A.C. Williams Co. — From The Vault
Published in the August 2023 Penny Bank Post | Written by Bob & Dee Vicic
The following article is reprinted here from one that originally appeared in the Record Courier newspaper of Ravenna, Ohio, (now the Kent Ravenna Record- Courier) on September 11, 1969.
Collects and Restores Wooden Models of Toys
Remember the Campbell Soup kids, billiken banks, spirited horses and sad army mules, hook and ladder trucks, horses with sulkies, farm tractors and the see-no-evil-hear-no-evil-speak-no-evil monkeys of cast iron that once sold for ten cents in dime stores across the country?
These were among the items shipped by the carload from the A.C. Williams plant from the late 1800’s until the 1930’s when they were supplanted by stamped toys, then molded rubber and finally extruded plastic toys.
They came into existence when a miniature replica of a flat iron manufactured by the company was made for salesmen to carry, and orders for the miniature surpassed those for the real thing. It’s possible that the cast iron toys passed in extinction because they were indestructible — more indestructible than the furniture and woodwork they bumped against. At least that’s the philosophy of Roy Evans who has collected and restored many of the wooden models that represented the first step in the manufacture of the molds for these toys.
The irreplaceable, invaluable, one-of-a-kind collectors’ items were hand carved by pattern makers who were truly artisans. These men probably had pictures, photographs or rough sketches to work from, but the amazing detail, the expression and the character of the pieces are undeniably individualistic. It’s highly unlikely that anyone could successfully copy them today, Evans stresses.
The wooden models which were later reproduced in brass or bronze for molding include only one wheel for toys with four identical wheels. Many of the molds were made in halves, and when the two halves were identical, only one mold was necessary. Some of the models include a clever hinge or lock effect which guaranteed assemblers a minimum of difficulty. Others are complete and when assembled are identical to the finished iron product.
Evan’s favorites are the character pieces - the three monkeys, the Campbell Soup kids, a baseball player, a bust of Teddy Roosevelt, a cat playing with a ball, an entire line of animals on tubs, several sizes of lions, and horses, mules, elephants, owls, birds and roosters. . .
