I've always been fascinated with station wagons -- especially wooden bodied ones, even as a small child. When I was growing up during the '50s, there were still many earlier woodies on the road. One of my father's business associates had a 1950 Chrysler Royal woody wagon, one of only a few hundred built. He used this as a regular daily driver through the late 50's.
Wagons have evolved into an American icon, right up there with baseball, hot dogs and apple pie. What family hasn't packed a bundle of luggage, several kids and a dog into the back of one of these workhorses for a trip to the beach? During the baby boom expansion into the suburbs, these roomy and versatile vehicles became an essential piece of equipment for moving around a growing family and all their associated gear to and from the supermarket, football practice, garden center, and back and forth to the train station. And when a family was ready to move on to another vehicle, these versatile wagons usually got a second life as contractor's work cars, surfer's transportation, and a host of other uses.
While most of these were very basic and utilitarian, there were some specimens that would have given a luxury car a run for it's money. Buick's flashy Caballero from 1957 and 1958, and Chrysler's Town & Countrys through the mid-50's and 60's, are two examples of wagons which were lavishly appointed and quite expensive.
While station wagons were mostly popular in the US, there are a number of noteworthy foreign entries into this field. Ford's English division produced a number of these, as well as Austin and the ever-popular Morris Traveler; Volvo, Opel, Fiat and Volkswagen each produced station wagons also.
Over the years, I have owned a number of full-sized station wagons (most recently a '63 Pontiac Catalina Safari) and have also amassed a respectable collection of smaller scale wagons and woodies. This section will focus on the woody and wagon models in my collection, including the Marx '53 Mercury station wagon pictured above. Originally produced in the early '50s, this item is one of my favorite pieces in my collection. I had the same toy when I was a small child, and was fortunate enough to find this piece in absolutely mint condition -- including original box -- in the early '80s. This approximately 11" long plastic car was a very elaborate toy for it's time. The hood opens, revealing a transparent engine complete with working pistons and crankshaft. The luggage compartment holds a complete set of tools, which could be used to actually take the car apart and re-assemble it.
I hope you enjoy this small-scale trip down memory lane! |
