Another post is addressing train store displays a century ago. I lived through the peak, l think, of Marx, Flyer, and Lionel dime and dept. store holiday displays of trains (and sale volume?). I think that might have been in the early 1950's, but which year? When were all three providers simultaneously at their peaks and before the public?
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Keep in mind in looking at Marx that trains were only a portion of his business. Marx was, IIRC, at one time the largest manufacturer of toys in the world. It may (or may not) be difficult to tease the train sales out of the larger totals.
In any case, the '50s is almost inevitable given the baby boom demographics.
I remember my parents taking me and my younger brother over to NYC, to Macy’s and Gimbels to the toy sections, which were huge. There were elaborate displays of Lionel, American Flyer,and Marx toys. This was around the mid to late fifties. I think this must have been peak.
Early to mid ‘50s here in western New York. Downtown was still booming and trains were at their peak. Trains were everywhere though from the biggest department stores to Western Auto and local hardware stores and most every neighborhood had a hobby shop.
Pete
It was definitely the mid to late 50's, by the late 60's it basically didn't exist any more.
I remember seeing large displays in the late 60's- early 70's.
I agree that the prior decades were probably the peak.
My perspective--based on personal experience--would include the entire period of the 1950s through the mid-point of the 1960s. Trains were THE toys of choice for boys in my area throughout the 50s, and I sold Lionel and Flyer trains in a large department store during the holiday periods of 1959-61. By the time I graduated from college in the mid-1960s, toy trains had begun to be replaced by other toys (largely inspired by aviation and the space age).
Alan
...and slot cars...🏎️ 🙂
Mark in Oregon 🎄
@bigkid posted:It was definitely the mid to late 50's, by the late 60's it basically didn't exist any more.
I'm going to shift it a bit earlier - late '40's (after the WWII interruption was overcome) to the mid '60's. I was born in '48, so i don't remember that period, but the '60's I certainly do.
Or - was it partly my perception of the '60's and trains? I was personally paying almost no attention to them by '65. I'm not sure what was going on with department store train sales and displays.
My memories include very late 50's and early 60s. Many of the store in town had a train running in the window, the hobby shop had an elaborate display as did a few of the dept stores. By the end of the 60s these were all gone.
My interests were trains and other model building, until 1955, when family started taking camping trips out of state. That diverted my interest to cars, and l became oblivious to what was going on with electric trains. So I have wondered if l had therefore missed the "glory days". I guessed it would have been the year of the highest holiday sales across the three brands, IF those numbers are available .
Lionel's sales peak was in 1955 so that is a good indicator
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