The Spirit of St Louis

[Tone]

I know Michael and many others like to collect Spirit of St Louis toys. Historians credit the success of Lindy's solo flight to have made metal toy planes increase in popularity in the late 1920s. In 1958 Jimmy Stewart recreated the story with his movie of the same name. Both tin toys here date from that period. The yellow model is HTC brand while the smaller silver plane is from Line Mar Toys. The latter, which is not easy to find, is unusual in that the tail wheel powers the prop.

[MichaelB]

Lindberg's flight and ensuing celebrity brought so much attention to aviation (and celebrity adulation) that it's effects are still being felt. So many cities went "plane crazy" and opened airports in the late '20s as to be dizzying!
I would think that by the next significant anniversary (2017) there should be a book with ALL the SSL toys that ever were! Everything I have only dates back to 1967....
At this time let me recommend an excellent short story by the humorist James Thurber (quickly disappearing into the swirling sands of history): The Greatest Man In The World. You'll love his take on the celebrity phenomenon, which we take for granted now.