A fairly unknown toy from 1889.
A man standing on a platform and beats the drum and the cymbals of the rubber band mechanism.

This toy has been given product number 111

We also know that Martin got his ideas from everywhere.
I saw in an old catalog: La nouvelle revue parisienne from 1894 an advertisement for a shooting game consisting of a rifle and a target, but on top of the target is a figure.
If you hit the target the figure hits the bass drum and the cymbals.

Martin probably noticed this too and 5 years later he made a toy out of it and put it on the market, now with a rubber band mechanism, after winding up, the man hits the bass drum and the cymbals.

If you ever want to visit Amsterdam, be sure to visit this antique center, it is definitely worth it for toy collectors.

The Antiques Centre Amsterdam is a paradise for the connoisseur of unique objects from all different periods and styles. At a floor space of over 1700 m2 you will find not only a wide and surprising range of 17th, 18th and 19th century antiques and Art Deco, but also art, bric-à-brac, stylish vintage and designs of the fifties, sixties and seventies.

The Antiques Centre Amsterdam is the largest indoor antique market of the Netherlands. We have an enormous selection, provided by 55 specialized antique dealers, who offer a constantly changing and very impressive collection of antique jewellery, splendid lighting, crystal chandeliers, silver, special miniatures, objects the vertu, tableware, military objects, toys, rare ceramics, delicate porcelain, Murano glass, impressive bronze statues, Delft Blue, paintings, wall decorations and even small furniture. And besides all this there are also different display cases with unique and special collector’s items for sale.

Whatever you are looking for, you will find it at the Antiques Centre Amsterdam. Whether it is to decorate your house, a utensil, an original gift, an acquisition for your collection or a striking prop for a photoshoot.

The Antiques Centre Amsterdam is located in the centre of Amsterdam, at the Elandsgracht 109. The Elandsgracht is the gateway to the popular shopping area The Nine Streets.

From the different display cases with unique and special collector’s items are display cases with antique toys. Toys from the well-known toys from manufacturers known to us, including of course Fernand Martin.
The stock changes constantly because the various traders replenish their sold items.

Antiekcentrum Amsterdam
Elandsgracht 109
1016 TT Amsterdam

Tel: +31 (0)20 624 90 38
info@antiekcentrumamsterdam.nl

Open:
Monday: 11:00 – 18:00
Tuesday: closed
Wednesday: 11:00 – 18:00
Thursday: 11:00 – 18:00
Friday: 11:00 – 18:00
Saturday: 11:00 – 17:00
Sunday: 11:00 – 17:00

Pictures courtesy :
Barry and Leo van der Waal
Arnaud ter Haak of the Antique Center Amsterdam

updated version:

In a previous blog from 13 April, I show you a drawing of the Rabbit from Martin, this drawing was made by Louis Poyet.

Louis Poyet (born in Saint-Etienne, 1846 – died in Paris, 1913) was a draftsman, etcher and French illustrator known for his work that he made together with scientists, industrialists and engineers.

Louis Poyet moved to Paris and in 1877 he opened his own print studio.

His workshop had around 40 craftsmen
He started working for Gaston Tissandier as an Illustrator / writer for the La Nature magazine, for which he continued to work until his death.
He signed with “Poyet” and sometimes “L. Poyet”.

He has made many beautiful etchings for Martin that have been published in, among others, the magazine: La Nature

He also worked on several books and magazines so as:

-The book of Charles Masson, published in 1884 entitled: The scientific recreation for education and play.

-The magazine: Le Chercheur from Arthur Good

-Poyet was also one of the industrial illustrators of images for the book series Les Grandes Usines published by Michel Levy from 1876 till 1881.

-In 1889 he worked for Tom Tit (pseudonym of Arthur Good engineer) with which he worked on:
The Recreational Science section in the L’Illustration magazine
The Fun Science a booklet with 100 Experiments, with 115 Drawings in 1890.
This first booklet was again published in 1893 and then followed by two completely new editions.

The success factor of this series was enormous
Translations were sold in 1891 in Spain, England, the United States, Scandinavia, Russia.
There are around 130 different editions of these three volumes, released until the 1920s.

To complete the circle, one of Martin’s toys, the Le “Tom Tit” Martin number 157 (See in the 2014 book: Fernand Martin toymaker in Paris on page 95 ) was based on one of the experiments from Tom Tit; La rotation de la Terre

Below you see on the left the drawing from the book “La Science Amusant” van Tom Tit, this drawing was made by Louis Poyet, on the right an image from a page of a catalog by Fernand Martin

After the death of Louis Poyet in 1913 his studio was taken over by his sons Roger in Raphael, under the name “Poyet Brothers”.

Victor Bonnet produced various tin pistols in the period from 1919 to 1933.
The number we know now is 8 pieces but maybe we will discover more.
the list of the pistols known so far is:

The Victor Bonnet list with pistol models with article numbers
Le Pan-Pan 247
Flac 256
Bombarde 257
Le Pétard 258
Tape_Fort 262
Le Sans-Balle 264
Le Costaud 266
Le Corsaire 269 ??

Here we present :

Name: Flac
Number: 256
Year of first production: 1927
Dimensions: 8,5 cm x 7 cm / 3,35 inch x 2,76 inch

Victor Bonnet produced various tin pistols in the period from 1919 to 1933.
The number we know now is 8 pieces but maybe we will discover more.
The list of the pistols known so far is:

The Victor Bonnet list with pistol models with article numbers
Le Pan-Pan 247
Flac 256
Bombarde 257
Le Pétard 258
Tape_Fort 262
Le Sans-Balle 264
Le Costaud 266
Le Corsaire 269 ??

Here we present :

Name: Le Pan pan
Number: 247
Year of first production: 1919
Dimensions: 11,5 cm x 9 cm / 4,5 inch x 3,5 inch

This toy is a platform employee of a train station and dated from 1894.
In the books known to us, this toy has the Martin product number 48, but the latest discoveries show that there are two models and that they are numbered 123 and 124.

This person was responsible for transporting passengers suitcases, luggage and packages to and from the trains.

These two versions are different, there is one version with a flywheel drive and another with a mechanical wind-up drive. These two different versions are clearly distinguishable. The version with flywheel has one tin case for the cart, in this case the flywheel is hidden.

These two different versions can be clearly distinguished.
The version with a flywheel has one tin case for the cart, in this case is hidden the flywheel.

The version with the mechanical drive is relatively unknown, I only discovered one copy in the collection of the French museum Musée des arts and Métiers – Le cnam.
The version with the winding mechanism is presumably provided with two paper-wrapped packages. (see the pictures in this museum)

As the photos of the museum contain a copyright, I cannot show it here, but a digital visit to the site is worth looking at, see this link:
https://phototheque.arts-et-metiers.net/?idPageWeb=95
enter the keyword “Fernand Martin” at “rechercher“.
The photos you can find at the numbers 0000558_052 up to and including 0000558_056 and at the numbers 0001664-045 and 0000558-174

On the drawing below and on the photos of the museum you can see that a different model key has been used here, this is one of the deviations from the keys known to us that Martin normally used.

On this catalog page the drawing is of the version with mechanism and if you look closely you can see at the bottom left of the drawing:
Number 123 — avec volant . (Translated: with flywheel)
Number 124 — mechanique. (Translated: with Mechanism)

A super rare toy.

On YouTube, Mr. Jean Brun from France has made 5 beautiful videos about Fernand Martin toys and his successors.
The lyrics are in French but the video’s are still beautiful to look at.
These videos can be viewed below.

These 5 video’s together are almost 80 min, so take your time, to make them that must have been a lot of work and time.

These YouTube videos are also listed separately in my menu under: “FIND ARTICLE“, the search page for specific articles; chapter 6 – Movies, I have had these videos in my “FIND ARTICLE” menu page for several weeks now, but now I bring them to your attention so that you can see and enjoy them.

first production date : 1912
production number: 229
height: 20 cm / 7,87 inch produced by Georges Flersheim

I have never seen a box with a label myself, but in the book: Fernand Martin Toy Maker in Paris 1878-1912 by Lourens Bas and Arthur Verdoorn, a label is depicted on page 188

This street scene is of course also seen by toy manufacturers and like so many street scenes there was an ingenious inventor who designed a toy out of it.
I found an article in the magazine La Nature from 1911 with a description and picture of a “Le Petit Patineur” that looks very much like the Flersheim version.

The original inventor of this toy is Mr. Boucheron, 4, rue de l’Eglise, in Vitry-sur-Seine . Source picture : (Cnum – Digital Conservatory of Arts and Crafts – http://cnum.cnam.fr magazine La Nature 1911

Highlighted by the Phil & Joan Steel collection including Martins & Lehmanns, automatons, penny toys, lucxury autos & race cars from the Bill Gelles racing Collection, early table games, trains & airplanes, and more!

In this auction there are this time a lot of Martin, Flersheim and Bonnet toys and some are very rare but of course there are many more beautiful and interesting toys in this auction.

The Bertoia team is dedicated to offering our quality customer service, experience and support.
Do not hesitate to contact us for assistance with registration, bidding or any other questions.

For the complete overview, Auction terms & Info, Shipping & Payment look at this site: http://www.bertoiaauctions.com/

These result prices are in US $ and without Buyer’s Premium and subject to errors.
Always check the auction site for the results.

Regarding the objects described in this article, I do not make a statement about condition or value.
I advise interested collectors always do to research yourself, to view the object or to contact the seller / auction

Martin started in 1875 with his first attempts to make toys but in 1878 the first real toy was a real swimming fish.

This Fish is about 19 cm / 7,5 inc long.

In the early days Martin used a rubber band (elastic) as the drive.
By turning it on, the toy started to move.
The system consists mainly of a crank, a rubber band and a movement mechanism.
The drive mechanism was adjusted for each toy, such as up and down, right, left, spinning etc.

The first piece of Martin: the fish from 1878 Poisson Nageur and as you see Martin started with the product number 100

The crank is in the nose, inside the fish is the rubber band and the mechanism is on the tail.

In this demo model you can see clearly the mechanism in operation,
By turning the crank and hold the tail, the rubber band is tightened (twisted)
The other side of the rubber band is hooked onto the movement mechanism, the tail.
When you release the tail again, the tail swings from right to left so that the illusion of swimming is simulated.
Simple but effective.

The only drawback is that the rubber band can age and then break quickly.
If it breaks, the hook and mechanism will fall off and mostly get lost.

Martin sold the patent for a swimming fish with a rubber band engine to the Englisch company Cremer Dolls Toys Games 210 Regent street London and that was the beginning of his fortune, he started in 1880 his first factory.

Martin number: 189

First production in 1902

Dimensions: 13.5 X 15.5 cm / 5,3 inch 6,1 inch

A very nice toy with movement and music. After winding up, the pianist moves his hands from left to right over the keyboard and a piece of music sounds. Even our grandchildren can watch and listen with pleasure to this special piece of history.

This Le Petite Pianiste won a prize in 1901 during the first major Concours Lepine in Paris, during this competition Fernand Martin bought the rights from the inventor Mr. Bosquet, Martin then produced it himself and sales started in 1902. 

From the Le Petite  Pianiste are two versions that do not differ on the outside, the difference is in the melody, one for the French-speaking market and one for the English-speaking market.  

French song: J’ai du bon tabac

Englisch song: God save the King

There is also a very rare version known, the pianist is a woman, I have seen one on the internet, it was part of an collection of an American collector, and the second known was owned by a friend of mine and is currently on display in the toy museum in Germany in the city ​​of Soltau. Even if this version is not an original, it turned out very well.

We see Le petit pianiste with and without hair, it could be that in the later years the competition with the German toy import became too high and cutbacks had to be made, on many toys were cut backs like cheaper material, fewer handling in the production, fewer parts and presumably the wig disappeared from this pianist.

The cuts were not big, but you can also see that with the labels on the boxes, they became smaller, which is a very small cut, but given the very large production, it was ultimately a big cut. less storage, less paper and less glue.

Both pictures from: The English illustrated magazin dec. 1905

At the time, this pianist was already a lot more expensive than other Martin toys, this had to do with the very complex mechanism, which meant that not only the material costs, but especially the labor costs, were a lot higher. But when I see how many are left, he must have sold well.

This article was posted in 2019 but because of new facts, the article has now been edited.

In 1885, Fernand Martin made a bell ringer, Martin number 102, and calling him “Le Sonneur Endiable”, in older Fernand Martin books you see number 14 but that number is wrong and and given without proof by the writers.

It is one of the first Martin toy with a lot fun.

But the Georges Flersheim factory took it more then almost 35 years later and re-released it with a few changes.

They renamed him “Je Sonne La Paix” and it got number 246
The “Je Sonne La Paix” is in English: “I ring [for] the peace“, in other words “I ring [to celebrate] the peace” referring the celebration of the end of the WW1 on November 11- 1918, in which Flersheim himself fought and died.

If you look quickly, you see almost no differences but they are indeed there.

Here the differences in detail:

-the Martin version (102) has the FM name stamped on top of the base plate in the Flersheim version (246) no text is stamped on top of this base, but there is a piece of fabric on the side with the name “Je Sonne La Paix” printed on it.

-If you look at both toys at the bottom, you see, under the male figure at the Martin (102) , an elongated piece of iron mounted as a weight and at the Flersheim (246) a solid plate is soldered and stamped the round FM logo on it.

-The Martin version (102) has a rubber band drive, that of Flersheim (246) a long spiral spring in the pole.

-At the top there is a French flag at the Flersheim (246), for this a hollow pipe has been placed in the roof for the iron flagpole with a fabric French flag.

-The bell has also been given a slightly slender shape by Georges Flersheim.

-The roof off number 102 is found with different reliefs, one just like the roof of the 246 in red with tiles and found with stipes in a yellow/gold paint.

It is currently the last piece that is still numbered in the Flersheim period.
It is certain that after the death of Georges Flersheim more, till now, unknown toys were produced, time will tell which and how much.

It is strange that the number 246 has been used twice.
Under this number by Victor Bonnet in 1919, his first produced toy is also numbered 246, it is the “Le Auto Transport” WHY???

The images / pictures used are with courtesy of Michael Bertoia, E.T. and from the own collection

IN DECEMBER 2022 I MADE A BLOG ABOUT THE VERSION OF MR BOUCERON, NOW AN EXTENSIVE INTRODUCTION TO THIS SPECIAL TOY

There are three versions of this toy made by the Fernand Martin factory.
When the key is wound, the cart will go “backward” and the boy’s legs will move as if he were pushing the cart backward himself.

Dimension: length 20 cm / 7.8 inches.
Martin production number 218

It started with the version made by Mr. Boucheron This invention was exhibited on the “Lepine Concours” in 1909 and on this show Martin bought the rights and started to make it a salable version and that resulted in this version:

Martin patented this toy in 1910

Not long after, Fernand Martin sold his factory to Georges Flersheim, who continued to produce some of the old toys, but often with some adjustments, other colors, etc.
Below the performance produced by Georges Flersheim.
The biggest difference is in the design of the closed wheels and the part with the fruit is not so well detailed anymore and of course also the Flersheim key.
Fernand Martin has released various colors of this toy and George Flersheim has also produced a number of color versions.

And then there is also a very special version with a case instead of the fruit, this version is very rare and it is not yet clear whether Martin or Flersheim produced it.
It is possible that this special version was produced on behalf of a customer, on this suitcase you can recognize a label of the large Parisian hotel “Grand Hotel”
This suitcase can also be seen on a special version of the Le Petit Livreur.

Source gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France

Fernand Martin’s toys were often sold by street vendors and vendors in market stalls on the Paris promenades at the end of the year at Christmas and New Years, but life was hard for these vendors and during the bad weather of that year, practically earned nothing. Read this newspaper article.

Magazine: La Fonde December 1901

Poor street vendors! how sadly they spent the Christmas night that had not turned out to be what they had been waiting for weeks. The long faces, the dull eyes, they watch the rain fall slowly on the asphalt of the sidewalks, driving away the few little walkers. He cries in my heart when it rains on the city, they could have repeated with “Verlaine” (a French poet). Sales were indeed not very fruitful, the day was desperately gloomy yesterday and the evening was hardly more lively. So much effort, energy, patience and ingenuity that these brave people put into this traditional sale for months.

The toy competition organized by Mr Lépine had given the small manufacturers some hope; the public seemed to be interested in these humble inventors, and there was every reason to think that Christmas Eve would be a happy one, bringing a little joy and well-being to the households of the cheap-clothed toymakers. The more than gloomy weather has spoiled all these beautiful hopes, and we must hear the grievances of these poor devils who have made great sacrifices of themselves to promote these people. Small barracks, ugly and clumsy, but part of the old Parisian traditions. “But you managed to make some profit the day before yesterday,” I said to a tall, pale woman, who cast a sad look at the gaudy colored dolls lined up on the edge of her sales bench. “No ma’am. Although the weather was beautiful, and a really big crowd on the boulevard earlier in the evening, it was not the day of shopping. – What do you mean? – I mean by this: The custom is that on Christmas Eve we buy our presents, the day before we will only look, we make our choice, we compare the prices of the toys, but then don’t buy it yet. And lady, the hour of the sale may have come, when the weather is as bad as tonight, you understand that customers are in no rush to visit our stores. “Oh shit, we always think we’re going to make some money and instead we go home with more debt.” It is very unfortunate that instead of this ugly sad rain we did not have a nice evening, cold but very dry. Everyone would have benefited from it: the rich in gaiety, the poor in large pennies. Perhaps the stalls on New Year’s Day had never been so stocked with new and varied trinkets. Several toys had been exhibited in previous toy competitions. But then most were just more or less rough-edged models, here they are fresh and finished in their beautiful bright colors. It is the Santos-Dumont that doubles the platforms of the Eiffel Tower, it is the fighting

Boer ( Le vaillant Boer Martin number 174-176 ? ) in question, who is so ingenious in its simplicity, the latest locomotive,

the automatic city police, ( Les agents Martin number 178).
It is the Englishman fighting an invisible enemy

(Le Gentleman Khaki Martin number 175)
That still others must be mentioned among the mechanical toys. The few shoppers are told what’s new, they ask about the toys seen in the competition; For example, last night an old lady insisted that a merchant tell her where “Le Singe a la marmite” the monkey in the pot, by Frémiet, was sold.

—”It’s for my grandson,” she said, “he will enjoy it very much.”  

— In vain, the shopkeeper offered her the most recent creations of articulated toys. The grandmother persisted. – No, no, it’s “the monkey in the pot” I want, I promised to bring it… “But I tell you I don’t have it,” replied the merchant angrily. Do you know that in order to produce this toy well it would have to be sold very dearly and then not for 2 fr. 95 which we could ask for like for all these dolls. And then, I don’t really want to say it, but this famous monkey is not that beautiful and to amuse children, there is still nothing like these old dolls… I had to smile at this naive joke which failed to convince the grandmother, for I saw her resume her pilgrimage in the rain past the little huts, dimly lit by the dim lights and quivering from the smoky oil lamps. I imitate her and continue my traditional visit to these varied displays, some of which are arranged with taste. Among the toys I find old acquaintances:

the goose that wobbles when he nods his head, ( L’oie Martin number 169)

the laundress who puts her arms in her bathtub,(La Blanchisseuse Martin number 171)

the mower that rhythmically shakes its small scythe (le Faucheur Martin number 170)

Street vendors who can’t afford to “stand on the boardwalk” send swarms of articulate beasts running down the muddy sidewalks: ladybugs, lizards, frogs, cockchafers, seals, it’s as if someone just knocked over Noah’s ark. There’s something for everyone, for all budgets, from the modest two-cent piece to the two-franc piece. Huddled under the porches or shrunk behind the canopies of the shops, the poor devils make a terrible noise to attract the attention of buyers, while looking out for the city police, the “police” as they call them in their own picturesque language. — Ask for the Christmas Angel — The latest novelty of the year. “What doesn’t this Christmas present have?” It’s deafening. And the raging wind violently shakes the huts and blows an icy rain in the faces of the few passers-by. Soon the boulevards are deserted and gloomy. The cafe terraces are empty and it is raining. It’s New Year’s Eve. Groups of night owls trying to be merry still roam as they sing choruses of café music, and as the gusts double their violence, a few revelers are still eating their dinner on New Year’s Eve. – We’re not eating now, I had to say to an old lady yesterday, we were bickering. “Oh! I should be ashamed, she moaned, if, despite my age, I had a stomach as weak as the one my daughter’s friends complain about. And in this connection I remembered the funny song “New Year’s Eve in two parts”, from Charles Monselet, – ( a French journalist, novelist, poet and playwright, nicknamed “the king of the gastronomes”) – But it doesn’t matter, it took hard vices to sustain this earthly lavishness.

MARIE-LOUISE NÉRON.

Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Fröhliche Weihnachten und ein glückliches Neues Jahr
Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année
Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo
Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo
Boas Festas e um feliz Ano Novo
Kala Christougenna Ki’eftihismenos O Kenourios Chronos
God Jul och Gott Nytt År
Glædelig Jul og godt nytår
Geseende Kerfees en ’n gelukkige nuwe jaar
Hyvää joulua ja onnellista uutta vuotta

We all know that Martin was not the inventor of all his toys himself.
Many of his toys were invented by small toy makers who took their inventions to the annual “Concours de Lépine” a competition in Paris to present and hopefully sell their inventions.
One of these inventors was Mr Boucheron from whom Martin has bought several inventions.
One of these inventions was the L’Autopatte.
On the box and the catalogue page of this Martin toy you can see that it won a “Grand Prix” price on the “Concours Lépine”.
In the magazine “La Nature” from 1909 page 204 a small article of this invention was described the L’auto-pattes

The translated description is as follows:

A production by M. Boucheron that solves wishes.
The L’ Autopatte is a motor vehicle a african boy sits in front of the person falling to the ground that is propelled in circular long durations.
The mechanism is simple.
A lever that performs the functions of the femur is placed in the extended mechanism where it is received in an arc.
A cam enhances this lever to move up and down.
Finally, each leg carries a lever.
The knee joints are more than primary.
The legs hang at the end of the knees.
But when the toy is walking, the controlled bars go up one by one, and the legs take the vertical position by their own weight, and when they are lowered, the legs touch the ground.
As the toy rolls, these feet stay on the ground for a short time and lengthen to return vertically to the next move.
Because this steering is alternate, the feet land on the ground one by one and the africa boy feels in fact he is actually responsible for the propulsion of the vehicle with his feet in reverse. –

Mr. Boucheron lived on the rue Rachel, in Vitry-sur-Seine.

In January 2023 a blog with more about this nice toy

Three “different” versions of the “Le Cab” were made in the period between 1889 and 1919.

These vehicles were the means of transport in the city in the late 1800s and early 1900s, they were actually the first taxis

THE FIRST VERSION NUMBER 110 FROM 1889

Fernand Martin launched his first version of the Le Cab in 1889, the differences with the later version from 1903 and 1912 can be recognized by the following points:
The 1889 version compared to the 1903 and 1912 models:
-The carriage had no passenger section. (it’s closed on the front)
-The wheels have 8 spokes, (the 1903 and 1912 versions have 10 spokes)
-Closed-side windows. (Only painted windows in red)
-Driven by a flywheel mechanism.
-This edition has 35 metal separate parts, (that is what you can count on the drawing), to build and complete the hole toy.
That did not include the rein so actually 36 parts in total.

This first version of the Le Cab is very very rare and hard to find, so far I only know a few copies :
–1 in the collection of the Parisian museum: Musée des arts et Métiers this one was part of the gift from Fernand Martin to the museum in 1908.
–1 sold a few years ago at the French dealer l’Orangerie – François Binetruy, this one also came with an original box.
–1 auctioned in 2019 in France
–1 copy in my own collection.
But there will probably still be some other copies in museums or collections over the world.

Below you see an original box label and an image from the original catalog.
If you look very closely you will see differences between the box label and the catalog image.
1- The four corners of the box label are not richly decorated.
2- Below the triangle with number 138 are on the box label data of various gold medals that Martin has won.
3- the “instructions” are different in width and the number of lines is different, on the box label the lines are wider then on the catalog image.
4- Below the legs of the horse the text “Made In France” appears on the catalog image and not on the box label.
5- On the right and left of the FM logo are small decorations on the box label.

There is one known copy complete with box, so very rare.
This box is numbered with number 110
On the inside of the passenger seat there is the imprint of the Fernand Martin factory

SECOND VERSION NUMBER 192 FROM 1903

In 1903 Martin released this same toy again in a slightly modified version, now with a passenger section and also open side windows, a clockwork drive and a complete new box label.
It got number 192.

The coach of this 1903 version came in the black / red color combination.
The drive was now a wind-up mechanism and with the recognizable Martin key.
This toy was marked on the inside of the passenger section and on the backsite above the key .

THE FLERSHEIM VERSION NUMBER 192 FROM 1912

In the Flersheim period from 1912, the Le Cab was re-released, the version was almost the same as the Martin version from 1903 and the Martin number remained the same with 192.
This version is only marked on the roof with the well nown triangel marker. This version also had a wind-up mechanism but now with a Martin or Flersheim key.
It was sold in multiple colors.

I have come across this Flersheim version with the coach, so far, in the following colors
Lower part of the sides – Upper part of the sides – the top of the roof.
-Brown – brown – brown.
-Blue – black – black.
-Green – green – green.
-Blue – blue – black.

What is also striking in this version and recognizable as Flersheim is that with all Flersheim models I have seen, the fixing tabs for fixing the back, are facing backwards.
With the Martin version, these tabs are always facing inwards.

Yet another deviation is that for the toys of which the carriage is completely colored, (the green and light brown version) the colors appear to be “sprayed”, but that they were only sprayed after the carriage was already partially assembled.
If you look closely at the carriage, you will find color residues on the drive section, the rods to the horse, but only on the inside at the location of the wind-up mechanism, the key and also on the inside of the rear lower protruding ornament parts.

The same horse was used many years by Martin, Flersheim and Victor Bonnet for divers toys: from 1890 the Don Quichotte, the horse with a cover
number 110 Le Cab version with fly wheel made by Fernand Martin in 1889
number 122 Le Courrier Parisien made by Fernand Martin in 1892
number 192 Le Cab version with a wind-up mechanism made by Fernand Martin in 1903
number 192 Le Cab version with a wind-up mechanism made by George Flersheim in 1912
number 194 de La Voiture A Bitume made by Fernand Martin in 1906
number 203 de Le Laboureur made by Fernand Martin in 1906
number 255 La Charrette Paysanne made by Victor Bonnet in 1927