Treasures in your attic: Valuing toy merry-go-round, Ferris wheel in mint condition
Q. I have two metal mechanical toys that I received as a child in the late 1940s or ‘50s: a merry-go-round and a Ferris wheel, both manufactured by J. Chein & Co. As a child, I was not allowed to play with them because my mother thought they were too nice. Therefore, they are in excellent condition and still in their original boxes. What is their value today? Thank you.
A. Toys are to be played with — at least, most children seem to think so.
But to collectors, toys are to be kept all bright and shiny, perfect and unused in their original boxes. In most cases, the children’s opinion seems to win out, but every now and then pristine toys mint in their original boxes (or MIB to collectors) do turn up.
As a little boy, Julius Chein reportedly lost one of his arms in a fireworks accident, and he is said to have been so bad-tempered that when he became angry, he would throw his watch on the floor and jump on it. (We have got to wonder how often that actually happened.) Be that as it may, in 1903, Chein had a small metal-stamping business located in a loft in New York City.
He made metal prizes for Cracker Jack boxes, as well as other small toys for five-and-dime stores. The American Can Company provided Chein with the lithographed tin he used until 1907, when Chein opened his own factory for lithographing tin in Harrison, N.J.
With these new facilities, Chein began producing a wide variety of piggy banks, noisemakers and model horse-drawn carriages. Chein also produced a number of toys under license from companies such as King Features and Walt Disney Productions, which included Popeye, Felix the Cat and various Disney characters.
In 1926, Julius Chein was killed in a horse-riding accident in New York’s Central Park and control of the company passed to Chein’s widow. She turned the enterprise over to her brother, Samuel Hoffman, founder and CEO of the rival Mohawk Toy Company.
Under Hoffman’s direction, J. Chein & Company expanded and prospered. It produced many increasingly complicated mechanical toys, including ones with circus and amusement-park themes — such as the two examples in today’s question. The firm produced roller coasters, carousels and, yes, Ferris wheels, and these are considered by many to be part of the “golden age of toys.”
J. Chein & Company ceased toy production during World War II in favor of making nose cones and tail units for bombs along with casings for incendiary devices. It returned to toy production after the war, but Japanese competition soon drove it out of the lithographed-tin-toy business and into making plastic toys.
The toys in our question appear to be MIB (mint-in-box) and seem to be as perfect and as brightly colored as the day they were made. This is a huge plus to collectors. The Ferris wheel should be insured in the $1,000-$1,200 range and the merry-go-round between $600 and $800.
For more information, J.M. might consult “J. Chein & Co.: A Collector’s Guide to an American Toymaker,” by Alan Jaffee.
Ÿ Contact Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson at Treasures in Your Attic, P.O. Box 18350, Knoxville, TN 37928.