when did lionel start makeing it's showroom layouts during the pre war days.
Roger Carp did a special magazine on the showroom layouts a couple years ago. I'd contact him.
Dave
It's a TOY, A child's PLAYTHING!!! (Woody from Toy Story)
The earliest layouts were just ovals on tables with no scenery at all. There's a photo in Ron Hollander's All Aboard! (1981 printing) that shows Cowen and Mark Harris selling trains "in about 1914" on page 122. Aside from stations and signal towers, the layouts are ovals, figure eights and figure eighty eights (that's 4 connected circles). But since there's O gauge on the tables it could be later.
Becky
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
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