Topic: Art and Toy
The Sulky-Ciclo children vehicles are an original product of Argentina. These outstanding scale pedaled cars and carts for children were produced back in the 1950s by a local firm known as Sulky-Ciclo, but this was the commercial brand chosen by Azcarate bros & Escoda S.A.I.C. the minds behind the names.
Their creations were truly artworks, featuring sophisticated technical mechanisms and superb finishing touches. These unique products were indeed highly appreciated not only by hundreds of children who had an amazing time playing with them, but also by their parents and relatives, for these toys were a status luxury that not everyone could afford. This was a type of toy targeted to the Argentine high society circles. Hence it’s not rare to link the sophisticated motifs such as a pure blood horse pulling a gorgeous sulky, an ultra modern race car or one of those beautiful scooters.
The Sulky-Ciclo Models were advertised and commercialized by a second brand that was Monterrey Sulky-Ciclo.
The 1950s-1960s catalog featured a rich variety of top notch models. The trademark traditional Sulky models came in two varieties, either pulled by one or two horses. Each of these horses was made out of papier mache that covered a basic metal structure that was then covered with an original leather layer. There were also modern looking vehicles: Canciller was the brand name for a suberb red tractor and Escada, with or without a side-car, scooter looking tricycle. And the brand’s true gem was an outstanding Masseratti racing car. Such was the sophistication and great finishing of this product that the American mega toy store FAO Shwartz included this model in their 1957 catalog.
With the pass of time and the evolution within the Argentine toy industry, the perspective of time and other products portrays these pedal vehicles as some of the most sophisticated toys of the Argentine industry. Indeed these are nowadays truly coveted toys by world wide collectors as well as amazing museum objects.
Not only the vehicles itself, but all the advertising and publicity that the company developed at the time. Within this field there’s one amazing poster drawn by two of the best Argentine cartoon drawers ever: Ubaldo Galuppo and Mordillo (who in those years was working for the American company Hallmark). The poster that was published in the Children’s magazine Billiken was signed Mor-Galu.
The Buenos Aires Toy Museum. Argentina.
Posted by frassinetti
at 7:07 PM EDT
Updated: Tuesday, 11 May 2010 2:17 PM EDT
