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Monday, February 4, 2013

Lionel No. 184-185 Bungalow

This is gonna be a tough year for tin on the blog. Why? cuz I'm runnin' out of the stuff!! We'll try to keep it goin' as long as we can, but I know that Tinplate Monday's are going to transition to something else sooner-or-later. Perhaps a down day to give me a break, because it is rather hard to keep up this pace alone. For now though I'm reaching back to old photos I took several years ago but never posted. I have several Lionel tin-litho buildings that are crying to be released! (Can you hear them? I can). So, that being said, let’s release the Bungalow!
Toy manufacturers were always full of anomalies and Lionel was no exception. These diminutive houses were produced during the 1930s at a time when Lionel was only making Standard Gauge and O-gauge trains. The houses themselves are tiny measuring only 4 3/4" (12.1cm) L x 2 3/4" (7cm) W and size-wise would look more at home on a Post-War American Flyer S-Gauge layout than next to the hulking trains of the time. The Bungalows came in lighted and unlighted and lithographed and painted versions. There are also modern day reproductions made by Mike’s Train House (MTH) which adds more color variety to the overall line-up. These are small enough to be compatible with cardboard Putz or Christmas Garden set-ups adding yet another dimension to the displays. Their quintessential 1930s design, along with their size, is also a good much for dispaly alongside the Built-Rite cardboard buildings made during the same time period.  Enjoy!