Here are some photos of my Bing Station. It is closer to OO Gauge than O Gauge, but I have it on the layout anyway. The lithography on front and back is identical, as are the ends. It still has the store label on the bottom...Schuster's in Milwaukee. Bing went out of business in 1932 or so, when the Gebruder Bingen fled Germany with the rise of the Nazis. It's an enjoyable little piece.
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Jay Jay,
Very nice find!
PCRR/Dave
Hi Jay Jay,
No, I don't think Bing went out of business because of the nazi regime. They were struggling already financially just before the nazi's took power in 1933.
I believe the family, or at least mr Stephan Bing, son of the founder fled, but the demise of the plant was just before the terror started.
Kieffer
Thanks for the information, Kieffer. I have always heard the other story. Of course, economic issues cause companies to leave business quite often, and that would have been especially true during the 1930's.
Thanks for the information, Kieffer. I have always heard the other story. Of course, economic issues cause companies to leave business quite often, and that would have been especially true during the 1930's.
It may have been a little (or a lot) of both. German toy makers, Bing included, were closed out of the American export market during WWI, and never really recovered. They were allowed to export to American again in the early 1920's, but by that time Ives had recovered from the big fire, and Lionel had their foot in the door, and Bing never regained market share.
Bing Werke went out of business in 1932, when the brothers left Germany for England, selling the business to Karl Bub. Hitler did not become Chancellor until 1933, but he became leader of the NSDAP - National Socialist German Workers Party - later the Nazi party - in 1921. While many did not see the handwriting on the wall, some did see it earlier, and after 10 years of watching Hitler gain strength, the Bing brothers left.
Maybe the fact that business was not so good made the decision somewhat easier, maybe not. They got out early, before the worst of the terror, but the culture had already turned rabidly anti-Jewish and it was probably already pretty bad.
Hardworking, creative people, not unlike Joshua Lionel Cowen (Cohen) – and Milton and Julius Forchheimer of Dorfan trains – who were also Jewish, but with a different set of cultural and historical circumstances to deal with.
These old pieces of tinplate carry quite a story with them.
Here's the matching small Bing Freight Station
Very nice pieces, Robert!
Here is my Bing Station in situ. The tower to its left is also by Bing. It is supposedly a switch tower....we always think it looks more like a birdhouse. 
beautiful!
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