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HOLGATE
ARMY VEHICLES
by
Bob Guenthner
Even though the United States did not enter World War II
until after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December, 1941, the
1941 Holgate toy catalog already displayed almost a full page of Army
vehicles. (Holgate apparently published two 1941 catalogs; the Army toys
were included only in the second 1941 catalog.) Included
were a jeep, a “jeep tank destroyer” (which was a jeep pulling a
cannon), a 155mm tank, a “six x six” troop truck and an ambulance.
Holgate
included a lengthy introduction to its 1941 catalog,
touting its Army toys, toys that it proudly called “Toys of
Today.”
“With martial fanfare and roll of drums Holgate announces its new
Toys of Today. From actual
equipment used in the United States Army came the inspiration for these
new additions to the vigorous, vital, Holgate Toy family!
'Toys
of Today' were designed in response to a demand by parents and teachers,
who felt that with the present day emphasis in pictures, conversation,
books, radio on the war-effort, wholesome, scientific war toys were a
normal and desirable outlet for children.
Every
one of these Toys of Today has definite training value. Every one comes
apart in some way to develop coordination in young hands.
Every one is mobile, pushable, helps strengthen young muscles.
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1941 Catalog Page
Click to enlarge |
| The catalog
introduction was a recognition of the child-rearing theories of child
psychologist, Dr. Benjamin Spock, which were very much in vogue.
“Good” parents would never buy a toy for a child unless it
furthered the child’s physical development and psychological well being.
Consistent with this marketing approach, Holgate also included in its
1940s catalogs recommendations as to which toys were appropriate for
children of different ages. The
Army vehicles were recommended for children from two to ten years of age.
By 1943, the Toys of Today received a two-page spread in the
Holgate catalog. |
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1943 Toy Spread
Click to enlarge |
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Although
Holgate toys were well-made and durable, they were relatively expensive
compared to other toys of their time.
Today, however, their 1941-1943 prices seem amazingly inexpensive.
| Army
Jeep |
$
.75 |
| Jeep
Tank Destroyer |
1.25 |
| Army
Six x Six Truck |
1.25 |
| 155mm
Tank |
2.00 |
| Army
Ambulance |
1.50 |
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| The first jeep had a removable top and four peg
soldiers. It bore the number F5
on the sides of its hood. Its wheels were held on
by small-headed nails, 3/8 inch in diameter.
In the 1941 catalog, the jeep is given the number 664.
Some F5 jeeps had a spare tire on the rear, others on the side.
On later 664 jeeps, the wheels were held on with
larger-headed nails, 1/2 inch in diameter, and the F5 markings were
dropped. This continued into
1943. Later in WWII, steel was
reserved strictly for the manufacture of military equipment, and nails
were no longer available for axles on the jeep or any other Holgate toys.
From then until after the end of the war, wheels were held on with
wooden pegs. |
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F5 Jeep
Click to enlarge |
664 Jeep
Click to enlarge |
| The
jeep that was part of the jeep tank destroyer in the 1941 catalog had no
top, not even holes in the rear of the body to hold a top.
It was otherwise the F5 jeep, but with a spare tire nailed to the
side of the hood so that a hook on the back could pull the cannon.
Later the design was changed, and the tank destroyer jeep was given
a top, like the regular jeeps. The jeep tank destroyer
was given the catalog number 665. |
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Tank Destroyer Jeep
Click to enlarge |
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| The first type
of tank, slightly smaller than later tanks, appeared in the 1941 catalog
and was called a 155mm tank. It had no turret or
small guns, only one large gun that could not be rotated but that could be
raised and lowered. In front
of the big gun was a cover that was removable.
Under it were places for two peg soldiers.
This
tank’s wheels were smaller than those later tanks, only 1 5/8 inches in
diameter, and were painted black. It
was given the catalog number 669. |
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Tanks
Click to enlarge |
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| In
1942 Holgate produced and sold a large tank that came in two variations.
One had a small round gun turret; the other had a larger square gun
turret. The tanks were otherwise the same, with two smaller guns in the
front and two in the rear. The
turret rotated and was removable, and the entire top part of the tank was
also removable, revealing places for two peg soldiers in the front and two
in the rear.
The platform
for the body of the tank was a sheet of very thin, 1/8 inch plywood, a
material that was not used on any other Holgate vehicle. The catalog
number 624 was painted on both sides of this tank.
The wheels on this tank were a big 2 1/2 inches in diameter and
were painted blue. The tank
itself was twelve inches long and 5 1/2 inches high, the largest of the
Army vehicles, including a later style tank.
Its insignia was the pre-WWII form of the star with the red circle
in the middle of the star. When
the Army changed its insignia to eliminate the red circle (because it
looked too much like the Japanese rising sun flag symbol), Holgate tanks
changed to the new Army insignia, without the red ball in the center.
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Tank Removable Parts
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155mm Tank
Click to enlarge |
Place for Soldiers
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| By the time the 1943 catalog was issued, Holgate was
producing a third style of tank, which it called the Battle Tank.
It was more modern than the 624 tank, but it still bore the same
catalog number. It would later
be given the catalog number HT624 (the HT presumably being for "Holgate
Toys"). This tank had
both a big gun and a small gun in the rotating turret and three small guns
in the front only. The top half of this
tank was also removable, but the only thing that this revealed was an open
box in the body of the tank in which small things could be hidden.
Unlike both of the
other styles of tanks, the only peg soldier was the one in the turret.
However, this peg soldier was turned on a lathe so that he had a
“helmet,” unlike the round-headed peg people that were at the time
used in other Holgate Army vehicles. |
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Battle Tank
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Battle Tank Parts
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| The six x six truck was a troop-carrying truck with
dual wheels in the back. It
had places for ten peg soldiers in the back, five on each side riding on a
"bench", as well as a driver and passenger in front.
According
to the catalog, it was “so called because on the real trucks every one
of the giant wheels is power driven.”
It was given the catalog number 666. |
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Six X Six Truck
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| The ambulance was the Army vehicle that perhaps offered
the most potential for make-believe play, especially for little girls who
were presumed to be more interested in nursing the wounded than in blowing
things up. The top could be removed, and in the back two “wounded” peg
soldiers could lie down on “stretchers,” one on each side.
They could be treated by the three white peg medics or nurses who
rode across the back of the ambulance. |
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Ambulance
Click to enlarge |
Ambulance Wounded
& Nurses
Click to enlarge |
| Once the war was over, the Army vehicles disappeared
from Holgate catalogs. In the
1946 catalog, only the six x six truck and the ambulance survived, both
with modifications. The truck
now was painted with red markings, a tailgate was added, and the
"stretchers" that held the wounded soldiers were removed,
leaving the back of the truck completely open.
The Army ambulance was re-lettered to be the ambulance from
Holgate Hospital, but otherwise remained the same in design as the Army
ambulance. |
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| By 1948, neither the truck nor the ambulance appeared
in the catalog. The Holgate
Army vehicles, like the war itself, had become history. |
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Bob Guenthner lives in Wichita, Kansas.
He received his first Holgate toy as a boy in 1945.
Since discovering eBay, he has greatly expanded his Holgate toy
collection. All photos are by
the author. All toys shown in
photos are from the author’s collection.
You can contact Bob at rguenthner@morrislaing.com
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