c.1941 Curran Mfg., "Howie" Toy Cannon w/Shells in Original Box
Nearly 70 years ago, on a Saturday at the local 5¢ and 10¢ store, this is the type of toy you'd find. All tin litho automatic toy cannon called "Howie" (short for the big brother Howitzer). Produced in Illinois by the Curran Artware Mfg. Co., who I've never heard of before finding this toy. Old store stock never played with complete with original "shells" and original box. Beautiful little toy exudes the type of pre-war quality seen in most American made toys. Colored red, blue and yellow, this little, sturdy, well built cannon would automatically fire five wooden shells. You'd probably lose the shells before you could break the toy. It's all tin litho with a wooden muzzle and copper finished steel barrel. Insert a wooden shell into the barrel, wind up the spring loaded muzzle using the metal crank, continue winding until it reaches the draw-back point, and suddenly it releases and fires. Pretty clever toy! The shells are about 1" long. There are five of them and all are original. I built a little wooden platform out of balsa wood so they'd stand upright in the photo's. There are no markings on the cannon other than "pat pend" stamped on the underside. It would be impossible to identify without the box being present. The box features a terrific full panel illustration of a young boy and girl dress in early 40's clothing and hairstyles. The boy is shown firing the cannon just a few inches above the girl's head. She's shown holding a sign which have the no-nonsense directions printed on it. The endflaps were also illustrated with the boy's face and the Howie in approximate scale together. It's original 35¢ penciled price still can be read on one of the endflaps. Size: 6" from the end of the support to the barrel tip. Sold: Apr. 2009
Price Sold: $ 130
