automobile: Royal Tiger Coach, Matchbox No. 40

During the late 1940s, a diecasting firm called Lesney Products started to produce small, affordable toys modeled after the Dinky line at their factory in London. The company unofficially launched its Matchbox line of miniature diecast vehicles with a replica of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation coach in 1953. Around the same time, Jack O’Dell, Lesney’s engineer, lent his daughter a Lensey manufactured matchbox-compliant cast-brass road roller to bring to school (the school permitted children to carry toys that were small enough to fit into a matchbox). All of her friends wanted one, and by the end of 1953, Lesney had trademarked the name Matchbox for its new line of miniature cars and trucks. Shopkeepers seemed apathetic about the line (they could make more money off larger toys sold for higher prices), but kids loved Matchbox for the affordable price and pocket scale.