Email photo / description to:
Free Appraisals
Send Photos
Buying Antique Buddy L Trucks & Cars Free Price Quotes
Buddy "L" Toy Museum
buying U S antique toy
trucks, cars, vintage
Japanese space toys,
robots, German tin
wind-up toys & more
Appraisals, pictures advice visit
the buddy l car museum today.
Japan tin toy robots appraisals
German Wind-up Tin Toys
Free Buddy "L" Toys Price
Guide ~ Pictures ~
Information ~ Advice
Free buddy l trucks
appraisals with price
guide also seeking
vintage tin toy robots and
vintage space toys
Buddy l toys official
space toys, cars, space
free appraisals
Sturditoy antique dump
truck appraisals with
vintage toy price guide
Free Antique Buddy L Truck Appraisals
© 2020 Buddy L Museum
Buddy L Toy Cars Price Guide
Buddy L Trucks Values Guide
Buddy L Junior Mail Truck
Free Vintage Toy Appraisals
Buying Buddy L Trucks
Buddy L Dump Truck
Antique Buddy L Truck
Buddy L Express Line
Buddy L Lumber Truck
Buying Buddy L Toys
Buddy L Railway Express
Buddy L Fire Truck
Free Toy Appraisals
Buddy "L" toys were originally manufactured by the Moline Pressed Steel Company, started by Fred A.
Lundahl in 1910.[2] The company originally manufactured automobile fenders and other stamped auto body
parts for the automobile industry.[2] The company primarily supplied parts for the McCormack-Deering line of
farm implements and the International Harvester Company for its trucks.[2] Moline Pressed Steel did not begin
manufacturing toys until 1921.[2] Mr. Lundhal wanted to make something new, different, and durable for his
son Arthur.[2] He designed and produced an all-steel miniature truck, reportedly a model of an International
Harvester truck made from 18- and 20-gauge steel which had been discarded to the company's scrap pile.[2]
Buddy L made such products as toy cars, dump trucks, delivery vans, fire engines, construction equipment,[3]
and trains.[4] Fred Lundahl used to manufacture for International Harvester trucks.[1] He started by making a
toy dump truck out of steel scraps for his son Buddy. Soon after, he started selling Buddy L "toys for boys",
made of pressed steel.[1] Many were large enough for a child to straddle, propelling himself with his feet.[1]
Others were pull toys. A pioneer in the steel-toy field, Lundahl persuaded Marshall Field's and F. A. O.
Schwarz to carry his line. He did very well until the Depression, then sold the company.[1]
From 1976 to 1990, Buddy L was owned by Richard Keats, a well-known New York toy designer who went to
work for Buddy L the day after he graduated from Brown University in 1948.[1] By 1978 the company was
located in Clifton, New Jersey.
In 1990, Keats sold Buddy L to SLM International. SLM sold Buddy L off in 1995 under bankruptcy protection.
By 2010, Buddy L it was owned by Empire Industries of Boca Raton, Florida,[1] a subsidiary of Empire of
Carolina.[5]
In the 1990s, Buddy L made Splatter Up, a wet version of T-ball.[6]
On 31 August 2000, the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a recall for about 113,000
battery-powered children's riding vehicles, marketed as "Power Drivers" or "Buddy L", for repair. The vehicles'
battery chargers can overheat, presenting fire and injury hazards to children.[7]
In November 2000, Empire of Carolina and its wholly owned subsidiary, Empire Industries, Inc., filed for
bankruptcy and, in July 2001, Empire Industries was sold substantially to Alpha International, Inc,[8] also
known as the Gearbox Pedal Car Company, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa[5] (renamed as Gearbox Toys and now
owned by J. Lloyd International).
E-Mail
Page Links
Free Antique Toy Appraisal