Noma Wooden Toy

[paulrace]

I put this here because it relates to Noma selling wooden toys when they couldn't get copper, etc. during the war.

A reader writes:

Hello ~ I just recently acquired the NOMA Hickory Dickory Dock toy and can find no info on it other than your site...can you give me some idea of value?

----------Our response ----------Feel Free to Add Yours Below ----------------

Thanks for getting in touch. I hope you bought it with the intention of displaying it with appropriate period objects this Christmas, and not with the intention of sending your kids to college with the proceeds.

At the low end, one in slightly shabby shape recently sold on eBay for 2.75 after being listed twice.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Toy-Nom ... 7675.l2557

Another one was listed twice for $40 and never sold at all. It had a little damage, but had a box that was mostly there.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Complete-Antiqu ... 1549842487?

So the value of your piece, if you had to sell it today, is probably closer to $5 than to $50. That said, if you saw one in an antiques shop, they'd probably be asking $35 or more, but that's because they need to make a lot of profit on the individual pieces to keep the lights on.

For more information about determining the value of collectibles, please check out this article:

http://www.familychristmasonline.com/mu ... tibles.htm

Hope this helps. More than that, I hope you get some enjoyment out of the piece.

Paul

-------------------------

For folks who've never seen one of these, here's a photo:

noma_clock_toy.JPG (64.73 KiB) Viewed 37951 times

[paulrace]

Here's another, showing that it was part of a game.

noma_clock_toy2.JPG (47.49 KiB) Viewed 37950 times

[maria]

this is so cool!

[Noel-kat]

Prior to WW2, NOMA Canada was very small in comparison to that of the U.S. NOMA Company. A portion of the items sold under the NOMA brand name in Canada were shared components made both in the U.S. and Canada and were packaged both in U.S. and Canadian packaging. The start of WW2 saw the first real beginnings for NOMA Canada when a foreclosed furniture factory was purchased in Owen Sound Ontario for the purpose of converting into what would become NOMA Canada's first major factory. Before it could start business as such, North America found itself caught in the war and materials that would have gone into producing Christmas lighting and related items were tied up in the war effort. Instead of opening it's doors as a factory that produced Christmas Lighting, NOMA Canada started out as a Toy manufacturer making use of the equipment and supplies left behind from the closed furniture factory. To my knowledge, all the NOMA Wooden Toys sold in both Canada and the U.S. were produced in that factory.

It's tough to put a value on those items as it varies greatly for a number of reasons. The pull behind toys that were produced with wheels seem to go for the most. A lot of early Christmas Lighting collectors like them as they are a part of the NOMA Companies history and fall into the category of "go with's".

[Noel-kat]

Small mention of the NOMA Toys Company of Canada.

http://www.historymuseum.ca/canadaplay/ ... s/wood.php

[paulrace]

There's a mention here, too.

http://www.ctcs.on.ca/vtm/planes2.htm



I suspect color shift on the photo they show. The Superliner looks awfully pink. But so do the shadows.

[Noel-kat]

A little more detail on the NOMA Toy Company of Canada located on West 14th Street in Owen Sound Ontario.
The complex was made up of two older buildings, the North America Furniture Company (NAFC), once said to be one of the largest furniture making factories in the British Empire, and the Harris Lebus Furniture Factory, once known as the biggest furniture manufacturer in the world, this building was purchased later by NOMA and used primarily for storage. The NOMA Electric Company purchased the NAFC building in 1944 from the Canadian Government to produce wooden and pressed-wood toys, and after the war, due to the scarcity of metal, plastic toys. During this period the NOMA Toy Company employed 225 local residents.
NOMA began Christmas light and related manufacturing at this location in 1947.

[paulrace]

A reader writes:

I would appreciate any information you can give me about Noma's Hickory Dickory Dock toy. I have one and have a feeling that it's missing a part or two.

-----Our Reply---Please log in and add anything you can -----------

Thanks for getting in touch. I don't have one - I just tracked down some photos when another reader asks me about it. Did you see the photos on this page:

http://www.oldchristmastreelights.com/f ... t=78&p=264

There's a really big one that shows most of the thing, but I can't tell what was inside of it. Apparently you rolled a marble down a chute and it did something inside as it rolled through. Most people who still have one of these have lost the base and the box.

I found one on eBay UK that says it needs "restrung." I have no idea what that means. The last one that was sold on eBay in the US went for about $3. The one listed on the UK ebay site is listed for $225. Go figure.

At any rate, the photos might help you, so check this out:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rare-Vintage- ... 1e8d2d46ff

Sorry I can't be more specific.

Have a great holiday season - Paul