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Motorcycle Toys 1910-1960

Great Collections from the Antique Motorcycle Club of America

Motorcycles have always captured the imagination of children. Those too young to ride could live out their fantasies with miniature reproductions of their favorite bikes. Over the years, toy copies were made of almost every motorcycle–from Indian Traffic Cars to Swiss Condors.

"Motorcycle Toys 1910-1960" captured the spirit of the early days of these toys. The exhibit included 50 rare cast-iron and tin-plate motorcycle toys and a variety of children’s books featuring daring characters like the "Motorcycle Chums" and the "Big Five Motorcycle Boys".

Cast-iron toys on display were produced from the 1920s through the 1940s by firms like Pennsylvania-based Hubley Manufacturing Company and National Sewing Machine subsidiary Vindex. Hubley had the foresight to obtain the exclusive rights to reproduce Harley-Davidson and Indian motorcycles, and thus dominated the cast-iron toy motorcycle market during the Depression. Vindex, left with few popular bikes to copy, only produced three cast-iron motorcycle toys, all Henderson models.  Cast-iron toys largely disappeared during the World War II, when iron was needed for the war effort, and they never returned.

Tin-plate toys were produced in quantity by Marx and others, and cost only pennies to buy during their heyday in the the 1920s and '30s. Unlike their more staid cast-iron counterparts, these lightweight toys were often powered by clockwork mechanisms and could be sent racing across the floor under their own power. Tin-plate toys continued to be produced through the 1960s, but were eventually replaced by cheaper plastic models.

Although toy manufacturers sometimes took liberties with their designs, the development of motorcycle toys closely follows the history of motorcycling. As the role of motorcycles in society changed from transportation and delivery to recreation and sport, toys followed suit–by the 1960s, sportier racing toys replaced the Harley Servi-Car and Indian Traffic Car models of the Depression era.

"Motorcycle Toys 1910-1960" opened November 16, 2000, and ran through March 2001 in the museum's AMCA R.B. McClean Gallery. It was the first exhibit in the Great Collections from the Antique Motorcycle Club of America series, which will feature a variety of vintage motorcycle memorabilia and gear.

The Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum wishes to thank Antique Motorcycle Club of America member and collector Dave Leitner of Pontiac, Michigan who made this exhibit possible through this generous loan from his toy collection.