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Skyline tin buildings

Dave Farquhar Toy trains May 8, 2020January 27, 20221940s, 1950s, american flyer, billboard, cardstock, lionel, Louis Marx, marx, tin, toy train, train layout, train show, wyandotte

In the 1940s and 1950s, Skyline of Philadelphia manufactured and marketed a line of toy train-oriented building kits. Actually, there were two lines: One was a line of building kits made of cardstock and wood, and one was a smaller line of lithographed tin buildings, similar to the inexpensive toys made by the likes of Louis Marx, Wyandotte, and countless others in the days before ubiquitous plastics.

I’ve long suspected the two product lines came from the same company, but had no evidence to prove it until Ed “Ice” Berg produced scans of a Skyline catalog containing both paper/wood and tin litho buildings, side by side.

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.

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Central Hardware, St. Louis history

Dave Farquhar Retail, St. Louis September 12, 2017November 8, 20211950s, 1980s, 1990s, american dream, consolidation, DIY, home depot, home improvement, Israel, Kansas City, Plumbing, sears

St. Louis-based Central Hardware was one of the first big-box home improvement chains. It peaked in 1993 at 39 stores in six states in the midwest, employing 3,700 people. It was once the 19th largest hardware retailer in the United States.

Central Hardware’s motto was “everything from scoop to nuts,” a play on the English idiom “soup to nuts,” which means beginning to end. Their inventory was over 40,000 SKUs, comparable to today’s home improvement stores. Its stores regularly exceeded 50,000 square feet. That’s about half the size of a typical home improvement store today, but it was large for the 1970s and 1980s. Traditional hardware stores ranged in size from 2,000 to 10,000 square feet. Its employees wore orange vests so customers knew who to ask for help.

Dave Farquhar

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Most valuable rookie card

Dave Farquhar Baseball August 23, 2017August 22, 20171940s, 1950s, 1980s, Babe Ruth, baseball cards, Goudey, Stan Musial, Topps, Willie Mays

When it comes to baseball cards, rookie cards are usually more valuable than non-rookie cards. But when we think of the Pantheon of valuable baseball cards, they tend not to be rookies. Instead, they tend to be scarce cards from hugely popular, iconic sets. The T206 Wagner. The 1933 Goudey Lajoie. The 1952 Topps Mantle. So what is the most valuable rookie card?

Dave Farquhar

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Scale vs gauge: Not quite interchangeable

Dave Farquhar model railroading, Toy trains August 18, 2017March 3, 20221:64 scale, 1950s, 1960s, 1980s, 1990s, american flyer, HO, ho scale, lionel, Lionel 675, n scale, o gauge, o scale, s scale, Standard Gauge

Wondering about scale vs gauge? You’re not alone. It’s a common question, and I’ll try to provide a simple answer. The two terms may appear interchangeable, but they aren’t quite.

Dave Farquhar

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Why do Lionel trains have three rails?

Dave Farquhar Toy trains August 10, 2017August 5, 20171950s, 1960s, american flyer, electric trains, lionel, Louis Marx, marx, o gauge, Quaker Oats, Standard Gauge

Why do Lionel trains have three rails? After all, real trains usually have two. This unrealistic feature is a legitimate drawback for Lionel and other makes of O gauge trains, but the decision made sense at the time.

Dave Farquhar

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Most valuable baseball cards of the 1970s

Dave Farquhar Baseball August 7, 2017October 11, 20231950s, 1980s, 1990s, andre dawson, baseball cards, cardinals, Kansas City, Topps, Willie Mays

Although the 1970s may not have been quite the golden era for baseball that, say, the 1950s were, the decade produced a good number of stars. An important thing to consider, too, is that many players Generation X grew up watching came up in the 1970s. That, along with lower production numbers, makes it an important decade in today’s market. Let’s take a year by year walk through the most valuable baseball cards of the 1970s.

Dave Farquhar

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1981 Fleer baseball cards

Dave Farquhar Baseball July 20, 2017February 6, 20231950s, 1960s, 1980s, 1990s, 202, 216, 28, 29, 32, 41, 483, 5, 514, 547, 7, 79, AVG, baseball cards, cardinals, cardstock, Fleer, New Jersey, Topps, willie wilson

It’s just my opinion, but I think 1981 Fleer baseball cards get less respect than they deserve. It ended Topps’ 25-year monopoly on baseball cards and, frankly, I think it’s a nicer set than the Topps or Donruss sets from the same year.

Yes, compared to the smooth and polished Topps, the Fleer set at times looked like amateur work. But they didn’t make as many mistakes as fellow upstart Donruss did. And they tried some things with their set that Topps had been unwilling to do. The 1981 Fleer baseball cards got some critical accolades at the time, and frankly I think it’s an underrated ’80s set. It didn’t contribute a lot to the most valuable cards of the 1980s, but it certainly helped shape the decade.

Dave Farquhar

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1948 Bowman baseball

Dave Farquhar Baseball May 19, 2017August 1, 20171940s, 1950s, Babe Ruth, New York, Stan Musial, Ted Williams, Topps

I recently decided to collect the 1948 Bowman baseball set. It has a number of things going for it. With 48 cards in the set, it’s attainable. Of those 48 cards, 18.75% of them are Hall of Famers. It’s also one of the two first postwar major-issue sets.

A partial box of unopened 1948 packs surfaced recently in Tennessee, so that’s as good of an excuse to talk about the set as any. No one knew any unopened 1948 Bowman packs survived. It sold at auction for $521,180.

Dave Farquhar

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Marx William Crooks locomotive

Dave Farquhar Toy trains April 4, 2017March 14, 20241950s, Classic Toy Trains, electric trains, greenberg, marx, marx trains, sears, tin

In 1959, Marx attempted to cash in on the popularity of TV westerns by creating an 1860s style locomotive. Today, the Marx William Crooks locomotive is one of the rarer and more desirable Marx locomotives. You don’t often hear the words “rare” and “Marx” together.

The Marx locomotive was a recognizable model of the real William Crooks locomotive, a St. Paul and Pacific 1861-era engine that still exists today.

Dave Farquhar

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Tootsietoys and lead paint

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized March 15, 2017April 9, 20171950s, Hot Wheels, lionel, train layout

When it comes to old toys, a lot of people forget about lead paint. It’s not a bad idea to be concerned about Tootsietoys and lead paint. That said, we also have to be realistic and reasonable. There’s no reason to be Scaredy Squirrel.

Dave Farquhar

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