The summer holidays meant one thing when I was but a maggot; sandy beaches, buckets and spades! It's odd how all children and men turn into master castle builders on the beach, instantly developing a fine eye for an effective moat! My family were no different and when Dad and Brother-In-Law were bored of their bastions they would take great pleasure in burying me completely in the sand! Fortunately they never decided to do it near the incoming tide!
I remember my spades came in all sorts of shapes and materials: plastic, rubber and metal-bladed. I particularly recall spades made of a strange marbled plastic like the one pictured here [ebay].
I had assumed later on, when I could be bothered to think on such heavy matters, that the plastic was marbled because the manufacturers had simply mixed different colours together.
I'm still pretty sure this is the case, but a vintage toy I picked up a few years back, the AHI Super Rocket Plane, has similar marbling. albeit not as colourful, on the front and rear tips as shown below. Consulting Tony Emchowitz's superb book, Future Toys, its clear that the tips should be silvered.
Marx was a good one for marbled plastic. I remember my American Civil War Centennial playset with it's destroyed mansion and exploding bunker - both having marbled plastic. Definitely a mix of dark brown and caramel brown plastics.
ReplyDeleteTo my knowledge marbled plastic was made by mixing leftover plastic for recycling. There are some beautiful marbled toys from the 50's and 60's, perhaps because B-quality plastic was considered as an apt material for children's products, inevitably bound for perdition anyway. Many small plastics companies produced toys only (or mainly) as a way to find use for the leftovers from "proper" product lines.
ReplyDeleteAs to your Super Rocket Woodsy, from the picture it seems that the marbling effect comes from some kind of laquer that has partially peeled off from the rear. Normally the patterning should be in the material itself, so I'm not sure what I am looking at here. Very interesting in any case!
Cheers Arto