Buddy L

Buddy L (or Buddy "L" or Buddy-L) is an American toy brand and company founded in 1920 as the Buddy L Toy Company in East Moline, Illinois, by Fred Lundahl.[1]

History

Buddy "L" toys were originally manufactured by the Moline Pressed Steel Company, started by Fred A. Lundahl in 1910.[2] The company originally manufactured automobile fenders and other stamped auto body parts for the automobile industry.[2] The company primarily supplied parts for the McCormack-Deering line of farm implements and the International Harvester Company for its trucks.[2] Moline Pressed Steel did not begin manufacturing toys until 1921.[2] Mr. Lundhal wanted to make something new, different, and durable for his son Arthur.[2] He designed and produced an all-steel miniature truck, reportedly a model of an International Harvester truck made from 18- and 20-gauge steel which had been discarded to the company's scrap pile.[2]

Buddy L made such products as toy cars, dump trucks, delivery vans, fire engines, construction equipment,[3] and trains.[4] Fred Lundahl used to manufacture for International Harvester trucks.[1] He started by making a toy dump truck out of steel scraps for his son Buddy. Soon after, he started selling Buddy L "toys for boys", made of pressed steel.[1] Many were large enough for a child to straddle, propelling himself with his feet.[1] Others were pull toys. A pioneer in the steel-toy field, Lundahl persuaded Marshall Field's and F. A. O. Schwarz to carry his line. He did very well until the Depression, then sold the company.[1]

From 1976 to 1990, Buddy L was owned by Richard Keats, a well-known New York toy designer who went to work for Buddy L the day after he graduated from Brown University in 1948.[1]

In 1990, Keats sold BuddyL to SLM International and by 2010 it was owned by Empire Industries of Boca Raton, Florida,[1] a subsidiary of Empire of Carolina.[5]

In the 1990s, Buddy-L made Splatter Up, a wet version of T-ball.[6]

On 31 August 2000, the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a recall for about 113,000 battery-powered children's riding vehicles, marketed as "Power Drivers" or "Buddy L", for repair. The vehicles' battery chargers can overheat, presenting fire and injury hazards to children.[7]

In November 2000, Empire of Carolina and its wholly owned subsidiary, Empire Industries, Inc., filed for bankruptcy and, in July 2001, Empire Industries was sold substantially to Alpha International, Inc,[8] also known as the Gearbox Pedal Car Company, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa[5] (renamed as Gearbox Toys and now owned by J. Lloyd International).

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ANTIQUES; A Fleet Of Boys' Daydreams, Wendy Moonan, The New York Times, 2 March 2001 (retrieved 16 September 2010)
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Freed, Joe and Sharon; Collector's Guide to American Transportation Toys, 1895-1941, Freedom Publishing Company, 1995, 424 pages, ISBN 978-0-9646847-0-6 (retrieved 16 September 2010 from Buddy K Toys)
  3. ↑ American on the Move | Buddy “L” Toy Steam Shovel, National Museum of American History (retrieved 16 September 2010)
  4. ↑ Buddy L Trains, The Train Collectors Association Western Division (retrieved 17 September 2010)
  5. 1 2 About Empire Industries Inc, The Action Figure Archive (retrieved 16 September 2010)
  6. ↑ Splatter Up Baseball from Buddy L, Shoot the Moon (retrieved 10 February 2012)
  7. ↑ CPSC, Empire Industries Announce Recall of Children's Riding Vehicles, 31 August 2000 (retrieved 16 September 2010)
  8. ↑ EMPIRE OF CAROLINA INC (FORM: 8-K), Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR, 29 July 2001 (retrieved 16 September 2010 on
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