34b 'Royal Mail' Van (1938-52)

34b Royal Mail van and trade box just arrived today. The mail van has open rear windows.Dave

Here are the backs of my three 34b : Kind regards Richard

Hi all, Here are mine.........

and older Brother...

Chris Warr.

Chris, This last one is in my dreams and only in my dreams ! I have not the budget for this item ! Wonderful ! Best rgds Richard

Thanks Richard. don't despair! They are out there, I didn't pay much for this one considering, the good thing about Pre War is that it's not always obvious what the model actually is, or even that it's a Dinky. All I'm going to say is have a good look at auctions that don't mention Dinky at all, it's amazing what turns up as 'Old toy car'! Chris Warr. (Giving all my secrets away now :laugh: ).

Chris is absolutely right here. This might not be the best example of a 25j Jeep but the e-bay seller just described it as: 'Old Jeep', there were no other bidders and I picked it up for

Thanks to you Chris and Dave. That's a great idea,... that I never had ! By the way, I never saw that Jeep in blue before. Nice model Dave. Friendly yours. Richard

Also a search under 'Dinkey' 'Dinkee' or 'Dinkie' can find stuff listed by those who can't spell, that no one else finds, and ALWAYS search in 'all catagories' stuff doesn't always get listed in 'Diecast' or even 'Toys and games'. Keep it to yourself though.. Chris Warr. PS... The downside to this is when I search 'Spot On' and get 5000 hits, 4589 of which are Flea treatments for Cats and Dogs. And... they've now got a new flea drop called 'Spot On Zodiac'! How annoying is that!!! :cheer:

Sure that I will keep these informations for myself ! there are too many spies around here ! And certainly not to my cats otherwise, I will not be able to accede to my computer ! Cheers

The recent addition of an early post-war example of this mail van led to a revision of my catalogue comment, and some new pictures taken. A quick translation into English here, possibly arousing some comments from others, additions, corrections, views, etc., which may be useful for improving my own draught text. In my opinion the Royal Mail Van is one of the most characteristic pre-war English Dinky Toys commercials. It is a very dated, angular model indeed, of a 1935 Morris Commercial van. The 'Royal Mail' lettering and the related crown and 'GR' (George Rex) logo are cast in, raised in relief on both sides. That is rather exceptional for a Dinky Toy, as this was often realized by applying transfers. They were individually painted in black and gold (yellow) respectively. Pre-war examples always have the black roof and smooth black hubs, and the oval rear windows are open. Usually the tyres are white during that period. Although Cecil Gibson (History of British Dinky Toys) assumes that the post-war reissue took place in 1948, that must have happened in 1945/46 already, as early post-war examples have smooth hubs too. Slightly before the end of WWII, before Dinky Toys production was resumed, the diameter of the axles increased, which makes the difference. That change was applied to the factory drawing on 13 July 1945. In this very early post-war period, models were also provided with white tyres. In the course of 1946 the hubs became ridged and very shortly afterwards the rear windows closed. In February 1949, the colour scheme was simplified by keeping the roof, the footboards and the rear mudguards red instead of black. Conform all other pre- and early post-war Dinky Toys the black hubs also had to give way to brighter coloured red ones, which remained so until the end, in 1952, when this mail van had become an undeniably old-fashioned model. This last version seems to be slightly lesser common than the previous one with black roof. The bonnet and front wings always remained black. All these adjustments can be seen on the list of changes of factory drawing no. 10846 of 5 May 1937, which is not included in the list of the Richardsons in The Great Book or Dinky Toys. The tin base plate shows a moulded cardan shaft, differential, etc. Until 1952, when King George VI died, the crowned GR symbol was up-to-date. This may have contributed to this models withdrawal from the market in the same year. It was not until 1955 that this mail van was succeeded by a more suitable, modern replacement, the no. 260 Royal Mail Van, the model of the post-war Morris Commercial 'J', the real-world prototype of which was in production from 1949 to 1961. Although never sold as a couple, the pre-war no. 34b is often seen in combination with 'setmate' no. 34a, the Royal Air Mail Service Car. This streamlined blue airmail car was introduced a little earlier, in 1935. Perhaps the futuristic design was so dated (and short-lived in reality) that that model did not return after the war. The Royal Mail Van was individually sold from half-a-dozen trade boxes, but was also included in the Postal Set (no. 12) before the war, a well-known gift box in which the van was accompanied by the telephone all box, two various mailboxes and two different postmen (nos. 12a-12e). The closely related airmail van, however, was never included. Kind regards, Jan postalheritage.wordpress.com/tag/post-of...ost-office-vehicles/













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Jan-Very nice write up on a wonderful model that Dinky produced. You mentioned Cecil Gibson and his book....I believe I remember him also stating that this model and the early, pre-war Taxi, both best represented authentic English vehicles from that era. Indeed, the detailing and accuracy to scale are quite well done, and looking at your nice period photo of a real one confirms that. I also see far fewer of the red roof version.... Best regards, Terry

Hello Jan I hope you don't mind if I offer a few suggestions regarding your, as always, interesting piece. I can't make any statement about the model but, if you'll forgive my pedantry (as a former TEFL teacher), I have the following to offer as being more colloquial English: If we take the line that begins 'In my opinion . . ' as line 1 Line 7 put 'already' before the word 'happened' rather than later in the sentence. Line 11 add 'were' between windows and closed, or perhaps use 'were filled in'. Line 12 replace 'Conform' with either 'Conforming' or 'In common with'. Line 15 replace 'lesser' with 'less'. Line 21 '. . . a model of the post-war . . .' Line 26 replace 'half-a-dozen trade boxes' with 'trade boxes of half-a-dozen'. Line 27/28 add a 'c' to make 'telephone call box', and replace 'two various mailboxes' with 'the two types of mailbox'. I admit to being a bit of a grammar geek but I blame the books I avidly devoured as a child. On another matter, I intend to visit the upcoming toy fair at Sandown Park on the 10th November. Are you, or is anyone else on here, attending? I'd enjoy meeting up for a coffee and chat. Kind regards John