The Anchor Buggy and Carriage Company Connection [Web version - updated 8-29-07]
	Stuart History Dexter Balterman Stuart Sets Stuart Colors Stuart Accessories Cereal Premium Anchor Connection Emails From You Cleaning Stuarts Collections Knockoffs Unusual Stuarts Lizabeths Page Trade Page Links Home	THE ANCHOR CONNECTION In 1932 Samuel Levinson established the Stuart Manufacturing Company at 9 East Third Street in Cincinnati, Ohio. Stuart made children's night lights and other items before producing a line of miniature Western toys in the 1950s and 60s. Levinson sold the Stuart Manufacturing Company to his partner, Dexter Balterman, in 1953 and stayed to help Balterman run the company. By 1954 Stuart had moved to 215 W. Fourth Street. Because of growing demand for Stuart's Western toys, the company relocated to a larger facility at 337 Fifth Street in 1958. Levinson retired from Stuart at that time, staying at the Fourth Street location to create another company - The Anchor Buggy and Carriage Company, Inc. The original Anchor Buggy and Carriage Company was a leader in the production of carriages in the 19th. century. It is a hallowed name in Cincinnati. Samuel Levinson had gotten permission in 1935 to revive the name for creating exact miniature plastic carriage models. ANCHOR MODEL CARRIAGES Anchor made colorful plastic carriage parts which snapped together for easy assembly. The detachable rubbery harnesses in black or brown were made for Anchor solid-bodied prancing horses. Anchor carriages were sold in toy stores, department stores and hobby shops. To date I have seen 13 historic Anchor sets. It is possible Anchor made others but promotional materials were lost. The sets are: Two Horse Sleigh (popular in 1885), Runabout (first vehicle of the early West with steel springs), Buckboard (used in the Western frontier), Surrey (1800s canopy-top family vehicle), Sulky (used as a racer), Landau (built for President Grant), Phaeton (six-passenger carriage popular up to the days of the motor vehicle), Victoria Carriage (built for Queen Victoria), Lincoln Carriage (built for President Lincoln), Convertible, Buggy and Welcome Santa Claus [with 4 reindeer, a red Santa and sleigh]. Anchor also made Champions, a set consisting of 3 Anchor buggy horses. Anchor soft plastic horses are 3 13/16 inches tall. Horses have been found in white, black, silver and variations of marbled gray, silver, white and black. White is most common. The only Anchor knockoffs that I know of are 1/72 scale versions made in Hong Kong. In the United States, Anchor carriage toys were especially popular in the Pennsylvania and Ohio Mennonite areas. One newspaper article dated July 6, 1962 reported that Levinson sold a million models in the U.S. before receiving offers from companies to market the toys in Europe. And, that he was traveling to Europe in August to complete arrangements with several toymakers who wanted to make and distribute carriage models to the (then) Common Market countries. Anchor sold its model kits all over the world. Samuel Levinson died October 15, 1964 at age 80. I believe he would be happy to know that his wonderful model carriages are still being collected and appreciated. Acknowledgments I'd like to thank the following people who contributed to this article: Andy Balterman, Joseph Levinson, Steve Bluhm of Como Products, Marcia Minor, C.R. Gloyd, Tamsy Freeman and Laura Dalen .