Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Barclay

When I visited my aunt in Kentucky during the early 1960s one of my favorite things to do was to go to the local Five & Dime Store with my mom.

After shopping my mom would treat me to a banana split at the soda fountain and give me 10 cents to buy some candy at the candy counter.

In those days candy was stored in large open front glass containers arranged around a counter.
I would chose my 10 cents worth, have it weighed out and put in a bag by the store employee.

Often I would opt for something else other than candy.  Alongside of the candy containers was a glass case filled with die-cast little cars.  For ten cents I could by four of the little cars.  They were Barclay cars and I loved them.  They were small but rugged with working wheels and real axles.

Nowadays Barclay die-cast toys are much sought after by collectors.  Over the 39 years Barclay was in business they manufactured four types of vehicles: transports, cars, trucks and trains-in large varieties.

Schiffer Publishing and author Howard W. Melton have assembled (for the first time) a comprehensive catalog and price guide for all things Barclay.

Resplendent with color photos and extremely comprehensive text about the history and variations of each Barclay die-cast genre the book also contains price guides based on condition, type and rarity.