Collection TippCo Réservoir descalade (réservoir descalade) en fer blanc vintage années 30 fonctionne

TippCo Tinplate Clockwork Klettertank (Climbing Tank) Vintage 1930s Working.

Lovely vintage 1930s interwar tank which looks somewhat like a Renault FT. Having had a good clean with WD40 to remove the rust inside and lubricate the clockwork motor (which is stamped PW - Paul Weiss), it now winds and drives the front axle as it should. The end has broken off the stop/go lever that should sick out of the slot on the rear bodywork so I've set it to go when I replaced the tinplate. I've straightened the most bent panels and reconnected all the remaining lock tabs. There are a few missing from the bottom, but enough to still hold this near-centurion together. The rubber tracks appear toy be original and have sagged a little but are still flexible. The gripping tape is missing from the wheel rims so the tracks do slip a bit.

The model is painted in German interwar camouflage colours of light brown, dark green and dark brown. It also has it front and rear panels painted white -post-factory. Interestingly, during World War II, some British military vehicles, particularly those sent to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force, had white markings on the front, rear, and sides. These white squares were likely for identification and to help distinguish friendly vehicles from enemy ones. So, purely hypothetical, but it is possible this model comes from that time and ‘transformed' into a friendly vehicle by its owner.

It comes with a period-appropriate, generic key that fits and winds the motor.

The German toy manufacturing industry, based in Nuremberg, with tinplate companies such as Bing, Lehmann and Marklin was a centre of excellence since the 1860s.

One of the most intriguing of these German companies was Tipp & Co (Tippco), established later in 1912 and producing toys during the dramatic swings in this remarkable era of history until 1971. It was founded by Miss Tipp and Mr Carstens, but was in the ownership of the Jewish Ullmann family.

In 1933, amid increasing Nazi persecution, Philip Ullmann fled to England. He must have thought that he had lost everything, but it was not so; together with a colleague, Arthur Katz, they were offered workshop space by Bassett-Lowke in Northampton and they began manufacturing toys to raise funds for other

Jewish refugees. They called the company Mettoy, which later became better known as Corgi.

His German company was seized by Nazi supporters and they produced military vehicle toys up to, and including the first few years, of World War Two.

After the war, in 1948, Philip Ullmann regained control of Tipp & Co and, with his son, managed two Anglo-German toy companies.

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