Materials
Makers
Types
Other Vehicles
AD
X
Vintage Tonka Cars and Trucks
We are a part of eBay Affiliate Network, and if you make a purchase through the links on our site we earn affiliate commission.
Like Buddy L, whose founding company was established in 1910 to manufacture pressed-steel fenders and cabs for International Harvester, Tonka was launched in 1946 as Mound Metalcraft, which made gardening tools. Mound Metalcraft's first steel
Like Buddy L, whose founding company was established in 1910 to manufacture pressed-steel fenders and cabs for International Harvester, Tonka was launched in 1946 as Mound Metalcraft, which made gardening tools. Mound Metalcraft's first steel toys were its Steam Shovel No. 100 and its Crane & Clam No. 150, both of which sold better than the tools. Soon, the company's most profitable division was Tonka Toys, which took its name from nearby Lake Minnetonka in Minnesota.
The ads from the late 1940s explain why the Tonka trucks from this period have lasted so long. Each was designed around the same one-piece steel cab with a baked-enamel finish, which rotated on a base that rolled on four real rubber wheels. Both toys had cranks that a child could turn to cause the shovel to dig and the clam to open and close. And they were big (16 inches long for the shovel, 25 inches long for the clam) and heavy (the shovel weighed four-and-a-half pounds).
The success of these trucks encouraged Tonka to expand its line, which it did with a parade of dump trucks, livestock vans, wreckers, haulers, and fire trucks. Some of these toys were smaller than Tonka's regular line, so they were called Mini Tonkas, while the Mighty Tonka series, which began in 1964,debuted with the Mighty Tonka Dump. At 11 pounds, this was a toy truck to be reckoned with, durable enough for a small child to sit on.
Throughout the 1960s, farm, commercial, and construction trucks and equipment continued to be Tonka's best sellers, but the company also made pressed-steel pickup trucks (with or without campers), Jeeps (the candy-striped surrey on the 1962 Jeep is a classic), and cars. By 1966, a fleet of red, yellow, blue, and green Volkswagen Beetles had joined the Mini Tonka line. There were also plastic "accessory" toys in the shapes of Corvette "Sting Rays," a Ford Ranchero, and a scattering of black or white horses and cows.
By the 1970s, more lines would be added, from Tiny Tonkas in the style of hot-rods to plastic Tonka Toddlers and Gigglers, which were aimed at a much younger audience than the steel dump trucks that had made the company famous.
Continue readingLike Buddy L, whose founding company was established in 1910 to manufacture pressed-steel fenders and cabs for International Harvester, Tonka was launched in 1946 as Mound Metalcraft, which made gardening tools. Mound Metalcraft's first steel toys were its Steam Shovel No. 100 and its Crane & Clam No. 150, both of which sold better than the tools. Soon, the company's most profitable division was Tonka Toys, which took its name from nearby Lake Minnetonka in Minnesota.
The ads from the late 1940s explain why the Tonka trucks from this period have lasted so long. Each was designed around the same one-piece steel cab with a baked-enamel finish, which rotated on a base that rolled on four real rubber wheels. Both toys had cranks that a child could turn to cause the shovel to dig and the clam to open and close. And they were big (16 inches long for the shovel, 25 inches long for the clam) and heavy (the shovel weighed four-and-a-half pounds).
The success of these trucks encouraged Tonka to expand its line, which it did with a parade of dump trucks, livestock vans, wreckers, haulers, and fire trucks. Some of these toys were smaller than Tonka's regular line, so they were called Mini Tonkas, while the Mighty Tonka series, which began in 1964,debuted with the Mighty Tonka Dump. At 11 pounds, this was a toy truck to be reckoned with, durable enough for a small child to sit on.
Throughout the 1960s, farm, commercial, and construction trucks and equipment continued to be Tonka's best sellers, but the company also made pressed-steel pickup trucks (with or without campers), Jeeps (the candy-striped surrey on the 1962 Jeep is a classic), and cars. By 1966, a fleet of red, yellow, blue, and green Volkswagen Beetles had joined the Mini Tonka line. There were also plastic "accessory" toys in the shapes of Corvette "Sting Rays," a Ford Ranchero, and a scattering of black or white horses and cows.
By the 1970s, more lines would be added, from Tiny Tonkas in the style...
Like Buddy L, whose founding company was established in 1910 to manufacture pressed-steel fenders and cabs for International Harvester, Tonka was launched in 1946 as Mound Metalcraft, which made gardening tools. Mound Metalcraft's first steel toys were its Steam Shovel No. 100 and its Crane & Clam No. 150, both of which sold better than the tools. Soon, the company's most profitable division was Tonka Toys, which took its name from nearby Lake Minnetonka in Minnesota.
The ads from the late 1940s explain why the Tonka trucks from this period have lasted so long. Each was designed around the same one-piece steel cab with a baked-enamel finish, which rotated on a base that rolled on four real rubber wheels. Both toys had cranks that a child could turn to cause the shovel to dig and the clam to open and close. And they were big (16 inches long for the shovel, 25 inches long for the clam) and heavy (the shovel weighed four-and-a-half pounds).
The success of these trucks encouraged Tonka to expand its line, which it did with a parade of dump trucks, livestock vans, wreckers, haulers, and fire trucks. Some of these toys were smaller than Tonka's regular line, so they were called Mini Tonkas, while the Mighty Tonka series, which began in 1964,debuted with the Mighty Tonka Dump. At 11 pounds, this was a toy truck to be reckoned with, durable enough for a small child to sit on.
Throughout the 1960s, farm, commercial, and construction trucks and equipment continued to be Tonka's best sellers, but the company also made pressed-steel pickup trucks (with or without campers), Jeeps (the candy-striped surrey on the 1962 Jeep is a classic), and cars. By 1966, a fleet of red, yellow, blue, and green Volkswagen Beetles had joined the Mini Tonka line. There were also plastic "accessory" toys in the shapes of Corvette "Sting Rays," a Ford Ranchero, and a scattering of black or white horses and cows.
By the 1970s, more lines would be added, from Tiny Tonkas in the style of hot-rods to plastic Tonka Toddlers and Gigglers, which were aimed at a much younger audience than the steel dump trucks that had made the company famous.
Continue readingMost Watched
ADX
ADX
AD
X