Martin has produced many different figures.
The toy which was a great success was produced over a long period of time and Martin’s successors; George Flersheim and Victor Bonnet have also continued to produce these successes with sometimes minor or larger adjustments and changes.
The changes resulted from improved production methods, the pressure to produce cheaper, changes in “fashion” such as clothing but also, as in this example, the helmet and the keys.

Overvieuw:

1) First released by Martin in 1904 with the number 197.
2) Flersheim reproduced the same Martin 1904 model in 1912, he only changed the type of key.
3) But later Flersheim modernized, between 1912 and 1915, the head and a different “modern” helmet model.
4) Victor Bonnet reproduced the Flersheim fireman again in 1919, he only changed the key to a Victor Bonnet model and he got a completely different ladder, this ladder was a freestanding model and consisted of 3 separate components, one component is the three parts ladder and the other two components are the separate parts for the behind standard, this standard is attached to the ladder at the top and attached to each other in the middle and to the three parts ladder with a small tube.
5) Later the victor Bonnet model got a start/stop handle on the back, these are quite rare.

You see the differences are sometimes small.  

-left- MARTIN : three-part ladder and a low back of the helmet and a clockwork with Martin key.
-right- FLERSHEIM : three-part ladder and a low back of the helmet and a clockwork with Flersheim key.

-left- FLERSHEIM : the same three-part ladder but now with a different model head and modern model helmet, the clockwork get a typical Flersheim key.  
-right- VICTOR BONNET : a different freestanding ladder and a clockwork with the Victor Bonnet model key. (see detail), the VICTOR BONNET model gets a another box.

This film you can see a part of the Jac Remise tintoys collection, this film is made in 1970 with beautiful toys. Jac Remise is Frenchman and the author of many toy articles and books

Titel of this film: 1970 Periodista Televisión Francesa Coleccionista Juguetes Jac Remise collection anciens jouets and made by RETROCLIPS

Retroclips is a channel dedicated to collecting “retro” videos to refresh our memories. If we do not look at the past as it was seen in its time, we can end up seeing it to the taste of the dominant powers in the present.

More films about old toys??

Last two months I published two other beautiful films, haven’t seen it yet? then click on these links:

Martin/Flersheim toys on film

A Dream of Toyland 1908

This is a free translation of part of the book LES JOUJOUX written by Mr. Pierre Calmettes in 1924, he was a painter and man of letters, he wrote a number of books, one of which was about toys, he was not a real toy connoisseur and in his book there are several statements that are not entirely in line with the facts as we now know them, I have tried to adjust that as much as possible in this translation.

It describes the production of the Fernand Martin toys and it follows a toy, the “Les Agents”, from the very beginning to the finished product.

He also discusses the great sales success and the how’s and whys of the later slump in toy sales. Some texts have been adapted or provided with small additions to clarify the text.

The original text in the book LES JOUJOUX is in French.

This article will be published in 5 episodes

THE PRODUCTION OF TOY MECHANICAL TOYS

Not all metal toys, like the ones we’ve researched, are simple tin bits, cut, stamped, stapled and painted.

There are other toys, the manufacture of which is more complicated and better cared for, which break less easily, and which are preserved even as amusing trinkets; those are the mechanical toys.

When we see them maneuvering and when we see their low price, it seems that these animated toys should be easy to manufacture and devoid of technical difficulties and make those other trinket productions random and narrative.

But when we set ourselves the task of studying their preparation, we find that their manufacture requires patience, research, great ingenuity, the construction of machines, the building of huge factories, and above all the assembly of great capital, In the factories dedicated to toys, we can visit the workshops reserved for ordinary metal toys, in addition, there are the workshops dedicated to toys made of wood, paper or cardboard.

On the contrary, the manufacture of metal mechanical toys is completely occupied by workshops that only deal with these automata toys.

The simplification of the work here is the essential factor for its multiplication.

The workers who work in these workshops always make the same pieces from the same toys.

Some take care of the cutting, others assembling, adjusting, painting or dressing.

The toys they make are generally current toys, toys that have to be designed and built in a few days and the construction of which has to use all known industrial resources, mechanics and manuals.

We have all seen, whether on the shelves of the shops or on a Parisian sidewalk presented by the street vendors, these small articulate figures, popular for the diversity they represent and for their selling prices.

The mechanisms that power them are remarkably ingenious, they transmit movements to these toys that imitate people’s gestures so well that we can’t watch them without laughing.

In writing this story about these toys, let’s introduce the reader to the father of these little automata, Mr. Fernand Martin. We thus give a sufficient description, so that we no longer have to worry about their anatomy, the preparation and reunification of the parts that make up the elements.

In Paris, where this toy was born, there is an imposing factory on the old boulevard de Ménilmontant.

When we visited it recently, we remembered our first meeting with the inventor of these automata, which is quite a few years ago at the time of the first Lépine competition in 1901.

This Martin factory had already been founded in 1880 and at our first met all the global success it deserved.

After his retirement and later his death in 1919, Mr. Fernand Martin left the factory and its inventions to his successors,  so as Mr. Bonnet , with the dual task of running it and expanding it further.

The visit to this factory is very exciting and for those who are interested in toys and want to know the why and the how, they will be able to study the operation of the machines in the workshops.

More sophisticated cutters, punches, mechanics of all sizes and tools of various shapes for the most numerous operations, have to be operated by the skilled hands of workers, and they are entrusted to these workers. all small actions that require the care and patience of the performers.

The workers also all have their own tasks such as welding, melting lead for certain parts and preparing the engines.

When we make a selection of the work that these workers do in the Martin factory, we discover that these automata are built on the basis of anatomical principles and very simple shapes such as the iron frame.

This frame contains the winding spring and the gears of the mechanism.

The frame is topped by a head stamped and painted in brass and placed on wire legs, the arms are also made of wire, the hands and feet are made of iron and lead.

Fabrication is sometimes even simplified by removing the arms and simply gluing a cardboard hand to the end of the floating sleeve.

But before you are interested in assembling the small vending machines, you must first attend the preparation of all the parts,

it starts from the receipt of the raw material on arrival at the factory, its distribution to the different workshops.

The raw material, or rather the raw materials used here are tinplate and black iron, lead, antimony, copper and brass, steel, nickel, silver, the felt, cardboard, paper and various paints.

One of the first operations consists of rolling the black iron, to bring them to the reduced thickness that allows them to be cut.

These are workers who feed the metal sheets under the blades of the rollers and then under the shears that cut them into pieces.

These pieces are the base, they are punched/cut according to the shapes indicated by the model.

The scissors punch/cut hundreds and hundreds of them, on which we can already see the presence of notches or iron tongues, which, by their presence, will allow the solid and rapid assembly of all fragments of ‘automatics’.

When leaving the cutting workshop, the parts go to the stamping workshop.

They all fall into machines that bend, pierce, shape the piece of iron and do in a minute the work that would take at least an hour of manual labor.

We stamp the bodies and heads in two parts, the hands with a single wave of the garland and all these pieces are thrown into baskets while waiting to be used.

The pieces of the head are taken to the welders who will put them together two by two, adding the skull to the face.

Read next time further in part 2.

You will usually find the most boxes entirely in the French-language version with an exception for the manual on the box.
On many of these boxes the manual is mentioned in 2 or 3 languages, in French, English and Spanish but there is one box with 4 languages and that is the box of the Les Valseurs from 1885, on the front there is the French text and arround the box there are tree more languages: Spanisch, Englisch and Russian.

HERE SOME MORE EXCEPTIONS:

I found a catalog label on which the name of the toy is stated in two languages, it is the box of the Le Petit Décrotteur — The Little Blackboot with number 167

There is at least 1 box on which the name of the toy is stated in three languages, it is the box of the laundress number 171

Furthermore, it is known from the Petit Colbuteur with number 213 that three different versions of the box have been issued, but two with a different label and only in French.

There is also a very different box, it is probably a box specially for the Russian market of the Le Traineau Russe from 1892
The text on the box is partly in Russian. Thanks to a Russian reader I get the translation from this Russian text and that is: “The Russian Sledges. New Mechanical Automatic Toy”

Martin has released at least one box in two different languages.
A French version and a English version and that is quite special.
It is the box of the Petit Livreur number 224

And then there is the addition of “bis” on various boxes next to the number.
If you translate the word “bis”, this means “one more time” or “repetition”
Presumably these toys were produced again in a later period, due to the enormous sales success.
The question is now; this was only done by Martin or also by Martin’s successors.
It is also surprising that most labels with the “bis” addition are also a lot smaller and the boxes are made of a cheaper material.

Of course I don’t know “all” the boxes, so if there are fellow collectors who know other special or different boxes. let me know, preferably with a photo, so that I can research them and use them in a next blog.

Watch and enjoy more almost 8 min. of this nice original film from 1908 with toys from Lehmann, Fernand Martin, Carette, Günthermann, Humpty Dumpty and so on.

Arthur Melbourne Cooper’s animation showing a boy’s dream of his toys coming to life uses a live action framing device for the dream sequence which uses stop motion techniques to animate a child’s toys.

and if you use a IOS device then go to this link:

A Dream of toyland 1908

More film??

Last month I published another beautiful film from 1919 with French toys, haven’t seen it yet? then click on this link: https://fernandmartintoys.nl/martin-flersheim-toys-on-film/

I found an article in an old French technical magazine La Nature from 1892 about a tin toy made by Martin.
This piece is put in motion when a string is wound around this reel, and pulling forcefully, the rotation of the the wheel is determined by an internal flywheel.
When the bicyclette is placed on the floor, it travels at high speed.
It was first made in 1892
length approx 13.6cm ( 5.35 inch)
The Martin article number is 121

The free translation of the above text :

SMALL INVENTIONS
Toy bicycle.
The fruitfulness of Parisian toy manufacturers is inexhaustible, and this little cyclist that we present to our readers, the latest avatar of the applications of the giroscope, once again highlights their astonishing ingenuity.
In this small device, the manufacturer has taken advantage of both the well-known property of the giroscope to always rotate in the same plane, and the energy storage represented by a flywheel launched at high angular speed.
The toy offers all the exterior appearance of a “rubber” bicycle of perhaps exaggerated dimensions, mounted by an exercised rider, acting directly on the rear wheel.
This whole set is made of very light tin, and the two wheels are hollow.
The rear wheel is empty, while the front wheel contains a flywheel to which a rapid rotational movement is imparted with the aid of a string wound twice on a small pulley mounted on the axis of the flywheel, as for most toys like this.
This steering wheel is therefore absolutely independent of the front wheel. inside which it rotates freely.
If, once the shuttlecock has been launched, the toy is placed on the ground on a level surface, such as a parquet floor. giving it a slight impulse to the moving master, it will continue this movement and maintain balance and advance evenly as long as the flywheel has sufficient speed.
This equilibrium is due to the action of the flywheel which tends to turn always in the same plane and maintains the mobile vertical, while its forward movement continues by virtue of the friction of the axis of the flywheel on the hollow axis of the wheel. front wheel, friction which has the effect of turning this hollow wheel in the same way as it, but with a much slower speed.
This is the truly ingenious, and, to our knowledge, new, idea of ​​the toy that we are describing.
The inventor of this toy, succeeded in reducing, in great proportions, the speed of the driving wheel without inserting any transmission between the two wheels, and was able to make a toy run in stable equilibrium at a very low speed, was for which there would be no stable equilibrium without the action of the steering wheel, as it is easy to convince oneself of this by trying to make the little cyclist roll without having first thrown the steering wheel at a sufficient speed. We would like to point out this elegant toy to mechanics teachers who will find in it an amusing pretext for explaining a large number of principles of general and applied mechanics, or an idea of ​​intergrouping with students for the explanation of the operation of the toy
Can be found at M. Mathieu-Martin’s, 42 bis, boulevard Bonne-Nouvelle, Paris.

I found an article in an old French technical magazine La Nature from 1897 about a tin toy made by Martin.
This special piece is put in motion by stretching both sides of the cord, the air cyclist goes up and down when the cord is relaxed, the cyclist descends.
It was first made in 1897
length approx 16cm (6.3 inch)
Martin article number is 156

Free translation: The aerial unicycle.
The toy in question represents a unicyclist who climbs along a string that can be seen at the upper part and at the lower part of our drawing (n. 1 Detail view). It is easy to understand the mechanism that elevates the little climber.
Inside the wheel is a pulley movable around its center and on which winds the string.
This one penetrated into the wheel passing through a small ring carried by the handlebars.
By exerting a slight traction on the rope, as shown in (n. 2 Instructions for use) of the figure, the movement of the apparatus is obtained.
The internal pulley carries an axis on which a pedal is fixed which can be seen.
The cyclist rests his feet on it, and since the legs are articulated, the toy offers the funny image of a cyclist maneuvering the pedals.
The aerial unicycle is at the same address as the spider and the fly.

Piet Gutter born in 1944 is a Dutch artist who has been fascinated by the realistic painting style for many years.
In his works he pays a lot of attention to the composition of the figures and objects he paints.
He uses many different objects including antique toys, letters, leaflets, cans with advertising, fruits, vegetables on them and many more objects and all wrapped up in a fantastic composition.
He also pays a lot of attention to details, the atmosphere, the colors used and the backgrounds used so that it becomes a fascinating composition.

When you see his still lifes you are fascinated because it evokes emotions and you unintentionally fall in love with his works, but see for yourself.
Piet Gutter is a versatile painter, many of his works can be admired on the internet and you can also see that he can compose unique works using various utensils.

Piet Gutter’s paintings are in various collections and with private and foreign private individuals.

Some of the Piet Gutter works are based on antique toys from the collection of Arthur Verdoorn (1935 – 2017).
Arthur was an avid collector and also co-writer / photographer of the book: Fernand Martin Toymaker in Paris.
His toy collection can be seen in the toy museum in Soltau in Germany. https://www.spielmuseum-soltau.de/
Here I present a number of Piet Gutter works of art, especially the paintings where the toys of Fernand Martin and Victor Bonnet are depicted “lifelike”.

Piet Gutter did not only portray Martin or Victor Bonnet toys.
He has made many more paintings with antique toys as objects.
Paintings with toys of the well-known toy maker names such as Lehmann, Bing, Günthermann, Märklin, Schuco, Vielmetter and many more.

Martin toys have often been the subject of painters of art.
Below are the links to my three previous articles about Martin toys used in art:

All images courtesy of Piet Gutter

Part 1: Martin toy used in art.

Part 2: Martin toys used in art.

Part 3: Martin toys used in art

A short but beautiful movie from about 1915 with in the first part toys from Roullet & Decamps and in the second part many Martin toys from the Flersheim period. This video was sent to me by a loyal reader of my blog from Russia.

Film from the collection and courtesy of the Eye Film museum (Amsterdam) – https://www.eyefilm.nl/en

Bits & Pieces Nr. 199

enjoy the film

After Victor Bonnet took over the toy company from Flersheim in 1919, he makes, among other toys this “Camion” (no. 261), it is the last truck from the series Les-Auto-Transports.

This series consists of the following vehicles:
246 Le Déverseur
248 Tracteur + 250 Le Remorque (sold together)
249 Camion : Le Roulant
254 Le Train Tortillard
261 Camion : Gros Camionnage
A separate blog has been made about these vehicles for each issue

This is the last article in this series.

It is an open truck with a fabric tarpaulin and the length is about 25 cm (10 Inches)

A text was printed on both sides of the fabric tarpaulin, the text is original: “Gros Camionnage” that you can find on the box, there are models with another name but more about these (different) names on the sides of the fabric tarpaulin in another blog. (See link below)

I have come across this truck in the colors BLEU, RED and YELLOW, the hood in the colors GREEN, BLEU, BROWN and GREY

This truck was a modified version of truck number 249 with the same name Camion, (see one of my previous blogs).

In the base it is the truck “Les Auto Transport” with number 249.
The differences between number 249 and 261 are:
-The “brand” stamp on the bottom of the cargo area of the 249 has disappeared.
-The 261 get a fabric tarpaulin with the name “Gros Camionnage” on it.
-It gets a new product number 261.

Versions of this truck are known with various advertising texts, I have described the advertising texts on the side about this truck in another blog, see this link:

https://fernandmartintoys.nl/advertising-on-the-side-of-the-gros-camionnage-261-victor-bonnet/

a free translation of the article from the magazin: LE PETIT JOURNAL from January 1 1914

NEW YEAR’S DAY TOYS are the cheerfulness of the boulevards and the joy of Parisian children New Year’s Day is the occasion of official receptions and family celebrations, but what, especially in Paris, characterizes the New Year’s celebrations, is the animation that does not cease to reign on the boulevards, where the adjacent small market stalls that amaze the children and therefore many parents are interested.
This year, the number of these outdoor shops has fallen slightly due to the regulation banning so-called “spinner” lotteries.
We know that the same regulation also suppressed open-air markets, known as “flea markets”, which were held in different neighborhoods, notably in Les Halles around January 1.
On the other hand, the crowds on the boulevards this year are even bigger than the previous ones.
Perhaps this rise can be attributed to the disappearance of the huts and fairground attractions in the peripheral districts and the outer avenues where the festival boulevard de Belleville continues.

From the Madeleine to the Bastille, the small industrialists offer their passers-by real wonders of ingenuity, and you could say ‘in spirit, in innovation, and the eyes never tire of admiration. It is thanks to competitions they have encountered from various quarters and official encouragement for their personal initiative that toy manufacturers have been able to make progress in their industry, allowing them to present toys to the public that are, as they say, scientific because they are step to follow modern developments.

We were able to judge ourselves by taking advantage of the beautiful dry weather yesterday and. cold, which the previous days had certainly not foreseen, to take a walk on the boulevards.
And, like children, we had a brief review of the Toy of the Year, “Parisian Items” that are universally known.
The first thing that strikes us is not the least amusing, it is a barber with a very thick coat who shampoos a brave man of Bartholomew who could rival the crime with the best polished parquet in our museums.
This toy is called, as it should be, the “Barber of Seville”.(MARTIN NUMBER 196- L’ARTISTE CAPILLAIRE) –
The grimaces of the client being rubbed are nothing compared to those of a chimpanzee who, on an elastic rope, like the monkey in the fable, dances and moves at best, then flips.
This “four-handed” is more convenient but no more graceful than a red bear, its neighbor, elegantly dancing a tango.
What still attracts attention is a boxing match in which the champions perform the most daring and perhaps the most forbidden punches in the ring. “Sports are moreover worthily represented; Billiards, where the player makes an admirable pileup at each stroke; the shooting of a Mexican hunter”
Finally, skating performed by a skating enthusiast whose roller skates are a masterpiece of precision. (MARTIN NUMBER 229 LE PETIT PATINEUR) –

The latter, reproduced in one of our photos, is a great success.
But the pinnacle of sports toys is “Looping the loop”.
This toy consists of an evolved monoplane held in place by a wire and “walk the loop” on three occasions with an ease admirably reminiscent of Adolphe Pégoud’s prowess. (Adolphe Pégoud. This 24-year-old Frenchman had given aviation a new dimension: that of aerobatics.)

Walkers talk about this toy, just as they talk about the little washing-up girl (MARTIN NUMBER 233 – LA CASSEUSE D’ASSIETTES) who takes three steps and then drops her plates with an awkwardness as funny as Baggessen’s. (Baggessen is a comedian whose hilarious jokes spontaneously make you laugh)
It would take too long to list all the new toys, let’s just mention other toppers: the jockey who brings back the Mona Lisa (MARTIN NUMBER 225 VOLEUR DE LA JOCONDE), on a mountain the duelists, the violinist (FERNAND MARTIN NUMBER 160 LE GAI VIOLONIST) and the pianist (FERNAND MARTIN NUMBER 189 LE PETIT PIANISTE), two funny little toys that we also recognized.

Finally, the “Triple Entente”, (agreement on the alliance formed in 1907 between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Third French Republic and the Empire of Russia after the signing of the Treaty of Saint Petersburg.)
A patriotic toy , representing France and Russia and greeting England. In addition to these trendy toys, there are other, but less numerous, toys from yesteryear
Here and there we have encounters with externally pleasing adults, for whom these evoke memories of their childhood and certain children who do not seem to long for others. It gave us the opportunity to witness a scene that was moving in its simplicity: a girl of about six years old, who was with a relative who, on the boulevards, refused all the beautiful gifts they offered her. – No not that! neither! She said repeatedly. – What do you want?
The child did not answer.
Suddenly, she rushed to a small merchant whose sales stand was installed on a basket. – That is what I want ! she said.
This merchant sold simple little classic dolls for thirteen cents, dolls despised by certain little girls, perhaps influenced by their young brothers, but dolls with a quality that proves that these dolls still have lovers.

And there are, thank goodness! numerous enough to keep trade prosperous.
And yet, the fact is, the “doll” no longer reigns indisputably in the stalls of the small barracks of the boulevards.
A trade that has nothing to do with the entertainment of childhood, and which is already prosperous, because it conquered the right of the city among the Parisians thanks to the “prefect of the police”, is that of point protectors intended for hat pins.
One of the small stands where they are sold, decorated with a sign in large letters, is under siege by many women and girls.
A little further on we pass a saleswoman who stands by shelves full of beautiful “New Year’s Eve” books, books with scarlet covers and gilded edges.
We ask him if the sale is going well. – No, she said to us, the time has passed when as a child I even helped my dad who ran all this small booth and we struggled to satisfy the enthusiastic customers.
But today’s kids, once they leave the cradle, only dream of sports.
It is the active life, they say, the modern life that wants that. We have to bow to this.
And with regrets about the past, the trader tells us an anecdote from that past.

About fifteen years ago, a child eagerly looking at the promising display was noticed by a man who invited him to choose a book he liked and gave him this book as a present.
The donor left, but after some hesitation, the child decided to sell the book back to the stand keeper.
This woman was outraged and blamed the child for his trading instincts.
The child then bursts into tears and admits that in the midst of his joy at having a wonderful educational book, he had thought of his sick mother, bedridden in a room without a stove.
And the child – so had tried – to cash in on his gift to buy medicine for his mother. – And there you have it, the merchant concludes philosophically, this is how books not only shape the minds, but also the hearts of children!

The company Louis Vuitton has made an advertising campaign for their bags and suitcases in 1994.
In this campaign use was made of tin toys combined with a bag or suitcase.
Several different advertisements have been released
The advertisements were placed in the American Voque, but there is also a luxury box/portfolio on the market with all the different advertisements including slides
In one of these advertisements a Martin Petit Livreur was used.

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

This article was published in the Antique Toy World November 2021

I’m trying to figure out the correct numbering of the first period of the Fernand Martin toys, that is de period from the first toy “Le Poisson Nageur” (the Fish) till number 146, the second period started with the number 147 the Ma Portiére.

The periods have been chosen in previously published books and articles by well-known authors, because every Martin collector knows this period classification, I will also continue with this period classification.
Martin himself never made a period classification.

In this article there will be a lot of “question marks” – “maybe” – “presumably” and “not sure” but therefore the question: WHO CAN HELP.

I have searched in old catalogs and have already found a lot of good product/article numbers, even on an old box we found a number.
What have I already found out?

Martin started with the number 100, his first produced toy the “Le Poisson Nageur” (The Fish).
The second period has started with number 147 Ma Portiére
So logically there must be 47 pieces in between.
But many more pieces are known from the first period, how is this possible?

Just an observation:
Between number 100, the first number of the first period and number 146 the last number of the first period are 47 numbers.
There are currently about 66 toys (there are a few toys of which we are not 100% sure that they are attributed to Martin)
We see that we have more toys then numbers, so some toys never had a number. Why????
From 32 toys I have found, till now, the right number.
There are 15 numbers left (101 – 104 – 112 – 113 – 122 – 126 – 128 – 138 – 140 – 141 – 142 – 143 – 144 – 145 – 146) whose toy name we havened find till now, we can attribute some of these 15 numbers with some certainty, but we are not 100% sure about that yet.

IN THE NEXT LIST ARE THE TOY NAMES WITH, IF KNOWN, THE CORRECT NUMBERS ALREADY FOUND.

Why some toys, especially in its early years, are NOT numbered is a mystery and we will probably never find the reason.

100 Le poisson nageur

La balançoire mécanique
Le bateau godilleur
la grenouille
Le Pantin mecanique
Les forgerons infantigables
Le moulin mécanique a tic tac
La locomotive routiere
Le cheval a bascule
Le jeu de massacre
Le jeu de force
Le bouquet surprise
Le velocipede

Le trapèze
Les Valseurs (with the tall hat)
Les valseurs (with a cap)
102 Le sonneur endiable
103 Les courageux scieurs de long
104 (no proof yet) L’incomparable danseuse de corde

105 Les pompiers
106 Les joyeux danseurs
107 Les fameux duellistes
108 Le livreur
109 L’autruche

110 Le cab
111 La grosse caisse (automatique)
La grosse caisse annamite (walking) model: World Fair in 1889 Paris
Pousse pousse annamite model: World Fair in 1889 Paris
Le fauteuil roulant model: World Fair in 1889 Paris
L’écrevisse
Don quichotte
La sateuse de corde
114 Le lapin vivant

115 Les boxeurs
116 Le traîneau russe
117 Le diable en boite
118 Le cherif
119 La charrette anglaise
120 Le pêcheur â la linge
121 La bicyclette martin

122 (no proof yet) Le courrier parisien
123 Le facteur de chemin de fer (with flywheel )
124 Le facteur de chemin de fer ( with mechanisme )
125 La chaloupe a vapeur
126 (no proof yet) Le perroquet (on a stand)
127 La perruche
128 (no proof yet) Le piocheur
129 Course de taureau
130 Attelage flamend

Sujets Sur Socles avec Mécaniques en boites par pièce (sold per piece):
131 Mènagerie
132 Bergerie
133 Chasse
134 Gardeuse d’oies
135 Laitière
136 Porcher
137 Laboureur

Sujets Sur Socles sans Mécaniques (same articles as 131 till 136 but without mechanism and sold in boxes by a half dozen)
I suspect that the numbering is as follows, assuming the same order as numbers 131 to 137, but I am not 100% sure about this yet, only number 139 is certain.
138 (no proof yet) Ménagerie
139 Bergerie
140 (no proof yet) Chasse
141 (no proof yet) Gardeuse d’oies
142 (no proof yet) Laitiére
143 (no proof yet) Porcher

All the above-mentioned toys are known by images in catalogs, on boxes and / or by the presence of the toy in the museum: Musée des arts et métiers, Le CNAM in Paris. Fernand Martin made a donation in 1908 to this museum, of this donation, a handwritten list made by Martin is known including all names of the toys in that donation, this list is in the possession of the museum Musée des arts et métiers, Le CNAM in Paris

We can assume with a certain degree of certainty for which toys the numbers are 104 – 122 – 126 -128 – 138 – 140 – 141 – 142 and 143, but we are still looking for the 100% proof for these numbers.
So we are also looking for the following 6 missing numbers: 101 – 112 – 113 – 144 – 145 – 146.

Who can help me ????
Please contact me if you can help cor@vanschaijk.com

I found an article in an old French technical magazine La Nature from 1897 about a tin toy made by Martin.
This special piece is put in motion when the fly is hanging on a hook on the wall and then by stretching the cord, the spider is crawling to the fly.
It was first made in 1896
length approx 11cm (4,33 inch)
Martin article number is 151

A free translation of the above text.
SMALL INVENTIONS
The Spider and the Fly.
The spider has a habit of stretching webs and rushing for flies or other insects that fall in its nets.
The toy that we describe is intended to recall these mores of the spider.
We see in no 1 of the figure a fly that is fixed by a hook against the wall.
Below is a spider.
It suffices to pull a string, and one immediately sees it climbing slowly, alternately moving its two long, very characteristic legs.
Apart from the interest that this toy has.
He is curious from a mechanical point of view.
We see in no 2 the underside of the beast with the internal mechanism.
A cord is fixed at the top right on the spider and then comes to be routed on a small pulley placed inside the fly.
This cord is then wound on another pulley attached to the lower part of the spider.
By pulling on the cord, the spider is thus given a movement, the fly being fixed against the wall.
The pulley in the spider has a metal rod fixed on the periphery, as shown in our drawing. This metal rod is also movebel around a fixed point and can move successively to the right and to the left according to the movements of the pulley.
It carries at its other end the horizontal rod which maintains the legs of the spider and it thus transmits to them the movement of which we spoke above.
This toy is found at M. P. Bertrand, 19, rue Mute-ville, in Paris.

Here is part 4 of the Victor Bonnet Les Auto Transports series consisting of the :
246 Le Deverseur
248 Tracteur + 250 Le Remorque (sold together)
249 Truck : Le Roulant
254 Le Train Tortillard
261 Camion : Gros Camionnage

This tractor with four trailers has a total length of approximately 69 cm / 27,2 “.
On the accompanying photos you can see the differences between the four trailers.
The first trailer has a different, tin plate attachment than the other cars, which all have a bent iron wire as attachment.

The operating options are:
Winding up mechanism… with the key to the right.
Starting… Push forward the Crank which is to the left of the driver.
Stop… Bring the Crank to the rear which is to the left of the driver.
Direction … With the Joystick located at the front of the Hood, choose one of the 3 notches for driving straight ahead or the other two positions for driving in a large or smaller circle.

I found till now the tractor in two colors in red and green, the trailers I found in the colors blue, green, brown/orange, gray and dark-gray.

I have come across it quite often and sometimes even “mint” in the box but what strikes me is that very often the carts are not all the same color, maybe the carts have gotten mixed up over the years or they are just new delivered in the box with different color carts.

In my Blog articles, I sometimes refer to the book: Fernand Martin Toymaker in Paris.

As a result of my Blog, I now receive questions by mail from collectors who do not yet know the new book about Martin and ask if it is still for sale.
The book is printed in a limited edition but still for sale.
It is published in two versions, one in English and one in French.
For a clear description including an animation, go to the site:
https://www.fernandmartintoys.com/
On this site you will find also an order form.

In my opinion, every collector, tintoy enthusiast, tintoy dealer, auctioneer and museum must have a copy.
This work is a standard work and certainly new discoveries will come in the future that may reflect the current knowledge

I can personally highly recommend this book.
I was fortunate to be able to participate in this book and I have been able to know both writers / collectors / photographers Lourens Bas and Arthur Verdoorn as fine and enormous lovers of the Martin toys in the broadest sense.
The book is quite substantial and very well executed with clear pictures.
It is subdivided into 4 blocks / periods.
The first period is from 1878 to 1894.
Second period goes from 1895 until the acquisition by George Flersheim in 1912.
The third period is therefore the Flersheim period from 1912 to 1919, after which the last period comes from the new owner Victor Bonnet from 1919 until the move of the factory in 1934 to the Rue des Tourelles in Paris.

The majority of the toys, as was known until the printing of this book, are depicted.
In the meantime, some new discoveries and insights have been found that cannot be found in the book.
But that makes sense, not everything is now known because a lot has been lost, documents have been destroyed or have been forgotten somewhere in the attic or in a forgotten archive, these may one day give new insights and belong to a new edition.
Until that time; this is the best book and given the execution, for a very low price, it is a bargain!

But in this blog I keep everyone informed as best as possible about new discoveries, things worth knowing, discussions etc. so that nobody has to miss anything, it is therefore important to visit my blog regularly, so you stay informed.

This model is very very rare.
I’ve only come across a few of them.

The colors I have found so far are green, orange, yellow all with red wheels and a dark blue one with bleu wheels, the length is about 25 cm (10 Inches)

It is listed in the Victor Bonnet catalog with the name Camion 249 but in the truck you can see that the name is : Le Roulant

The characteristic of this model is that there is a print on the bottom of the cargo area with the name and product number.

A similar model was later released with number 261 with the same name Camion to, but on that truck you can see the name Gros Camionnage written on the fabric tarpaulin.
This Camion is an adapted form of the here presented: Le Roulant, that later model got a fabric tarpaulin, no longer had a print on the bottom of the luggage compartment, and no text plate on the back of the cabin.
This model 261 will be found even more, but more about this truck in another blog.

A model 261 Gros Camionnage without the fabric tarpaulin is sometimes be sold as a: Le Roulant, but can therefore be easily recognized by a print on the bottom of the cargo area and on the back of the cabin a brass text plate with the text: Charge maximum load 5000 Kos of the original Le Roulant, so pay attention.

I found an article in an old French technical magazine La Nature from 1895 about a tin toy made by Martin.
This piece is put in motion when a string is wound around this reel, and pulling forcefully, the rotation of the axle and the wheel is determined.
When the car is placed on the floor, it travels at high speed, and the dog’s legs.
It was first made in 1894
length approx 18 cm (7.1 inch)
The Martin article number is 130

The free translation of the text from the article from the magazine La Nature 1895 :
SMALL INVENTIONS
The dog car. –
We have often described the small mechanized toys that the street vendors sell in the streets of Paris, and, in Les Petites Inventions of n ° 1117 of last October 27, we gave the Combat de taureaux.
Today it is the dog car that we will introduce.
Represented below, it gives the appearance of an Antwerp (Belgium) milkmaid with a cart.
A metal axle crosses the little tin car, and ends on the outside with a coil protruding from the wheel with the surface of which it is in contact; a string is wound around this reel, and pulling forcefully, the rotation of the axle and the wheel is determined.
The car is placed on the floor, it travels at high speed, and the dog’s legs, set in motion by a simple mechanism, perform the galloping movement admirably.
There is a lot of ingenuity in his little Parisian mechanical toys.
The dog car is built by Mr. Fernand Martin, 88, Menilmontant Boulevard in Paris

In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s these milkmaids with their dog carts were frequently seen, they were in the version with one, two and even three dogs.

All postcards are from my own collection

These two Victor Bonnet creations of a tractor and a trailer, were sold together in one box, I have not found any proof anywhere that they were sold separately.

I have come across the tractor in two colors so far, in green and in red, (green and red in various color gradations from dark to light, but presumably the influence of sunlight has also had an influence on the color), I am the trailer only encountered in a brown/yellow color with a green fabric tarpaulin.

What has been noticed is that there are two versions of the tractor, with and without a roof.
Presumably it was marketed in two versions with and without a roof, which is apparent from the fact that the tractor can be found with and without mounting holes for the roof, (see the photos).

Look at the two different trailers, sometimes the trailer has a bronze plate on the back with the text: Charge maximum 5000Kos and the back and front of the trailer has different plating, version with a 6 and with a 4 rectangular layout

This figure was released in 1890 and no product number is known
It is a very ingenious mechanism to create the illusion that she is a Rope-jumping girl.

Here the translation from the French tekst on page 223 from the magazine La Nature 1890 :

SCIENTIFIC TOY the ROPE JUMPER
Here is a toy that we think we will have to present to our readers because of the special skill of the inventors in overcoming the difficulties presented by the problems they had posed.
This toy is a jumper rope whose figure is almost enough to understand the mechanism.
As in most toys of this kind, the amount of work required to operate the toy is borrowed from the vivid power of a steering wheel concealed in the young person’s body, flying at which a high angular velocity is imparted. rolling two turns of string on the button shown at the bottom of the skirt in the figure on the left, and pulling strongly on this string which one lets slip the other end between a finger and the body of the toy, to ensure a tension initial requirement for driving the steering wheel.
The flywheel thus launched friction control two pairs of wheels that come to lean on its axis.
The first pair of wheels, the pair of wheels, infers the toy, whose equilibrium forwards and backwards is ensured by a pair of small gatets.
One of these pebbles can be seen, the one before, in the figure on the right.
The second pair of wheels, placed at the top, has the effect of printing a rotational movement about a horizontal axis to a small tree at the ends of which are fixed the ends of the rope.
This rope, very flexible and very thin, flattens each time it passes in front of the driving wheels that roll over it without their movement being the least bit entangled.
This was the great practical difficulty cleverly solved by Mr. Martin, the inventor and constructor of this interesting and ingenious little apparatus.

This toy is not very big, it has a total height of approximately 15cm / 6 inch
It is hand painted, like the most toys in that period.

During my collection years, I only came across this toy in five different color versions.

• dress in yellow with the details in red
• dress in blue with the details in red
• dress in green with the details in red
• dress in red with the details in blue
• dress in light blue with the details in gold-colored

This light blue with the details in gold-colored was included in the gift that was donated through Fernand Martin in 1908 to the Musée des arts and Métiers in Paris (see my earlier blog :Two Fernand Martin variants of the Pousse-Pousse Annamite )

It is marked on the bottom, see photo above.
I think this is one of the nicest pieces from the first period of Fernand Martin.
Nice action and a very ingenious design.
It is only rarely offered so very rare.

Which collector does not know it, a toy with a defect, damage, missing parts or other shortcomings.
Here’s a newsletter from a restorer from Ireland who specializes in tin toys but also dolls.
The intention is that this newsletter will be published once every two months.
Interested ?? contact him.

It’s a overvieuw from the 5 pages so the links don’t work. Would you like to receive this newsletter yourself? contact him on +353 (0) 876774202 or email him at bob.heaton@pentdata.ie.

Victor Bonnet was the first successor to Fernand Martin who started producing cars
He released a series of trucks named: Les Auto Transports that started with number 246
It was a “tip up truck”, the truck has an automatic tipping and driving mechanism.

This model was released in various colors, I have seen models in Yellow, green, gray, black and brown
The length is about 20 cm (7.9 Inches)

These models have a very advanced and ingenious engine, the start-stop part sits like a handle next to the driver’s steering wheel.
After winding, you can put the car on the ground and twist the lever, then it will drive, after a short time, the car will stop and the bucket will slowly move to the side to drop its load, and then the bucket will go back to the old position and the car starts moving again and everything repeats itself.

In the production years, the box has been changed a few times.
The first boxes only contain the production number No 246
Boxes are known to have a sticker added with the text Déverseur No 246
Later the label came with the text Déverseur No 246 printed as fixed on the label
And I found boxes with the text Le Déverseur No 246

The next two boxes has the same picture of the catalog site on the front, these catalog pictures usually had less information than the original box labels, are they original??
I’ve come across some of those boxes before.

On the inside on the bottom of the box an extra text sheet could have been applied to indicate the operation, this is found in two languages; in French and in English.
The text on the outside of the box is only found in French, also on the boxes with an English text sheet inside.

There are boxes contained with no text sheet inside but a separate manual with the (freely translated) text:
AUTO-LE DÉVERSEUR
OPERATION :
Reassembly… Put the Engine to Stop and turn; with the key to the right, making 10 half-turns.
Starting… Push forward the Crank which is to the left of the driver.
Stop… Bring the Crank to the rear which is to the left of the driver.
Direction … Bring, by pressure from top to bottom, the Joystick located at the front of the Hood, in one of the 3 notches. The walk in a circle is obtained by using the 2 notches on the left.

There are models without a text, models with a text on the side or back and models with a text in the inside of the loadig area, and when they have a text it was in French or in English
The various texts I found till now are:

The body has also been available in two variants, with an angular body and with a rounder body, the truck with the rounder body (I found them in de colors gray, black/gray and yellow), and has no texts on the body, only the brass plate on the bonnet.

From this version with the rounder body, I found one with a different nose/bonnet in the color: red body with a bleu loading area. This one has the nose/bonnet from trucks from the production after 1933 and on top of this nose/bonnet there is no longer the well-known brass nameplate.

So you can see that over the years this truck has had many different varieties.
Many Fernand Martin, George Flersheim and Victor Bonnet toys have sometimes been produced for many many years and have received many small adjustments or other colors over the years.

As a successor of Fernand Martin and George Flersheim, Victor Bonnet Factory started the production in 1919 in the old Fernand Martin factory, in 1933 they stopped the production and moved to another building in Paris.

In these 14 years Victor Bonnet has made a series of 5 beautiful trucks and tractors.  

246 Le Déverseur
248 Tracteur + 250 Le Remorque (sold together)
249 Camion : Le Roulant
254 Le Train Tortillard
261 Camion : Gros Camionnage

He named this series of vehicles: Les-Auto-Transports and the first toy he produced in 1919 was the truck: Le Déverseur with number 246

All models had a plaque on the hood with the name: Les auto-transports
This plaque has undergone some changes over the years as can be seen in the collage.

These models are somewhat undervalued, they are all vehicles with a genius mechanism and these mechanisms are all basically the same. 

The first of the model Le Déverseur with number 246 produced from 1919 had the most extensive mechanism with lot of functions: start-stop, drive, standstill and a side-tilt function. The models after this one were a bit simpler.  

In the coming weeks I will be introducing this series of vehicles one by one in 5 separate blogs.