mechanical toy: Hector's Wheel Barrow

In the middle years of the 20th century, Louis Marx & Company produced about one of every five toys made in the United States. The company produced a wide range of dolls, dollhouses, trains, cars and vehicles, toy soldiers and guns, action figures, and a wide variety of mechanical tin toys. In 1955, “Time” magazine deemed Louis Marx, once described as a “roly-poly, melon bald, little man with berry bright eyes and beneficent smile of St. Nic,” the “Toy King.” He earned a reputation for cutting the price of his toys while also making small improvements. Marx donated a million toys each year to children of cops, waitstaff, orphanages, and other institutions.

The company released the Mechanical Hector's Wheel Barrow in the early 1970s. The toy was based on Georges Croses' "La Maison de Toutou," a French children's puppet television show. The show was later translated into an English version titled, "Hector's House." The English version featured Hector the Dog, Zsazsa the Cat, and Kiki the Frog. Zsazsa and Kiki often played tricks on Hector to teach him a lesson--his catchphrase became "I'm a Great Big Old Hector."