Barclay Fireman #851 – Barclay started manufacturing 3 ¼” figures in 1934. Prior to that they were an inch shorter with some moveable parts. This fireman would have been a few years later – just before the second world war. Composition is hollow antimonial lead.
Until recently dime-store figures were disdained by collectors, who preferred more sophisticated European types. Now, after decades of neglect, they not only have found a following among toy-soldier collectors but are being appreciated by a wider audience as a kind of twentieth-century folk art.
From Dime-store Doughboys, Henry R. Kurtz, American Heritage, December 1986, Volume 38. Issue 1.
