Mentioned in the post above this is my go-to reference source for German toys Ostensibly tinplate manufacturers but most of them were more general toymakers, it spans 200 years of production drawing on trade directories, catalogues, contemporary newspapers and toy collections from several national archives, it includes literally thousands of firms and is a truly monumental work.
Privately published in 2014 by the authors, Jurgen and Marianne Cieslik, it runs to 500 12"x10" pages, text in German and fully illustrated in colour throughout. ISBN 3-921844-73-8. I was fortunate to find my copy in an Oxfam (charity) bookshop for £20.
The pic above gives an idea of the layout. This entry for Lineol opens with the three goosestepping ducks which was the prewar company logo.
I had to get the picture of this Marklin armoured car in for the distinctive, rather psychedelic, mimikry/camouflage pattern which was extensively used by the firm and makes their products instantly recognisable.
The entry for GAMA (George Adam MAngold) shows the development of advertising styles pre and post war with changes to the company's logo which helps with dating production. I rather like the Montage Tank (top right) supplied in kit form for home assembly, the rubber tracks were common to all makes of tinplate tanks and utilised timing bands which were used extensively on factory machinery worldwide during the mechanical age. Today the original tank tracks are invariably brittle and crumbling but can be replaced as timing bands are still used in industry, but less so in this digital age and now the problem is finding the right size.
