Unique Art ca. 1930s Tin Lithographed Windup “Capitol Hill Racer” with Box for Sale *SOLD*

Unique Art ca. 1930s Tin Lithographed Windup “Capitol Hill Racer” with Box

We have for you a ca. 1930’s tin, windup, lithographed “Capitol Hill Racer” with box that was manufactured by Unique Art Manufacturing Company Inc. of Newark, New Jersey.   

When wound with its dedicated key, this nifty little racer flies up the hill and back down; rinse and repeat. Its very fun to watch this toy do its thing. The windup mechanism is in working condition. The box is in very good condition. We have wrapped and reinforced this box to preserve it.  

This piece is in very good to great all original condition with no breaks, restorations, repairs, or touch-ups. This piece shows the usual patina, fading, dust, chips, scuffs, surface rust, scratches, missing accessories, and wear that are to be expected from age and play. This is approximately 17″ L. We invite you to view the photos to further determine quality and condition.      

A brief history of Unique Art Manufacturing Company Inc. of Newark, New Jersey:    

Unique Art Manufacturing Company Inc. was an American toy company, founded in 1916, and based in Newark, New Jersey.  They made inexpensive toys, including wind-up mechanical toys, out of lithographed tin. The “Rap & Tap in a Friendly Scrap” was one of its earliest products. Other toys they manufactured were, comic/character tin mechanicals including “Li`l Abner Dogpatch Band” and “Gertie, The Galloping Goose”.   

The company scored a hit in the 1940s when it acquired the rights to a popular comic strip and released the Li’l Abner Dogpatch Band for Christmas 1945. The windup toy featured Abner dancing, Pappy on drums, Mammy with a drumstick, and Daisy Mae playing the piano. Unique followed with a Howdy Doody band several years later.   

Unique’s president, Sammy Bergman, was a good friend of toy magnate Louis Marx, and the two men’s companies at times cooperated, with Marx providing tooling to Unique and sometimes acting as a distributor for Unique’s products. Unique Art’s eventual fate is unclear, but the company appears to have disappeared by 1952, with some evidence of Marx picking up the line later on.