A cast-iron toy fire truck
by Tim Campbell · first published 24 February 2023 · his original post
Dug up this old piece of cast iron toy fire truck with a metal detector in the old Gradyville ghost town south of Blooming Grove aka "Old Town" on property passed along to me by my dad. Thomas Mitchell Campbell (1895-1956) built his home there about 1920 after purchasing the property from his cousins Flim and Coleman Howard. After a little research, it was determined that this old cast iron fire truck was made by the AC Williams toy company circa 1920s. This would put it in the time frame to have either belonged to my father, Thomas Edgar Campbell b 1921 or my uncle Charles F Campbell b 1923. I was lucky enough to find one of the old fire trucks on the Bay which was in tolerable condition (as pictured). I would imagine that Santa probably brought it to the Campbell household after ordering from Sears and Roebuck or Montgomery Wards via catalogue or from direct purchase from one of the dry good stores in old downtown Blooming Grove.
This piece was published without a title. The one above was written here; the words below are his.