Toy Autos 1890-1939: The Peter Ottenheimer Collection 4

Toy Autos 1890-1939: The Peter Ottenheimer Collection
Limited Edition of 200 Copies
published by Dennis Ingram Publishers
Hardcover no dust jacket

The nostalgic appeal of the tin car is one of the most powerful of any collectable toy. It is more than a model. It is a creative visual statement in its own right, collected for its own sake, not because it is a copy of something else.

Therefore it was decided that cars and motorcycles should be the subject of one of the first volumes in the Great Toys series. In deciding content, several collections and collectors in Europe and the United States were considered. But it was the character and quality of one man's collection that provided the book's catalyst, that of Peter Ottenheimer.

This remarkable collection creates its own subject. Despite its limitations of period and self-evident omissions, it gives a comprehensive insight into an elegant era. This is the result of Peter Oppenheimer's specialist knowledge and his approach to collecting.

The chronological arrangement adopted in the book follows the development of real cars. Lehmann's horseless carriage of the 1920s is placed in its correct historical category. There is no precise parallel between the dates of real cars and those of their toy equivalents, the latter generally appeared later and stayed in production longer. Therefore the categories are broad.

In addition to providing a much needed reference book, a main intention of this work is to communicate the visual joy of the Peter Ottenheimer collection, and the fascination it exerts beyond its historical and social implications.

1. Preface
2. The Peter Ottenheimer Collection
3. Peter Ottenheimer on Himself
4. Notes on Manufacturers
5. Bibliography
6. Part I: Before 1900
7. Part II: 1900-1914
8. Part III: 1918-1930
9. Part IV: 1930-1939