Box lid artwork - what do you think?

Here are a pair of French examples

I picked up COMT a while back, it is a wonderful book... everything you said and more.

In reference to trainset box artwork, I do remember looking at the drawing on the top of my Marx 526 Mechanical Train Set, thinking how neat it would be to have my train running through hills and tunnels as shown, yet having no idea of how to accomplish that, other than taking it outside with my Tonka trucks and recreating the scene in the dirt.  However, my parents did not allow the trains outside!

It wasn't until later that I discovered the concept of model railroading, and that it was possible to create realistic scenery inside the house.  I think it is safe to say that my curiosity about model railroading was piqued by the Marx boxtop.  Ironically enough, I have never been any good at creating realistic scenery, being more enthralled with the mechanical aspect of model trains rather than the artistic side of model railroading.  As such, I have come to appreciate the simple, clean look of a grass mat with sandpaper ballast under tubular track.

Having said all of that, I don't recall being disappointed when opening up a trainset and only seeing a train inside!

I like all of the box art that Marx used, my favorite is the dockside scene, which I don't have one of, as of yet. 

i can imagine shopping was a completely different experience 80+ years ago.  those who shopped through catalogs normally saw a representation of the train itself rather than the boxtop.  when visiting an actual department or hobby store, in the days well before shrink wrap packaging, if the trains weren't already in a store display, i'm sure the merchant would gladly let their customers inspect or even try out the contents before a purchase.

i don't think the author had a good grasp on prewar times, though deceptive labeling practices might create a legal problem today.

here are a couple of my favorites...

cheers...gary

  I remember the first time I read Levy's book. It is a good book and I too remember his comment concerning box art and, then as now, I thought he completely missed the point. As Overlandflyer noted, before you bought the set you could lift the lid and look at the contents so you knew exactly what you were getting. 

  The artwork was advertising and just like magazine and record covers its main job was to attract the eye and get the consumer interested in the wares offered.  There really isn't that much difference between prewar box art and the postwar Lionel and Flyer catalogs. While those catalogs did show an illustration of a set the illustration was very much like the prewar box lid artwork in that the catalog art would have landscape elements (cities, industry, countryside, mountains, tunnel portals, etc.) framing the train set.

Eddie, you're right on with this.  If anyone had suggested back then that the box top art was "deceptive", he would have been laughed at - by the consumer as well as the toy maker.  Everybody knew that there weren't trees and mountains and Indians on horses in that box.

When I was growing up on the farm in the 1950’s with five brothers and sisters, imagination played a very large role in how we played. Lines scraped in the gravel driveway with a stick were all that were needed to create a village of roads and houses, or, on another day, a spaceship complete with control rooms and cargo bays.

The same was true of my dad's old Ives train set that we set up on the attic floor, with no scenery and precious few accessories. A basic toy train set is the spark that can suggest a certain scenario, and allows the imagination to fill in the rest. A child’s imagination, if allowed, can create a far more amazing scenario than can be built by even the best scale modeler, or pictured by an artist on a box top. And as for the rest of us, well, it’s never too late.

In the world of theater, there is something called “a willing suspension of disbelief,” in which the audience agrees with the actors to suspend their critical examination of the sparse stage set, in favor of filling in the details with their imaginations. The result is much more enjoyable for everyone. This of course is what is called “pretending”, and it is the basis of all play. 

Taking the box top art literally is a particular disease of the modern mind.  It never would have occurred to earlier generations to do so.   Instead, it was an invitation into the world of your own imagination - an invitation that is completely missed by the mind that can only see it as "deceptive" or "misleading".

Boy, the Hafner box is in nice shape! I have the set, but the box is nowhere near as nice as yours!

I would love to have a reproduction of that Tom Thumb box lid. It brought to mind a sort of lost type of art that was so common in the 1920's and a bit beyond. I have a similarly aged poster from the CNS&M as well as a reproduction done for the CTA Centennial, and they both share a vintage style of art work. Not quite cartoonish and not quite realism. I dont know if it has a name, but I really like it. Thanks for the enjoyable thread. Mitch is the only artist I know that can paint in this style. You might enjoy this gallery of his railroad art.

http://www.mitchmarkovitz.com/

You might be familiar with this one he did for TM Productions

that Hafner setbox came inside an outer mailing slip cover which probably kept it from damage for decades.  i still have the outer box, but aside from the hard to explain Malt-O-Meal mailing label, it's a pretty plain container.

here are the other sides of this gem...

chronicling the evolution of overland routes, i doubt if anyone expected to find a Conestoga wagon, stage coach or old time steamer inside. 

cheers...gary

I'm not a box collector nor do I know offhand the set number that came in this box,

but when I looked inside I didn't expect to see the two trains with risers, etc.

I appreciate the artwork on the box, so this one and the 526 set box I have (the same one as James  posted a photo of) will eventually go up on the wall to be appreciated as the pieces of Commercial Art they truly are.  

(maybe Marx Train boxes were Andy Warhols secret inspiration for his commercial art~works of art)

Dave...

Not very close.

Steve

Airplane, speedboat, and Packard not included.

 of course there was some honesty in advertising, too...

though sometimes not exactly to scale....

or with names better left retired...

what fun!

cheers...gary

Had not seen this one before - BEAUTIFUL!

Forgot to state that this Lionel box lid was used from 1927-1929 for the #193 "0" gauge Accessory set. A similar design was used for the #194 Standard gauge Accessory set.

Ron M

for Lionel, my favorite is still the classic "boy's club" graphic...

having fun dressed in their everyday shirts and ties;

dad likely smoking his (tobacco) pipe off in the background.

Ron do you have an interior shot of that set?

by the ruler in the picture, it looks like a huge box for 5 "O" accessories.

cheers...gary

Malt-O-Meal is a producer of ready to eat breakfast cereals. They are still very much in business. Find them at www.malt-o-meal.com

Eh, what artwork?  LOL

as a Marx fan it's hard to admit they had some of the most plain and boring box graphics, though once in a while they did come up with a classic...

re: Malt-O-Meal... i have heard about the product, but i suppose it would take some investigation into their promotions to discover why they were mailing out Hafner train sets.

cheers...gary

I guess it depends on the company and the era. I was kinda thinking that graphics should more closely resemble the actual model items to be a fair representation and not misleading, but then I recalled that my favorite old Athearn HO items used this artwork on their boxes:

I considered the Athearn artwork as a brand identifier. I always used to open the boxes to look at the actual contents.

i have a feeling that Athearn graphic might be the most prolific in all model trains when i think about the hundreds i've seen stacked up in dealerships and in personal collections.

here is one that always caught my eye and i finally did a little research on it...

Gordon Varney made model kits through the 40's and 50's...

but how he hooked up with LA based artist James F. Trout (1902 - 1998) might remain a mystery lost to time.

Here is my favorite (borrowed from another website)

Hear is a couple of my marx sets . These dime store sets had neat boxes i think it made kids get exited for what was inside even though they were cheap sets.

Found this in my photo archive, originally from internet: 

Here's other examples of a Hafner box lids plus the trains.

Ron M

Here's one I found at Dollar General recently.  It was $5.00, but I loved how it captured the feel of a tinplate set from years ago:

I believe this is from the early 1950s, based on the age of the original owner.

Box arts purpose is to inspire. To make you think 'what if' without being massively misleading like many older boxes are.  A buddy of mine does box art for a living. He works with the same group I do. His work is always inspiring. Not trains....but you get the idea.....and if I ever convince the money guys to do trains....he will be my first choice!

The box art I recall as a kid...not fancy...but burned in my memory.......

since everyone seems to be misproving my statement about boring Marx box graphics, i thought i'd contribute a few from the fringe...

in a mystery i've really never understood, the original torsion spring version of the Moon Mullins handcar came in a box with wonderful graphics, however, the illustration shows the later clockwork spring handcar.

a good example of the Plain Jane Marx box is the Twin Train Set featuring both their metal and plastic channel track trains inside the set box...

 which unfortunately hid the better box graphics inside.

not sure where in Australia the Marx production took place.  in some regards the channel track trains were considered more of a toy than the Marx O gauge items.

the Aussie version is identical to the No. 5400 plastic Marx locomotive/ train but at least the example i found in this box had white rather than black wheels on the freight cars.

cheers...gary

AMCDave

Point proved, that Hudson Hornet box ( and the car) is a work of art.

Bruce

Here's an example of Lionel's inside the box art work. 

Note that the 381E has both panagraphs UP but no sight of a catenary system. It seems to be hauling a 418, 419 and 490 cars. The telegraph poles are wired.

Ron M

I just acquired this British Brimtoy CW set #303 in perfect like new condition, both the box and the contents. Written on the lid in pencil is pre 1932. I love the cover art and the train runs great too!

Eric Hofberg

TCA, LCCA 

The American Flyer boxlid artwork from the late teens through the early 20's has a great looking passenger train and illustrations to help the young owner image the possibilities of train control (engineer, president, train dispatcher).

Such nice artwork! The artwork on Prewar Lionel, Ives and American Flyer are gorgeous. I can see why people collect these. However, my favorite box lid artwork is on a Penn Line set that I have. I can show pictures of it if anyone wants to see it.

Marx 530 set, children not included: