1926 Reeves Mfg. Co., The Air-E Go-Round in Original Box
This triple monoplane, mechanical merry go-round produced by the Reeves Manufacturing Company looks old because it is old. One of the earliest U.S. produced "amusement park" toys it was first advertised in 1926 and retailed for $1.00 (see original advertisement below). The Reeves company had been in business for 28 years as a producer of boiler works and sheet metal. It wasn't until 1912 that the company manufactured novel mechanical and gravity powered toys. By the end of the 1920's they were gone. Today, the scarcity of their toys is evidence of their short lived role as a toy manufacturer. I've found only four or five other Reeves toys in working condition. This Air-E Go-Round in its original box represents the first original printed packaging I've seen from the company. The toy is lithographed tinplate with some components anodized in gilt gold metal. It consists of a four sided converging tower. At the lower end of one side is a steel thumb lever which is pressed down. Inside the toy, a spiral cylinder releases and pushes through a narrow metal slit. This causes the upper platform to spin for a good 20 seconds or so. It comes with all three original gilt gold monoplanes with spinning propellers. The planes are all red tin litho and are removable from the tower. The gilt was applied directly over the red paint. Believe it or not the entire plane, except for the propeller was fabricated from a single piece of folded sheet metal. A square platform at the top of the tower (underneath the upper platform) is also gilt gold. The toy is all original without any repairs. Despite its age it still looks and works great! The heavy duty paper box was printed in red and black and features a terrific illustration of the toy on the cover. The graphics shown in the second box photo below are repeated on all four sides. It comes with it's original box bottom. Size: 10". Monoplanes 4" fuselage and 3" wingspan. Sold: Mar. 2006
Price Sold: $ 998
