Unique Art Mfg. Co. Jazzbo-Jim “The Dancer on the Roof” Tin Lithograph Windup Black Americana Fiddler Toy *SOLD*

Unique Art Mfg. Co. Jazzbo-Jim “The Dancer on the Roof” Tin Lithograph Windup Black Americana Fiddler Toy

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”.

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.