Above - Lindstrom
Above - Libertania 28 inch wood and litho, maker unknown
ABOVE: Liberty, ?maker? Libertania, 27 inch.
Wolverine 13 inch Sub
ABOVE, BOUCHER 2 CYLINDER DOLPHIN LIVE STEAM
ABOVE:
36" toy boat made by H. E.
Boucher, Inc., Madison Avenue, New
York. The manufacturing label is on the stern and also on the boiler.
The boat is wood construction, has a live steam engine complete with original
pressure pump.The boat has a screw down rudder to set the course.
Believed to be circa 1920.
Above, Dent 20" Cast Iron Battleship
Above - Uebelacker 32" River Boat c.1890??
ORKIN PROTOTYPE CABIN CRUISER. 32 Inch length instead of 33 inch, 2 inches wider, different cabin doors than production model, clockwork mechanism. c. 1926-31, manufactured in Beverly Hills, Ca.
ABOVE: ORKIN 32" YACHT.
ABOVE: ORKIN. 22.5 inch
ABOVE: ORKIN 22 INCH RUNABOUT
ABOVE: The owner of the Orkin Battleship
shownabove has offered to respond to any questions about the boat.
He may be reached at:
mailto:bone-stock@optonline.net
ABOVE PHOTOS: ORKIN B2 BATTLESHIP. 37 1/2 inches. There is no motor but a large horn made by Racon of New York. The horn has two round prongs possibly for European power or a transformer??? Certainly an unusual interior for a toy boat. It looks as if the horn were made for the boat and installed before the braces for the deck were welded into the hull.
Additional information is needed on this boat. If you can supply any information about the above boat please contact me.
The following information has been supplied by a reader. Thank You.
There were a few different versions of this B2 Battleship (Believed to have been named USS New York) that were available way back when in the early 1900's. The one on your page was to be set on a mantle for display. It had no motor, just the horn. Another version of this Battleship had a clockwork motor that drove twin screws through a brass geared geared box. This version, is to me, the way to go. The run time in the water for this version is about 4 minutes of sluggish noisy mechanical sound.
Another reader says:
It looks to me like the horn in the B2
Battleship is a radio speaker from the 1920s. Although I have specialized in 1920s
radio speakers for many years, I have never heard of a radio horn speaker hidden in a
boat, such as this.
Racon made speaker drivers for radios, and the photo of the Racon driver in this boat
looks exactly like what was used in other radio speakers. The two wires should each have a
small metal pin on the ends for plugging it into a 1920s radio. In the driver, the wires
should connect to a coil made of very fine wire, and within the coil should be a metal
plate that connects with a heavy wire to a diaphragm. If this is operational, touching a
small 9-volt battery ( or maybe even a 1-1/2 volt D cell) to the two pins should activate
the coil, causing it to move the metal plate slightly, causing the diaphragm to make a
clicking sound that is amplified by the horn.
If it truly is a radio speaker, it would have been used with a radio made approximately
1922-1926. After 1926, horn speakers were pretty much a thing of the past, being replaced
by speakers having paper cones. Radios made during this period required batteries to
operate. The speaker was connected in series between the plate of the output tube and a B+
terminal on a battery, typically +90 volts D.C.
ANOTHER VIEWER SUPPLIED THIS INFORMATION:
The Collectors guide to American Transportation Toys" by Joe and Sharon Freed, on page 323 describe a Orkin B-2 Battleship with a loudspeaker built in to it.
ABOVE: Orkin 20.5 inch No. 74 Revenue Cutter.
ABOVE: Orkin Battleship Pennsylvania 29.5"
ABOVE: A viewer sent these photos of his very interesting Orkin B-2 Battleship with a clock mounted in the hull. Like the Orkin above with a speaker mounted inside we wonder what the purpose was. Are these one of a kind items? Were they produced in quantity? Any information on these unusual items would be appreciated.
ABOVE: Orkin, Double cockpit. Boat named Tender. 28"
ABOVE: Orkin 23" Revenue Cutter
ABOVE: Orkin 34" Battleship
ABOVE: Orkincraft 28"
ABOVE: Orkin 30" Water Taxi
ABOVE: Orkin 22" Runabout "Joker"
ABOVE: Orkin
22" Runabout
AB0VE THREE PHOTOS
This is a Strait boat made by Strait, a small
company in
for the 1934 World Fair in
It has a battery operated reciprocal motor.
Some recent information... A boat identical to the one pictured but with no cabin has been reported. There is the same lip around the opening on the deck but no holes to attach a cabin. On the bow of the example with no cabin there is a decal above the one shown above as follows. "Sea Hawk" with a seagull flying over the water above that.
Any information on these boats would be appreciated.
ABOVE: Additional photos kindly submitted by owner, thanks!
ABOVE FOUR PHOTOS:
Another example of a Strait Corp. toy boat,
18" No tabs for cabin, unusual motor, repainted in original colors described by the
owner
red and green.
(Photos used with permission)
ABOVE: 15" Tin windup diorama. The two large boats rock as four smaller boats
pass by in front as bell rings. c. 1930
ARNOLD 14.5 INCH WIND UP LIGHT HOUSE
Above: Radiguet Battleship 31 Inch Live Steam
ABOVE: Radiguet 21" Live Steam, Zinc Hull,Wood Deck
RADIGUET: 19" Clockwork Ocean Liner, Wood decking, tin cabin.
Above : J & E Stevens Cast Iron Bank c. 1901
ABOVE: KEYSTONE "JACRIM" BOAT 27 INCH.
ABOVE SIX PHOTOS: Jacrim
Mfg. Co. 26 inch (about 29" with rudder) speedboat
"Flying Yankee" Model #73
A massive wood toy boat powered by an enormous wind up motor.
Original finish. Steering from wheel to rudder via string cables.
KELLNER 16 INCH WOOD
ABOVE FIVE PHOTOGRAPHS:
Maker unknown. Any help in identifying this boat is appreciated.
Possibly made by Kanpp, Buckman ?? Or a very good model maker??
The boat is 20" long including rudder, 8" wide, constructed of sheet brass
the canopy was added later,
battery powered by a Little Hustler motor made by Knapp. Should be pre 1914
as they added a starter switch to the motors that year. Knapp made the first battery
powered motors around 1900.
The boat requires a lot of ballast but the old batteries sold with the motors were two
pounds.
(Photos used with permission.)
A reader, Paul Stimmler, graciously offered the following information about the above boat. Thanks Paul:
I have a boat very similar to it ,
also with a more recently fabricated scalloped replacement awning.
Restorer Joe Freeman of Tin Toy Works in Allentown
has identified mine as very early Orkin. Collector and book author Richard Claus
concurs with that identification.
Another collector / dealer thinks it's Fleischmann. I think the Orkin ID is compelling.
Another reader offered the following informatin: I am the owner of the brass boat with the little hustler motor in your misc. section. I think I have found out who made it and another one I got from the same place. The son of man who owned them told me they were made by a man named Coen who work at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The new one named Margaret was given to his fathers sister, Mr Coen had a thing for her, she in turn gave it to my friends father who passed away in 2005 at age 96. See photographs below of Margaret who was kept in a trunk in the basement so the sons would not find it and play with. He said both were made in mid 1920's. Margaret is 44" in length.
SEE PHOTOGRAPHS BELOW OF THE SECOND BOAT.
ABOVE: Hand crafted boat "Margaret" See information above photos.
PLEASE HELP IDENTIFY THIS
BOAT ! ABOVE SIX PHOTOS.
It is 22.5" long. Battery powered, on / off switch on deck just above the motor, the
battery holder appears to be for a single battery,
probably rectangular in shape, approx. .5 x 2.5 x 3.0 " ,
obviously not a standard size battery by today's standard.
The paper logo on the deck may be recognized by someone.
The following information on the U-25
(Above) was supplied courtesy of
Hans Hobert
THANK YOU!
I was going over the pictures on your
web site and saw you were looking
for help on the U25 boat (last boat in the miscellaneous section), it's
made by a company called GIL, made in France around 1960, the company
is a well know French toy boat company and made several great toy boats,
most of the toy boats were made in the late 1950's to early 1970's
period, this one is a torpedo launcher boat, they made several different
models with U25 on it, the best looking boats they made are the
speedboats, of which one is 35,8 inches long.
There's a book out by 2 Frenchman called Arnaud Mering & Fabrice Mestrot
(one of them also organizes the famous Paris Toy Show), the book is
called 'Canots et Voiliers de nos bassins 1935 - 1970 (ISBN2-9519286-0-2).
This book is a great reference for speed boats and Sailing boats, never
seen the book for sale in a bookshop, only at toy shows in France and
Belgium and is not cheap at least 90$.
Anyway, now you know where the boat comes from and who made it, etc.
Hope this helps,
all the best,
ABOVE: BLISS 42.5" Litho Paper over wood c.1880
ABOVE: JRD French? 20 inch. 1940's?
The following information was supplied by a viewer:
I wanted to give you some info on the
JRD boat displayed with its jeep on top of the box.
1950's toy, made by JRD a French toy
maker. existed in 3 colors, red
blue and green. it represent the "landing ship" used during the D day, in 1944.
has a large wind up mechanism
On this toy, when going ashore, the front door is released, swinging
down and becomes a ramp, and if the wind up mechanism of the jeep is
wound, the jeep will exit the boat and "drive away".
ABOVE: WEEDEN LIVE STEAM. 15 INCH.
ABOVE THREE PHOTOS: Buddy L Tugboat, 28" Scarce toy.
ABOVE: Staudt German14inch Battleship Circa1910 Restored
ABOVE: Joulet Gill. France. 21"
ABOVE FOUR PHOTOS: Reil & Co. Circa 1902. 11 inch. From the Sears Catalog
ABOVE FOUR PHOTOS: 14.5" Lehmann clockwork floor battleship.
ABOVE: Schoener Steamer Aviso Greif. Circa1900 LiveSteam29inch
ABOVE: Hess German Armada c.1920.
ABOVE: Hess c.1925, flywheel motor, cardboard sails, 11 3/4" long, 11" tall, 2 1/4" wide.
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