It’s unusual for us to talk about non-ephemera items here.. but we’ll tie it back later in the article.
I recently listed, on eBay, a very old Dinky car known as the “Studebaker State Commander”. This particular item (Dinky number 24O) is somewhat unique as it was built by Meccano France… as opposed to the original British toy company that was established in 1908 by a gentleman named Frank Hornby. During the 1920s and 1930s it became the biggest toy manufacturer in Britain and produced three of the most popular lines of toys in the twentieth century: Meccano, Hornby Model Railways and Dinky Toys.
In 1912 Hornby set up an office in Paris to import Meccano into France and by 1921 the French market had proved so successful that production began at the newly opened factory in Paris with another plant opening in 1929 where production of the Dinky Toys would be based.
During the Second World War the Meccano factories were commandered by the invading Germans and used in the Nazi war effort, as well as production of model vehicles in the German Marklin range. Then, in the early post-war years the model vehicles were forced to be shod with metal wheels due to Nazi activity during the war which had virtually cut off supplies of rubber to France. Rubber tyres were not fitted again on models until 1950.
By the 1950s the French Dinky Toys began concentrating on the products of the French motor manufacturers; Citroen, Renault, Peugeot and Simca, along with examples of American cars which were popular at that time on mainland Europe. Some models such as the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia were produced both in France and in Great Britain. By the 1960s the vast majority of the French Dinky range were only available in the home market although a few models did make it across the English Channel to be sold in Britain. The French factory closed in 1970 and a Spanish company produced some Dinky models which were originally sold as French Dinky Toys until the end of the decade.
So the Dinky I listed was made in France during the period of 1949-50 and has the metal wheels mentioned above. It has a typical Dinky cast body with a black sheet metal base. While the car has obvious signs of wear, it is still in the original cream color, i.e. not restored. Values on Dinky Toys vary, as do all collectible items, but we would expect this auction item to end at several hundred dollars due to its age and condition.
Click here to have a look at this wonderful item!
If you are more interested in the Studebaker line of cars.. than the Dinky toys, you may want to look at this link which takes you to a wonderful site all about the memorable Studebakers. 
There are hundreds of pictures, and even some EPHEMERA ads for the cars during the war period. You will soon find that Studebaker was involved in more than just manufacturing automobiles.
So there you have it. A brief into to the Meccano company, some information on the Dinky Studebaker State Commander.. and even some information about Studebakers in general.
I hope you can find something here to whet you whistle.
I’m Tom Murphy and thanks for helping me give Ephemera the encore it deserves.
Tom
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About Tom Murphy
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