Model Railroading > What Were (They) Thinking (as Employees)?

So, what about the folks that worked at the Marx, Lionel, Varney and other USA factories that made train sets in days gone by? Back when many of us lucky baby boomers received our first train set for Christmas, much attention was not only paid to the product but also the marketing, sales, distribution networks and packaging. Besides my business, I work for a very successful, growing company, and now I'm in the packing department. Even when packing the product for shipment, much attention is paid to presentation, not just getting it packed well to make the journey safely, but thinking about what the first thing the customer sees when opening the box. (We also throw in a small bag of candy. And admittedly many of our customers look forward to that. If you forget to include the candy, you might hear about it! This is something the owner and CEO started way back when his business was much smaller.) 

Of course, with train sets, most of our Santa Clause's probably picked them up at a retail outfit (remember the department stores and the hobby shops) and the box would have been the box that the train set was included in that we first saw, unless Santa couldn't resist setting up the train!  But presentation here was important to get Santa's or a kid's attention when it was at the retail store, even if an operating train was on display. I remember my Marx, HO set box had a cellophane front. I gleefully eyed the train set inside. (My siblings and I saw it at the local PX in Germany, and unknown to me, they alerted Santa. Gosh, that train set looked familiar on Christmas Day! (Included in the set were a vermillion and gray NYC pacemaker box car and a Western Pacific bay window caboose.) 

With most train sets sold around Christmas time, I'll assume there was some seasonal help, but likely these companies had things to do all year long to get ready for the season. Perhaps school teachers were employed during the summer like one of my favorite teachers, who worked at a factory that made Christmas decorations? And Kudos to the designers and art people that made the trains come alive and fired our imaginations. I’ll assume the CEO, owner was involved in approving the new designs, etc.

So what were they thinking? Sure, it's a business and perhaps there was the dreaded overtime and working on weekends for the season. But I can't help but wonder what employees who worked in these factories here in the good old USA were thinking on the lines and in the shipping departments. Did they think about the young boy that would receive his first train set on Christmas Day? Was anyone not too busy to notice the new lines of trains and make a comment like, "Hey, look at this one!" 

Now, train sets, department stores, hobby shops and Made in USA are in short supply.

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com
 



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 08/08/20 18:17 by wabash2800.

All this proves that running a business is a lot harder than many folks realize...

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

To many of us who are collectors of toy & model trains, pre-1970's and even back to pre-WWII, the original boxes, inserts, packing materials and set cartons hold a very special place in our hearts.  Most of those train sets that Santa delivered, were unpacked with great enthusiasm, with box ends being torn off, set cartons crushed, paper wrappers torn, etc.  Most of the packing items were in the trash can by December 26th, never to be seen again.  So, you can imagine that these paper & cardboard items are significantly more scarce today, than the actual trains and accessories that came in them.  Empty, original boxes for rare models have been known to sell for thousands of dollars these days.  I can think of a few set cartons that would easily fetch over five figures if found today and maybe even into SIX!

Also, for the most part, the biggest toy train companies Lionel and A.C. Gilbert, packed their train sets in brown, corrugated cartons, sealed with glue or tape, with the description printed on the ends, see photo.  It wasn't until the later 1950's, when the market for these items began to decline, that these two companies started to get creative with display packaging, etc.

Just for fun, here is a photo of a "Separate Sale" master carton for  circa 1956 Lionel Canadian Pacific F3 AA Diesel Loco set.  The three cartons, EMPTY, are probably worth $1,000.00+ today.

Hope you are all doing well,

Allen Drucker
 

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wabash2800 Wrote:
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> (remember the department stores and the
> hobby shops)

What's a "hobby shop"?

In the winter of 1960-61 I was single and living in a rented room in Summit NJ. I was also a bowler so I took to going to Echo Lanes on Route 22 in Westfield. Couldn't afford to pay for too many practice sessions so mostly I just hung out. The Lionel bowling team was there one night a week for their league games so I made a point of being there that night and soon struck up a casual friendship with the team. They were regular, working class Italian men and they never talked about work. And I never pushed the subject. Really, does the auto worker think about the journeys the car he's helping to build will be going on? Or the UPS driver think about the meals that will be prepared in the cookware set he's delivering? In my career of designing and manufacturing telecommunications equipment I came into contact with many front-line workers and although there's satisfaction in a job well done, I doubt there was any thought given to "presentation". Even as an engineering supervisor my focus was on quality, production goals and deadlines, and not on what the customer would think when he saw the product. That was the realm of marketing, and even the workers who packed the product viewed it as just a job.

There's an old parable about a traveler in the middle ages encoutering three workers, each of whom was doing the same task. He asked the first what he was doing and was told "Digging a hole, as any idiot can plainly see!." The second said "I'm working so I can provide for my family". And the third said "I'm building a cathedral". I doubt any of those Lionel workers saw the cathedral they were building, and I suspect they'd have laughed at the thought that 60 years later the packing material for the toy trains they made would have any value at all.

Tom M., still working on my cathedral. And not inclined to strike up a conversation about "the romance of the rails" with any working railroader. 

Wow, you would think that somone would attempt to print some counterfeit boxes at that price.

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/11/20 14:03 by wabash2800.

wabash2800 Wrote:
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> Wow, you would think that somone would attempt to
> print some counterfeit boxes as that price.
>
> Victor A. Baird
> http://www.erstwhilepublications.com

They do, but thankfully, all the ones I have seen have been marked and offered as reproductions.  And, to seasoned collectors, even if the reproductions are perfect, they just scream out as fakes and are quite easy to spot.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/20 06:50 by Streamliner.

It seems the art of packaging today starts at with the manufacturer.  Let's face it, packaging is a major selling point when the customer is looking at it in the store, in person.  But online orders are different.  I've been thoroughly impressed with many products from retailers of all types (Apple, Art of Shaving, Under Armour, AMEX, etc) at how much care goes into the box design and unpackaging.  I'm sure we pay a decent pricetag for these things, but that's the power of exclusivity and vanity.  What's shocking is on the other side, you have Amazon, which has invested in things like "No-Hassle" packaging that is easy to open.  The other aspect is the shipping package of an Amazon purchase.  I'm shocked at how they can ship one item in an oversize shipping box with one piece of air bubble wrap thrown in.  
In Model RRing, we've gone through the phases of packaging from the Life-Like P2K 2 piece foam shell/mech box to the Bachmann Spectrum black box/foam combo to the now typical "blister" package for trains.  Athearn has some unique box designs and almost all manufacturers offer great documentation and "congratulations" booklets.  I guess I've always been a sucker for packaging, whether it be from the manufacturer or the seller, presentation is important.

-Sean