Looks like one of those postwar tin toys made in Japan. Some of the first from the late '40s were made from flattened cans. This looks like one from the '50s.
Lithographed tin. It was really special, many years back. Wish I still had the little chugger from my childhood. Battery operated, it went back and forth, auto-reversing when it struck the track bumper. Had lots of fun with it, so long, long ago.
I had a similar in the late 1940's. Something went wrong, so I opened it up. The inside was printed Pabst, Schlitz, or another beer popular with the GI's. The Japanese were very creative during the Occupation after WW-II.
It is one of those Choo choos that goes in auto reverse. I guess its supposed to smoke too. I haven't looked close enough yet to figure it all out. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
In the late fifties, when I was a little kid, I got a tinplate fire engine in the same kind of box. It was also made from used cans. It was a model of an old fashioned fire engine with a vertical boiler and, as it it traveled along, a stream of air was blown out of the boiler and there was a ping pong ball you placed in the air stream and it stayed elevated above the machine. It also had that rotating assembly on the bottom with two rubber tires and when it hit an obstruction, it would turn and go a different direction. I still remember the smell of that stream of air. Really a cool little toy but I have never been able to find anything about it online. Doug
I remember my grandparents had one for the grandchildren to play with. It wasn't working by the time I was old enough to play with it.
