Vintage 1950 ' S Pressed Steel " Tonka Toys " Blue & White Pickup Truck Mound MN
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:1464037 | Material: Pressed Steel |
| Vehicle Type: Pickup Truck | Color: Blue |
| Brand: Tonka |
I found these in an old farm house to be razed.
Mound Metalcraft was created in 1946 in Mound, Minnesota, by Lynn Everett Baker (1898–1964), Avery F. Crounse, and Alvin F. Tesch. Their original intent was to manufacture garden implements. Their building's former occupant, the Streater Company, had made and patented several toys. E. C. Streater was not interested in the toy business so they approached Mound Metalcraft. The three men at Mound Metalcraft th...ought they might make a good side line to their other products.[3]After some modifications to the design by Alvin Tesch and the addition of a new logo created by Erling Eklof (based on a University of Minnesota drafting student's sketch by Donald B. Olson who later became the company Chief Industrial Engineer; with the Dakota Sioux word "Tanka" or Tonka, which means "great" or "big"), the company began selling metal toys, which soon became the primary business.[4] In November, 1955, Mound Metalcraft changed its name to Tonka Toys Incorporated. The logo at this time was an oval, showing the Tonka Toys name in red above waves, presumably honoring nearby Lake Minnetonka.[5] In 1964, Tonka acquired the Mell Manufacturing Company in Chicago, allowing it to produce barbecue grills, eventually under the Tonka Firebowl label.[6]
Mound Metalcraft was created in 1946 in Mound, Minnesota, by Lynn Everett Baker (1898–1964), Avery F. Crounse, and Alvin F. Tesch. Their original intent was to manufacture garden implements. Their building's former occupant, the Streater Company, had made and patented several toys. E. C. Streater was not interested in the toy business so they approached Mound Metalcraft. The three men at Mound Metalcraft th...ought they might make a good side line to their other products.[3]After some modifications to the design by Alvin Tesch and the addition of a new logo created by Erling Eklof (based on a University of Minnesota drafting student's sketch by Donald B. Olson who later became the company Chief Industrial Engineer; with the Dakota Sioux word "Tanka" or Tonka, which means "great" or "big"), the company began selling metal toys, which soon became the primary business.[4] In November, 1955, Mound Metalcraft changed its name to Tonka Toys Incorporated. The logo at this time was an oval, showing the Tonka Toys name in red above waves, presumably honoring nearby Lake Minnetonka.[5] In 1964, Tonka acquired the Mell Manufacturing Company in Chicago, allowing it to produce barbecue grills, eventually under the Tonka Firebowl label.[6]
