History Of Tin Toys I-L
Ichiko
Founded in the 1950's in Tokyo, this small Japanese toy maker is known mainly for it's vehicle toys.
Ideal Toy Company was founded as Ideal Novelty and Toy Company in New York in 1907 by Morris and Rose Michtom after they had invented the Teddy bear in 1903. The company changed its name to Ideal Toy Company in 1938. In 1982
Josef Hermann Neuhierl, born on 20 July 1927 in Germany, is the founder of Carrera. Neuhierl started with the model toy company JNF
links http://us.carrera-toys.com/6706.0.html
John Hill Co. JoHillCo
The John Hill Company, an English firm, was a competitor of Britains Ltd. For many years, their cast metal figures rivalled Britains and others. Johillco later made plastic figures, until its demise in the 1960s. With its Johillco trademark, the John Hill Company offered various ranges of figures.
Karl Bub
Bub company, founded by Karl Bub, Nuremberg, Germany, 1851 - 1966.
Trademark: K.B.N.
.
Keystone Mfg. Co.
This company developed out of a partnership formed by brothers Ben and Isidore Marks. The Marks Brothers Company began in 1911 as a major supplier of human-hair doll wigs and celluloid doll heads to American doll manufacturers. Over the next decade, the company prospered and added a vast array of other playthings to their product lines.
The Keystone Manufacturing Company went out of business in 1957.
Link
Kilgore Mfg. Co.
"Toys That Last"
Westerville, Ohio, 1920s - 1985.
Originated in 1925 with the purchase of George D. Wanner Co., who made a brand of kites called "E-Z-Fly". Its merger with Andes Foundry and the Federal Toy Co, in 1925 under the aegis of American Toy Co. In 1928, Kilgore introduced cast iron cars, trucks, and fire engines, including cast-iron cannons, cap guns, and toy paper caps.
Yoshiya
(1950 - 1970) also known as Kobe Yoko Ltd. was a major Japanese toy maker from the post war period. Yoshiya -known by their mark KO- specialised in mostly mechanical or wind-up toys featuring fanciful designs, but they are also known for its extensive line of Robby the Robot knockoff toys.
Lego is a line of building toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Denmark.
Its flagship product, commonly referred to as Lego bricks, consists of colorful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, minifigures (also called minifigs by Lego fans), and various other parts. There are other Lego pieces which can be assembled and connected in many ways, such as cars, trucks, planes, trains, buildings, castles, sculptures, ships, spaceships, and even working robots.
Ernest Lehmann Co.
Brandenberg, Germany, 1881 (Re-established in 1951 in Nuremberg and still producing toys).
Ernest P. Lehmann exported large quantities of toys to the USA from 1895 to 1929. Specialized in mechanical transportation and lithographed tinplate
Lesney
Lesney was founded in 1947 as an industrial die-casting company by Leslie Smith and Rodney Smith. The two men were not related by blood; they had been school friends and served together in the Royal Navy during World War II. Shortly after they founded the company, Rodney Smith introduced to his partner a man named John "Jack" Odell, an engineer he had met in a previous job at D.C.M.T. (another die-casting company). Mr. Odell initially rented a space in the Lesney building to make his own die-casting products, but he joined the company as a partner in that same year.Lesney originally started operations in a derelict pub in north London (The Rifleman), but later, as finances allowed, changed several location times before finally moving to a factory in Hackney which became synonymous with the company.
Interesting Link http://homepage.ntlworld.com/d.jones7317/public_html/2index/lesney.htm
Linemar
Linemar was established in the 1950s as a manufacturing and import subsidiary of the successful American toy manufacturer Louis Marx & Company. The company was responsible for overseas manufacturing and distribution relationships involving the importation of mechanical and battery-operated toys from Japan.
Lionel Corporation was an American toy manufacturer and retailer from 1900 to 1993. Founded as an electrical novelties company, Lionel's products and specialties varied throughout its existence, but Lionel's toy trains and model railroads are what made the company famous.