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I've owned this very large Toy Fire Engine for several years and I'm still not sure who manufactured it. At first I thought it might be in the Turner Lincoln series, but then the wheels didn't look like anything by Turner. Then I thought maybe Cor-Cor, but the front view didn't look right for Cor-Cor either. This pressed steel toy is 24 inches long and looks to be all original. I'm stumped, can anyone help?

Peter

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Edited by Peter Zobian (see edit history)
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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm stumped too! It is very well made and appears to be all original. Like I said in my initial post, I first thought it was Turner, but the wheels and radiator are wrong and it shows no evidence of ever having had the Turner flywheel motor. Some sources have suggested Kingsbury, but it doesn't resemble any Kingsbury I've ever seen, plus it is not wind-up like most Kingsbury toys. HELP!!!

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I looked through every source book I have. A company named Neff-Moon made toys with wheels like yours, but there is no evidence they ever made a fire engine. Turner did make some toys with very similar wheels, but as I said, the radiator isn't standard Turner fare. I have found over the years there are some toys that turned out to be very limited runs and just don't show up on the radar when you're trying to figure out who made them. I have a very nice English toy boat with a very unusual motor, and I know I once saw an ad for that very boat for sale on EBay (long before i obtained the boat), but I've never been able to find it again. It's stuff like this that drives you nuts!

It still looks more like a Turner than anything else I've been able to find. Kingsbury made slightly smaller toys with white rubber tires, so I don't think it's a Kingsbury.

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That sure looks like it. Can you ask your toy buddy about the length of that bus? My Fire Engine is 24 inches long and maybe the bus was made with the same wheelbase. I can't really see the wheels in your photo -- any chance of better photos?

Peter

I got that photo of the "bus" from Googling "Turner toy photo". My buddy does not have any examples of Turner toys to photograph at the moment, but he is very knowledgeable about toys. The wheels look exactly the same to me.

Edited by keiser31 (see edit history)
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Most Turner toys have a very Packard like radiator, with smaller high placed "headlamps". The Turner Lincoln is one of the exceptions -- it has a very Lincoln L radiator, but still has the higher small headlamps. My fire engine has a different radiator, neither Packard nor Lincoln. The quest continues.

Peter

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That front bumper screams nerf bar to me... something a hotrodder would add on. I wonder if the difficulty in identifying this one isn't because it's an amalgamation of parts from different toys? The wheels look like they could be Turner, but those extended running boards seem a little odd compared to other trucks of the era. The long hood looks more like something off a limo than a truck.

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This Fire Engine is unaltered. All its parts appear to be original, with no evidence that anything has been added or changed. I've examined it with a magnifying glass and jeweler's loupe. Its size and the length of the hood are very evocative of the large deluxe Fire Engines of the 1920's and early 1930's like the American La France, Seagrave, and Ahrens-Fox. That why I bought it years ago. I learned to drive on a 1931 Chevrolet Hose Truck from Rescue Hook & Ladder Co. No.1 in Roslyn, Long Island, and years later I owned a 1956 Seagrave Anniversary V12 Canopy Cab Pumper that I purchased from the Lititz, PA Fire Department (they were the original owner). I love Fire Engines big and small!!

Peter

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Thanks Keiser31, your bus photo made me do more research and I was able to find a video of that bus in an Antiques Road Show Archive. The program aired in 2010 and showed noted toy expert Noel Barrett interviewing a man with this c. 1926 Turner Toy Bus. The video showed all aspects of the bus and the hood, front radiator, headlamps, front & rear fenders, running boards, and wheels were all the same as my Fire Engine. Barrett said it was a really rare toy and he had only seen three in his entire career. So, I guess my first thought that it might be a Turner, was right -- even though the wheels didn't look like most Turners I had seen. This Turner Toy Fire Engine has a special place in my pressed steel toy collection!

Thanks to everyone who helped identify this toy!

Peter

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