American Flyer is a name rooted in the history of model trains that began in Chicago
in 1905 with toymaker William Hafner and his friend William Coleman. The American
Flyer name was adopted in 1908. Early trains were wind-up or clockwork models with
some large scale models being produced prior to the Great Depression. In 1918 the
company introduced its first electric train, an O-gauge model that was simply a 
windup model with an electric motor in place of the clockwork motor. 

A.C. Gilbert, of Erector Set fame, took over the company in 1938. Today, American
Flyer model trains still run on layouts and under Christmas trees across the U.S.

 
American Flyer S-gauge model from the early 1950s

The Erector Set, a metal toy construction set was invented by A.C.
Gilbert in 1911, and patented in 1913. They were manufactured by
the A. C. Gilbert Company in New Haven, Connecticut, from 1913
until its bankruptcy in 1967. The Gabriel company of Lancaster,
Pennsylvania bought the Erector name, and continued to make
the sets into the 1970s and 1980s.

The Erector Set is believed by many to have been the subject
of the first national advertising campaign in America for a toy.

Toy maker Alfred Carlton Gilbert

1922

1953 Bowman Baseball Cards

The transformed one-of-a-kind 1955 Lincoln Futura

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Batman’s ride is up for sale — just the thing for cruising
on those Dark Knights.

The original Batmobile from the 1960s TV series will be auctioned on Jan. 19 at
the Barrett-Jackson auction house in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The 19-foot-long black, bubble-topped car was used in the ABC-TV show that
starred Adam West as the Caped Crusader.

Just like Batman, the Batmobile has its secrets. The auction house won’t say
how much it hopes to get for the car.

        

From left: Robin (Burt Ward) and Batman (Adam West) in the Batmobile

(AP) – The piano that played the iconic “As Time Goes By” tune in “Casablanca” is
going to be up for auction on Dec. 14, giving the highest bidder a chance to own a
piece of the classic romance film.

Sotheby’s will auction off the Paris piano Sam played in the film, which is estimated
to worth somewhere between $800,000 and $1.2 million. The piano scene was the
first filmed by director Michael Curtiz for the film.

The piano was sold by Sotheby’s to a Japanese collector back in 1988 for $154,000
and now, the collector is offering it up for the film’s 70th anniversary. Humphrey
Bogart played Rick Blaine in the Oscar-winning World War II love story, opposite
Ingrid Bergman’s character, Lisa Lund In a famous flashback scene, Rick and Lisa
lean on the piano at a Paris bistro. Sam, played by Dooley Wilson, plays and sings. .

“Casablanca” premiered on Thanksgiving in 1942, and it won three Oscars in 1943, including Best Picture.