StromBecKer

[Butlerhawk]

A recent post mentioned StombBecKer which brought back fond memories for me. I Googled the name and found a great history of the company. It was formed by T. F. Strombeck and R. D. Becker, thus the name StromBecKer. The company in Moline, Illinois made wooden models of trains, aircraft and ships - most models to scale. I have a 2-8-2 locomotive, with tender in my home office. I am 78 years old and have had this loco for at least 70 years. I also had a model of the USS California and a P-80 Shooting Star (I was in the AIr Force so know that the P designations were later changed to the F designations), unfortunately I no longer have this ship or airplane . The ads shown in the history list the prices - an early ad had the California model listed at $.25 and the P-80 at $.50. TImes have changed a bit. Åny StromBecKer fan will will be fascinated with this story. Enjoy.

[vsmith]

I remember these kits, mostly from hobby shows as they were a little before my time.

The plane kits could be built up into very nice desktop models, they are no different than the high price solid wood offerings available today.

I know the train kits were certainly "poor" compared to modern offirngs but back in the 40's when HO offerings were pretty thin, the car kits they sold were often considered "mainstream". Gotta love the printed paper sides.

http://www.collectair.com/strombecker.html 

http://www.collectair.com/strombecker2.html