WWI Paper Toy Soldiers?? (1 Viewer)

[lauramarso]

I am new to this site so please forgive me if I am not posting this in the correct area.
Can anyone help me out with this?? ANY information would be AMAZING!!!
Here is the background...
We have a refurbished Kimball baby grande piano that was originally built in 1896. My son Lucas was playing with a bouncy ball. It bounced under the piano and disappears. He started looking underneath the piano and found a "secret spot" to hide things. He put his hand in this area (in the front leg of the piano) and pulled out these cardboard paper toy soldiers. Unfortunately, since he didn't know what he was grabbing he ripped one of them when pulling them out.
Can anyone tell me are these American Soldiers?? Can you tell from their "decorations" if they are pre WWII?? Year?? Did anyone have something like this when they were young? There is nothing indicating on the soldier that there was a stand for these soldiers to sit on (no slit on the base of the paper). They stand at about 2 inches tall (maybe a bit taller but not much).
Lucas was SO excited to find these rare objects. We are trying to "research" to find out more about them. smile emoticon
Thanks!!!

 

[Mirof]

More WWI
With this kind of helmet, British or Canadian .... but when entering into war in 1917, US soldiers adopted at the beginning, the English helmet
Helmet known as the Brodie Helmet, patended in 1915 in England, code Mark I in England, M1917 in the US
And for the uniform .... they were almost the same

 

[Martin Tabony]

I would say they were in American uniforms, dated just before or at the beginning of WW2. Every thing Mirof says is correct but during WW1 the US had a high closed collar. The American made version of the "Brody" helmet was worn up until 1941

Martin

 

[theBaron]

I can take a look tonight in O'Brien's books. I'm pretty sure I've seen them. I think they are American, and date to the late Thirties, up to our entry into WWII.

Prost!
Brad

 

[theBaron]

I

The American made version of the "Brody" helmet was worn up until 1941

Up to early 1942, actually. The M1 "steel pot" helmet was adopted in 1941 to replace the old M1917, our version of the "tin hat", as they called it. But it hadn't been issued in great numbers by December 7, and in the first months of 1942, it was still in use on the front lines. I can't remember if the Navy had replaced the old helmets by the time of Coral Sea or Midway, but I think the Marines on the atoll were still wearing the M1917 during the battle.

Prost!
Brad

 

[lancer]

The uniforms are US Army at the time WW2 started. The helmet was standard US issue prior to WW2 and was still very much in service during the early months of the war. The web gear, ie., the ammo belt, is US, not UK or Dominion. -- Al

 

[lauramarso]

Thank you all for your help. Any additional information would be gladly accepted!!
Is there a different forum I should post this in?? I didn't see one for paper soldiers or toys.
Thanks again!

 

[theBaron]

Thank you all for your help. Any additional information would be gladly accepted!!
Is there a different forum I should post this in?? I didn't see one for paper soldiers or toys.
Thanks again!

You're very welcome!

You might ask the moderators to move your post to another forum, but it's not that big of a deal. But let's not double-post; it'll be fine to follow up through this existing thread.

I can check my copies of O'Brien's books when I get home tonight and post back with any info he included. As I said before, I'm sure these are of American origin, from the late Thirties into the early Forties. And others have noted, they definitely depict US infantry, not any other country's.

Prost!
Brad

 

[Ivanhoe]

The photo and story is so neat !

They remind me of figures from the 40s, MARX "Soldier of Fortune" figures (they are not quite the same) or Built-Rite, however someone will find them in a book.

Thank you for posting.

 

[theBaron]

Re: WWI Paper Toy Soldiers??--Solved: Built-Rite cardboard soldiers

The photo and story is so neat !

They remind me of figures from the 40s, MARX "Soldier of Fortune" figures (they are not quite the same) or Built-Rite, however someone will find them in a book.

Thank you for posting.

Good call, Ivanhoe, you're correct! These are indeed Built-Rite soldiers. From the article in O'Brien's "Collecting Toy Soldiers, 3rd Edition: Collecting American-Made Toy Soldiers", they were issued at least as early as 1936. O'Brien includes a 1936 advertisement, showing a fort and army camp, with one of the privates superimposed, as well as a diagram from a 1936 patent application.

Built-Rite started as a manufacturer of cardboard boxes in the Twenties, but started making 2-dimensional printed toys in the Thirties. The soldiers were just part of the catalog, along with a range of civilian subjects.

The figures fit into cardboard bases that allowed them to stand free. They included a captain, a lieutenant, a sergeant and privates.

He also notes that by December 1942, the soldiers were issued with pot helmets.

Laura, your figures look like four privates and either a lieutenant or a captain. Badges of rank were printed, so, the sergeants had their stripes, and apparently the captain and lieutenant have the appropriate insignia, but it's hard to tell from the pictures in the book. At the resolution used to print them, they look identical to me. You have a nice little find.

Prost!
Brad

 

[Al Fisher]

Ah yes . . . I had many of the same soldiers back in the 1940s, including a trench. They were some of my first . . . and I've been collecting ever since!

Bosun Al