c.1925 Sterling Co., Top-O-The Day 8-Game in Original Box
Never have I seen a lithographed toy which crowded so much information into one small area. Manufactured by a company I've never heard of, its called "The Top-O-The Day" game and has no less than eight different games squeezed onto a disk with a surface area of only 21 sq. in.. Advertised as "the most wonderful toy in the world" it's complete and comes with it's original box. Top-O-The Day functions similarly to a carnival lottery wheel. That is, it has a large rotating wheel divided into sections. An arrow resting above the wheel also rotates, but at a different momentum and speed. Both the arrow and wheel lay balanced on a circular cone in the center. The cone is fixed to a heavy gauge green painted steel base. Spin the wheel by twisting the knurled brass grip in the center. The difference in momentum between the wheel and arrow make it difficult to predict where the two will coincide. The concept is interesting, but that's where the practicality ends. The surface of the disk was lithoed into 14 equal pie slices. Each slice was divided concentrically into the eight different games; Baseball, Football, Poker, Craps, Edge and Draw, Red Black & Colors, Pinochle, and Ponies. This makes a total of 112 individual gaming spaces lithoed with both text and graphics. Ponies includes a horse and jockey graphic along with the name of the horse. The two card games show individually lithoed red and black cards, face up. Craps uses a pair of dice in each space. Baseball and Football each have detailed plays. The Edge and Draw game is all text, while the Red, Black & Colors game uses colored strips (one color per space). The toy is not marked with a manufacturer name. Only the box can identify it. The two main panels show the actual game on one side and a hand schematic with some of games represented on the other. Three of the four box aprons were printed with a condensed list of rules for each of the eight games. The fourth apron has oiling instructions. The inventor C. H. Loper must've gotten a major headache after designing this toy. It's not surprising that it was found in high grade condition and was probably never played with. Definitely one of the most unusual lithographed toys I've found. Size: 5¼" diameter. Sold: Dec. 2007
Price Sold: $ 67
