Featured Toys, or Salesmans samples?

My mom has several wooden boxes, with drawers full of miniature things. Everything from antique Cracker Jack Toys and miniature paper dolls, to a bullet taken out of the leg of a relative from the Civil War.

That is where the cocktail stirrers came from, which I just posted a little while ago.

I'm going to combine a few items here that my mother calls toys, just because they are all something she played with as toys with her Raggedy Ann, which I also posted here a while back. I would guess they are actually samples that were turned into toys.

The first item is this miniature iron (2 1/2 inches long) and stand (4 inches long).





The second item is this wooden flatware tray which measures 5 3/4 x 3 1/2 inches, along with some miniature spoons and plates of some kinds.







What do you say? Toys, or samples?

 

Toys

 

The "Hosler's" spoon is an ice cream spoon.

James.

 

I didn't get into the flatware, because there's somewhat of a variety there, and I guessed they came from a variety of sources and uses.

They came with the tray, in this particular instance. I've never heard of Hoslers, as it's before my time, but having just looked it up, it makes sense as Hoslers would have been a fairly local ice cream for my mom as a youngster.

 

The little flat irons were often accompanied with the ‘miniature’ stoves that I think could be either, but often Salesman’s Samples....quite nice, detailed, and collector items for some time....often came with small frying pans and various coal scuttles (sp) and other kettles! Mom used to have 3 or 4, ‘til she finally sold them all! I still have a little ‘swan’ looking iron but no rest for it! LOVE the little flatware tray, which I think probably is a custom made toy!

 

Ah yes, my mother still has a couple coal scuttles and who knows what else on a shelf somewhere. My youngest brother has the cast iron miniature salesmans sample stove along with some frying pans.

 

I have a full-size antique tool carrier like the toy-size one you have.

The second and third spoons from the left are in an "aesthetic" pattern widely made in the US in the late 1870s and all the way through the 1880s. I just flipped through the Rogers section of Hagan's silver plate pattern book, and didn't see and exact match. But are yours marked on the back?

 

They weren't really samples, these wee things. More gifts to the lady of the house once she'd committed to buy. Then used as toys.

 

Most of the stoves were toys , not salesmen's samples.

 

I will check later when I get home.

 

I have one also that I use to hold my garden tools. I think they were actually made to hold flatware though which seems kind of inconvenient because everything would get jumbled together. BWDIK

 

Saw this on eBay, kinda looks like your Iron and Trivet but somebody just had to "improve" it with paint..........
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Mi...Lv5PairwiseWeb&_trksid=p2386202.c100677.m4598

 

There are no markings on the back.

 

Thanks for looking. Unfortunately there are so many silver plate makers from that period and so many very similar designs, it will either take me a very long time to ascribe the design to a specific firm or I will go my by grave without finding it. (just joking of course. not expecting to go there anytime soon. )

 

I used to use the tool or flatware holder as an organizer on the coffee table. Not having room in the living room for a coffee table since I moved here 15 years ago, the holder is now in the basement workroom.

 

Those little wooden holders were originally made to carry cleaning materials and so forth by housemaids. Also shoe cleaning things for one's butler.

 

Not in New England, OBB. No housemaids and even fewer butlers I suspect.