply.
Actally I did not, wonder how many they made before the factory noticed. Do not think they made many of these before changing it to the Lindy wing.

Terry.

[grwebster]

While not trying to be too pedantic, Terry, here is some more background:

Many companies tried to capitalize on his success and rushed to produce anything that could sell during Lindbergh's promotional tour of the USA after he and his aircraft returned by ship. Some just used his name outright, or the newspapers' nick names, 'Lindy', 'Lucky Lindy', or some form of his experimental aircraft's registration code NX-211.




This brought about what was probably the first series of big law suits about trademarks when Lindbergh's lawyers went after them. The Tootsietoy firm was guilty of this in a big way even going so far as to use the Spirit's registration numbers { NX-211} on its small die cast toy's fuselage.
The result was that most of the items had to be changed to become more generic- 'Lucky Lindy' became 'Lucky Boy' etc..... Tootsietoy even changed the registration to UX----


Almost all of the cast iron companies active at that time issued a Spirit of St Louis in some form but most were small. Dent did a larger one using an exisiting casting with the addition of 'Lucky Boy'


Hubley had the small ones too but also made a larger mid-size one like yours {main color was gray with red highlights on raised letters and numbers and also on parts like the earth induction compass antenna on the top of the fuselage - interested readers should look this up as contrary to what was printed about him using s pocket compass given to him for navigation, he actually had the equivalent of today's GPS to guide him. }


Hubley followed that by producing a third one, even bigger with more accurate struts {again, most were gray and red highlights}. This version has a propeller that turned when pulled on the floor with the supplied wooden ball and string, rubber tires on metal rims, and could even be had with a 'noise maker' clicker variant {see axle on photo below} that made simulated engine sounds


I was never able to find anything related in my research to Lindbergh's legal dealings with Hubley but as Hubley went on to produce several more toys related to him {the 2 Gliders, the Air Ford, the Lockheed Sirius} I am sure they reached an 'amical' agreement probably immediately after his successful flight. Perhaps it was Hubley's lawyers who went after the other toy producers in the first place, but those details have been lost to history.

I also suspect that by the time all the suits were settled, the fickle public had moved on to other things.

[alumtube]

Thanks again.
Love youre Dent trimotor lucky boy airplane, never seen one come up for sale.
Will restore my plane it in the correct gray. Will do some more research but most likely had the text in red.

[alumtube]

The luckyboy plane in the first pic, the one with a small square windshield, any idea of maker?

[grwebster]

No, I don't remember, I sold off most of the collection.
Those early cast iron toys were generally not marked by the manufacturer.
When I first started collecting in 1974 or so, the older collectors would look at them and easily say- that one is a Dent, the other an Arcade, or Kilgore, Kenton etc. I should have paid more attention.
Some time the major auction houses identify the toy's makers when they sell them. They must have access to the few remaining expert collectors to get indentifications.
The reason none were clearly marked was that in the years they were produced {1880-1930s and then mainly in the USA} toys were mainly sold by distributors to stores. The distributors insisted that the toys not be marked so as to stop the retailer from ordering the toys directly. They had to buy from the distributor. I have found some reprints of toy manufacturers catalogs that had drawings of their offerings with the weights noted for case lots, but those catalogs were presumably done only for the distributors.

[grwebster]

Very few TPN MAC Members or current MAC forum members collect cast iron planes. I didn't for 20 years. Then one day I decided that any large collection should have some of them to explain airplane toy history. Turns out I bought at the top of the market and only sought top quality examples.
They are generally much harder to find/rarer, and more expensive than die casts but as they are very hard to break, one would have thought there would be more around. That large cast iron Hubley Spirit of St Louis sells from time to time at auction in top condition for 3-4,500 dollars and then there is only one or two in this condition sold per year. But only in near mint, original condition. One like my large size 'Spirit' shown above would go for $1200- 2400 generally but on any given day the price could vary widely. All it takes is 2 determined buyers for a price to climb high. Likewise only one buyer-and then he gets it for the minimum bid. Thats a good reason to put in minimum bids on any auction of interest.
One member here has an extensive cast iron collection, Bill Stewart, and as his parents were antique dealers as I recall, he may be able to identify it. He also knows more about them than I do.

[alumtube]

Always found the cast iron airplanes appealing, probably since they represent the earlier part of aviation and toy aviation history. Wonder if this plane had a little Hubley sticker on it. My lindy Lockheed Sirrus has one but my 10" lindy version of this plane does not. Could have rubbed out, or as you said, the distrubitors normally did not wanted it marked.

[alumtube]

After restoration.
Wheels are 1/4" in diameter larger than the original one but I'll find a correct set eventually.