MADE IN JAPAN. It’s hard to believe that these three words were once pronounced with a snicker. They were an indictment of an entire economy, a comic’s punchline. For some years following the end of WWII, many goods that came out of the Japanese archipelago were automatically judged inferior by those in the West. As a child at the midpoint of the 20th century, the only Japanese products that registered with me were the kind that the comedians snickered about. Specifically, those cheap little tin toy cars.
Dad would occasionally surprise me with one of the flimsy playthings (I now realize he was carefully indoctrinating me into the Cult of Cars, but I forgive him). They had friction motors that you could wind up by stroking the wheels repeatedly on the floor. The flywheel whirred, they chirped and bounced across the room and crashed into whatever obstacle could be placed in their way, to the great amusement of anyone in the vicinity under 8 years old.
Often, they were printed with names that seemed pulled from different sources like news photos and movies, and stirred into a soup…overtly platonic or smacking of awkward translation: Squad Car. Crime Unit. Official Fire Chief Car… descriptions more than nomenclature. Some looked like they were designed by the “President and Chief Bottle Washer”, a man with a tiny company, big dreams and no art training, while others were as well rendered as the best of their German counterparts. The cheapest were simple domed pressings with an inventive amount of implied dimensionality, sirens and strobe lights printed-on to keep costs to a minimum. And somewhere, the ubiquitous/iniquitous phrase could be found in wavy letters: M A DE I N J A PAN.
For me, the most memorable tin toy cars had one other thing in common…a wonderfully proto-cubist, deconstructed way of representing the people inside. The windshield displayed the passengers’ faces in full frontal view. The side windows showed the same characters (presumably), but from a lateral direction. It was a mind blow to my 4 year old brain to position a car at a 45 degree angle where both images could be seen at once. I drew mental lines across the pocket of air trapped inside the pressing, double-checking the location of eyes and noses from front to side. One wonders if such a solution was available to designers before Picasso and his contemporaries changed art forever… I still can’t look at the little tricksters without smiling.
In my 20’s, I had an idea of scaling one of these designs up and applying it to a collector car, just for the joke value. My vehicle of choice would have been a model that already had a pressed, tin toy look, like a late ‘40s Lincoln or Packard, or a “Step Down” Hudson. Money, and commitment to the idea lagged, though… as did technology. At least until the advent of window film, particularly the kind with a perforated surface that could be applied semi-legally.
But now, it can be done. And the Nissan Figaro, the Japanese kei car with the pressed tin toy shape, might be an ideal candidate for a conversion.
Anybody got one they can spare… for art’s sake?
I had 1 or 2 of these as a kid but when (toy) car shopping I always avoided them. The problem for me was that I managed to destroy the “engine” fairly quickly. They also had a tendency to get crushed.
As an adult I can see the drawback to these friction-powered cars was the inability to easily lube that motor.
Oddly (?), I collect Japanese “bric-a-brac” and dinnerware from the immediate post-WW II era.
OK, the photoshopped pic of the Figaro had me falling about laughing. Brilliant.
Houston’s Art Car Parade is April 9, so there’s still time. Get cracking, people!
Great article, especially the Figaro. The “Picasso” image also reminds me of arty European films.
Yes! and also of the Second City parody of them from the ’80s: “The Whisper of the Wolf”, starring Catherine O’Hara and Andrea Martin. It was shown on “Monster Chiller Horror Theatre”, hosted by “Count Floyd” (Joe Flaherty).
Har har har…
Good work Barry ! That Figaro is both hilarious and ingenious.
Brilliant! I got such a kick out of seeing the Figaro last night. It’s the perfect choice for that “wrap”.
I too pondered the conundrum of the two-sided passengers in these cars as a little kid. Surely the grownups could figure out a better solution than that?
When I was a little kid (maybe 7 or 8 or so), my older brother told me that they had re-named a city in Japan to Usa. So that they could legally say “Made In Usa” on it. I struggled with the veracity of that, but ever since, when I see “Made In USA” I pronounce it “Made in Usa”
I heard the “Usa” legend when I was a kid. Sounded reasonable until you realize that imports are marked with the country of origin rather than city.
According to Wikipedia: “There have been claims that products made in Usa located in Ōita Prefecture, Japan and exported to the US in the 1960s carried the label “MADE IN USA, JAPAN”, in order for it to have an appearance that the product is “Made in USA”. It is, however, a myth that Japan renamed the town “Usa” following World War II so that goods exported from Japan could be labeled as such.[5] The town had this name long before the war, at least from the 8th century, and is not a major manufacturing center; furthermore, the United States Customs Service would likely have recognized such labeling, had it occurred, as fraudulent and thus would have prohibited goods so labeled from being imported into the United States”
Neat story! I was born in 1964 so by the time I was 5-6 most of these tin toys from Japan had disappeared from store shelves, replaced by cheaper stuff from Hong Kong. My Dad ran an auction business in the mid-80s and stuff made in Japan in the ’20s (Nippon) or Occupied Japan (1945-52) was what was hot and still had value then. We saw a lot of neat trinkets, porcelain ware and some toys from that era.
Thank you! Yesterday, while going through some items of my wife’s recently deceased great-aunt, I found a geisha figurine that had been made in “Occupied Japan”. You have just answered my question on when it was made.
Glad to be of help Jason!
Well done, thanks for the fun read. The Figaro is a beaut.
I had lots of toys with those friction motors–the best ones shot sparks out of the toy.
I remember when the best products were Made in Japan. People would laugh, but at one time, Japan did produce some of the best products. I’d prefer Made in Japan any day over Made in China.
If you apply the plastic to a Porsche 911 GT3R, you’ll have both the inside and the outside correct! (Flywheel-based regen braking.)
I had a police and a fire chief ’61 Ford, and a ’59 Fairlane. the separate metal badge actually read “fainlame” – close enough if you don’t read the language, I guess. And I remember being puzzled by those driver faces printed on to the ‘glass’.
Then Hong Kong came in with moulded plastic, but the same friction motors. Fun!
That Figaro is brilliant! Somebody so needs to do that.
“the separate metal badge actually read “fainlame” ”
When I was a kid, probably in the late ’70s, a friend of mine had a toy police car, likely of Far Eastern manufacture, whose baseplate identified it as a “Playmouth Fury”.
There is a somewhat darker side to the history of these wonderful tin toys. I well remember the remaining animosity toward the Japanese that lingered on through the 50’s. I’m proud to say that my Dad, who fought as a Marine in the Pacific and came home with a scar on his back caused by the tip of a bayonet (the man who aimed it was killed by his Marine buddy before it was fired) and burn scars and remains of shrapnel in his chest, did not harbor any of it. He bought me many of these Japanese tin toys and we were amazed at the level of detail and workmanship on many (A pic of one of several that I still have is attached. Note how easily you can tell it’s a 56 not 55 Ford). On the other hand, some of our neighbors and relatives scorned toys for their kids that were “made in Japan.” How soon that was to change in the 60’s and 70’s. My Dad was the first in our family to buy a “Datsun” and over the course of time both he and I ended up owning nothing but Nissan products after decades of loyalty to Ford. He taught me a lot about forgiveness, tolerance, and diversity that has served me well in life. The toys remain a neat symbol and reminder.
Very thoughtful comment. The toys like your Ford were stamped as the ones I had from the 5 and Dime, but were much more sophisticated, with numerous pieces held together by tabs in slots and dimensional interiors that did away with the “front and side” face renderings. My one high quality tin toy was a spectacular blue-green Bandai “Messerschmitt” bubblecar. Dad chose a Japanese 9-transistor radio for his ten-year anniversary from the awards catalog his employers subscribed to in 1960. The tide had begun to turn and Americans were just beginning to notice that Japanese products were not all of low quality. Four years later, Mr. Scagnelli bought the first Toyota Corona seen in our neighborhood, and its modernity was a sensation.
Nice piece! I actually had a ’55 Ford version of this in the same colors. Mine was even of the lower model trim. Ranch Wagon, I believe and yes, the detail was very good. One of my friends had a blue one. My brother and I also had ’58 Lincoln Continental coupes that were very well done. Unfortunately, although I still have many of my old toys, I took these apart to touch up the paint when I was about 13 and never got them back together. The really sad part was that they really didn’t need it.
Memories .
I well remember the anti – Japanese sentiments .
I bought a Japanese 10 transistor AM pocket radio in 1964 , it played fine , about that same time I looked at Honda C100 Motocycles and wasn’t impressed .
My 1967 Nikon F 35MM SLR camera is still going strong and takes great pictures .
A guy in my Metropolitan Nash Club made a ‘ Fire Chief ‘ car out of one of his Mets , it’s a hit every where he takes it .
-Nate
I’ve got a couple of tinplate cars, but now I focus on plastic. Anecdotally, this has marked a shift towards ‘Made in Hong Kong’
Many of the toys that I had as a kid were second hand or hand me downs so I can’t say just where this came from or it’s exact age but it was likely made in Japan or Hong Kong but I never noticed at the time. It was a toy Rolls Royce gangster car. The trademark RR grille was on a hinge and when opened it exposed a cannon. There were 4 rough looking Dick Tracey looking crooks enjoying their ride with one of them hanging a tommygun out of the right rear window. When the car was pushed, the rear seat gunner was connected to a cam on the back axle so he moved and bounced as if his machine gun was actually firing. Unlike most young kids my favorite show on TV was The Untouchables so my imagination used to run wild playing with this. I’ve never seen another one.
-Fiat 600 with roll-open roof
– 2CV that made a klack klack noise whenyou pushed it forward.
– Citroen DS, batteries working headlights
– Volkswagen Beetle with Dutch Politie (police) livery
– American ambulance
– Mercedes 220 S lookalike.
But Schuco made a beautiful 220 S and a BMW 1800 and the French Joustra maker had a range of $ 5 cars in approx 1/18 scale Renault R4, R8 and R 16 sort of plastic material
And all of them were destroyed.
Profesionally
Especially the Japanese tin-cars were great in simulating car crashes, these are the tip of the iceberg, if you’d give us a car that did not exist, it would be profesionally destroyed by us.
I could retire if I’d kept them !
Ow a Panhard B24, that was stolen, I cherished that car, later I read about the value of that car I had an unbelieveble crush for Panhards; you hardly ever saw them back then, but htye had this unbelieveble coolness on an eight year old kid : FOUR headlights behind one glass, later ‘borrowed’ by Citroen, byt the whole sleek shape of the Panhard
My Dick Tracy Tin Windup Metropolitan Squad Car.
Note the F.W. Woolworth Co. 98 cent price sticker.
You should write this car up for us. This would be a hoot to read about!
The rear of the car.
Side view. Windows are sheet metal.
Rear quarter view.
Shown in the Houston Auto Show. Yep, that is Dick Tray’s partner Sam Catchum in the passenger seat!
it takes about 20 to 30 minutes to install all of the decorations.
If you look close on some of the pictures, you can see the FORWARD/REVERSE lever on the back glass.
My grandson back in 2009 holding the Windup Car – it is not a model, it is the actual car shrunk down to look like a tin windup car. This was a 6 month project. I made all of the parts myself. The windup key is cardboard aluminum honeycomb, the over sized gum drop red roof light lens is a glass Navy ship light with the base made by me.
The Nissan was very nicely done! Nice to see another tin windup car on the road!
Bill. you have realized a dream I have had for 40 years…Bravo!
And your effort is a singular one; The Figaro as shown is Photoshopped…it doesn’t exist!
You COULD make your Met drivable, “in costume” by installing the window dressing as perforated film… but it wouldn’t be easy to remove when you don’t want that look. I imagine the car looks pretty cool on the move even without the faces.
Very cool!
I was so shocked when I learned that “Made in Japan” some day meant bad quality! I was born in 1988, and since I can remember Japan is where the best quality comes from. I hate when I see something that “should” be Japanese-made, isn’t, like when I updated my LUMIX camera and discovered the new one is Made in China…
Same goes to real cars. Knowing that the new Mazda 3 or Honda HRV are now made in Mexico instead of Japan, makes them less desirable, to my eye.
Born in the mid-fifties I had my share of friction cars and trucks. One of the nicest cars was a metal late fifties Lincoln done up as a two-door ambulance. A Fire Chief version was also available.
I also had a 58 Ford Skyliner with retracting roof and a few years later a couple of early sixties Thunderbirds with retractable hardtops. Man I wish I had kept those cars and the Dinky Toys I collected. I have held on to many of my model cars, some going back to 1965.
Great post, Barko. I’ve only got a couple of old tin toy cars myself, a really nice Japanese-made Dauphine and a strange thing from the former USSR called the “Torpedo Car.” A happy caterpillar on the side, a happy rooster on the trunk, and a human face on the hood. Of course. All of that makes perfect sense, as does the centrally-mounted steering wheel, operated by a man who is wide enough to fill the entire interior of the car. You push on his pith helmet to operate the friction motor. Of course.
Wow, I was born in 1959 and remember these cheap Japanese printed/stamped tin cars at every 5 and 10 cent store I ever went into. And I am sure I begged my mother for one every time I went in. By the time I got a little more discerning, these were gone.
I remember a couple that I had, like a 59 Buick convertible that I still remember. Sadly, those Japanese tin toy cars had about the same longevity as their early real cars did in the rust belt. They would get bent and scraped, and then would either cut you or get left outside and rusty – either event would cause our mothers to throw them out.
I had a bunch of the later Cragstan friction cars, basically 1962 thru 1967s. They were appx 1-20th scale. They had good finishes, plated bumpers and headlights and nicely done lithographed interiors, but some like the 4 door `62 Caddy convertible were inaccurate because no car like that existed . The `63 Continental sedan was very nice with its white body, ditto the `63 split window Corvette. I had a green `62 Corvair 4 door that featured working wipers a `64 T Bird with a retractable hardtop that slid into the trunk, and a maroon `66 Toronado among others. I also had the original boxes.Probably my favorite was the Isetta bubble car with the opening door and blue tinted windows. There was nothing cheap about these toys! They were of a good quality and displayed very nicely. Unfortunately my mother threw them all away, boxes and all. Wish I still had them.
Ah, the Isetta bubble car. I remember even as a five year old playing with a nice example in the toy department of a downtown bargain store likely Kresgee. Perhaps the same car by the same manufacturer. Some metal cars as you mentioned in the sixties certainly had very good detail or features.
Now, I encourage my young grandsons to take care of their expensive cars or trucks so they can have them into adulthood. Which makes me also want to say, “They don’t build them like they used to.”
Here’s one I’ve had for years – and it’s front-wheel-drive! The friction motor operates on the front wheels, though at this point it doesn’t do much. Might come alive with cleaning and lubrication. Due to decades-long reflex this is the kind of thing that still immediately jumps to mind when I hear “Made in Japan.”
Speaking of toys for big boys from Japan, here’s a nice picture of some model trains that were imported in the late 60’s:
VERY cool Dad ! .
is that locomotive a GM copy ? .
-Nate
Yup-GM Electro-Motive Division. (The coaches are generic “streamliner,” though.)