Tally Ho! Cast-Iron Toys Draw Minimum of 37 Record Prices at Julia's

FAIRFIELD, MAINE

: Record prices abounded at James D. Julia's sale on February 17-20 where choice toys and dolls drew $2.6 million. The major draw was the exceptional cast-iron toy collection of Bob and Jackie Stewart of Aberdeen, S.D., that comprised some 500 lots. A rare Carpenter "Tally-Ho" coach drawn by four horses brought a record auction price of $92,000 against the estimated $35/45,000. The brightly hued toy also boasted Bernard Barenholtz provenance and sold to a collector on the premises. Toy expert H. Jay Lowe, speaking after the sale, called the toy "the finest example - a real classic."

Another great Carpenter cast-iron toy fetched yet another record. An architecturally faithful burning New York brownstone realized $54,625. The toy went to the Shelburne Museum where it will be on view in May. The toy was cast in the form of a two-story building with flames erupting from the second floor windows where a woman awaited rescue. A pull string allowed a firefighter to ascend the ladder to rescue the woman and bring her back down the ladder while a second firefighter trained a hose on the building.

The Stewarts gathered their collection over 20 years, amassing a highly coveted selection of cast-iron horse-drawn, automotive and bell toys, along with figural cap guns and figural cap bombs. Mr Lowe described it as "the best collection in the country." He added that it is almost unheard of to have so many great pieces in one sale, and said that a cursory glance at the sale results indicated a minimum of 37 record prices for cast-iron toys alone. Most lots went to collectors.

As a measure of the importance of the collection, the catalog is a collector's keepsake, a handsome hardbound edition with color photographs of every lot and detailed descriptions. Auctioneer Jim Julia said that handling the Stewart collection was "A real treat - better than going to a museum."

A Pratt & Letchworth horse-drawn "Flying Artillery" toy that Julia said simply was "one of the best of its type" went to a private collector in the audience for $60,375. The vividly colored toy had four galloping horses and six military figures guarding the cannon aboard the caisson.

An Ives japanned horse and cart attracted interest and great money when it sold for $34,500, three times the estimate.

A very jolly and very rare 31-inch Ives bandwagon with four horses, a driver and eight musicians raced past its estimates to $23,000. A Hubley bandwagon that once adorned the New York office of Hubley and formerly belonged to its chief executive officer realized $21,000. Four white horses drew the ornately cast red wagon that contained eight musicians and driver.

A Wilkins horse-drawn street sweeper that the Stewarts sought for years was estimated at $3,5/4,500 and realized $17,250, as did an Ideal bicycle rider. The biker toy, one of two known to exist, featured an articulated center rider with two cyclists on either side. The Stewarts found the toy in Minnesota. Another cycling toy was the Wilkins cast-iron bicycle racers with pressed steel legs that sold for $14,260.

Horse-drawn fire fighting equipment is a perennial favorite for some. The examples from the Stewart collection were highly desirable and sold accordingly. Three horse-drawn pieces by Ideal each had an estimate of $¾,000. A large hook and ladder drawn by two large horses realized $23,000; a large (21 inches) hose carrier with an ornate reel realized $18,400; and a fancy pumper was $17,250. The same collector took all three.

A 40-inch horse-drawn water tower by Wilkins with a jaunty red-jacketed driver was also estimated at $¾000 and sold for $18,975.

A rare Wilkins horse-drawn sprinkler that had once been in the Hegarty collection brought $16,100.

A cast-iron clockwork bell toy by Althof Bergmann in the form of a goat cart drawn by a black and a white goat with an outsized driver brought $28,750 from a private collector on the phone. The goat cart toy had come from the Barenholtz collection.

"The Cossack and the Jap" a Nineteenth Century bell toy made by The Gong Bell Co., brought $25,300 a record price for a bell toy. The toy, one of three known, connotes the war between Russia and Japan.

The curious "Columbus Egg" bell toy featured a cart with a pig whose jacket was embossed "Chicago" and a large egg labeled "The Columbus Egg." The toy fetched $12,650. The toy is thought to have been manufactured by J&E Stevens or Gong Bell Co. to commemorate the 1903 Columbian exposition in Chicago.

The first toy the Stewarts acquired - and Bob Stewart's favorite - was the "Are You a Buffalo?" bell toy, which went to $12,650.

A rare cast-iron bell toy swan chariot with a woman passenger in a shell by J&E Stevens had some repairs and sold for $4,600.

The Stewart collection also included some excellent animated cap guns and cap bombs and they, too, achieved record prices. The circa 1899 animated cap gun "Uncle Sam Said, Git" was the cornerstone of Jackie Stewart's cap gun collection. It brought a record $10,925. The toy was designed by a Mr Franklin who took his designs to several toy manufacturers, each of whom made castings. Thus, there are two versions of the toy. The gun shows Uncle Sam atop the barrel poised to kick Spanish Gen Valeriano Weyler who served Spain in Cuba. The Stewarts acquired the toy from a Pennsylvania collector of political items.

A green Vindex panel truck was estimated at $10/45,000 in deference to the softening of the cast-iron automotive market. It fetched a most respectable $19,550.

An exceptional Hubley Mack truck with an Ingersoll Rand compressor on the rear bed had a slight crack on the rear motor frame, yet it raced past its estimated $5/6,000 to $10,925.

Collectors scooped up choice dolls and other toys in two other sessions of the sale. The doll of the day was a 17-inch Bruno Schmidt German "Wendy" character doll that sold for $34,500. A blue-eyed Bru with a large tongue was also desirable and sold for $27,600. The doll was dressed in the original sage polished cotton dress with lace panels and a burgundy velvet coat. Her hair was the original mohair wig with curl extensions. An all-original 14-inch depose Jumeau was $24,150, and a fine Simon Halbig doll went to $22,425.

An impish K*R "Moritz" doll brought $13,800 despite replacement clothing.

Other stars of the three-day sale included a coin-operated table top Caille roulette slot machine that brought $30,000. It was acquired some months ago at Renningers for $3,000.

A porcelain salesman's sample barber chair from the Koken company of St Louis realized $23,000. Another advertising piece that drew favor was a roll-down poster advertising American Seal Paint. It sold for $10,920.

No toy sale is complete without trains, and this one offered some fine examples. A set of three Lionel standard gauge knobby roof passenger cars, of which two were Pullman cars and the third was an observation car, realized $9,890. A Lionel standard gauge Blue Comet train set that included a locomotive and tender pulling three two-tone passenger cars and an observation car fetched $6,900. A circa 1903 Lionel red and yellow open summer car with a converse body was $10,120 and a Lionel New York City trolley car was $9,775.

All prices quoted reflect the 15 percent buyer's premium.