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42-528: Ives was founded in Plymouth, Connecticut by Edward Ives , a descendant of Plymouth colony governor William Bradford . The company initially produced paper dolls whose limbs moved in response to hot air, but soon began producing a wide range of toys, including a toy cannon that shot using real gunpowder and also toy clockwork powered dolls and animals that could move. The clockwork toys were designed by Jerome Secor, Nathan Warner, and Arthur Hotchkiss and by

84-565: A town in Litchfield County , Connecticut , United States, located within the Naugatuck Valley Planning Region . It is named after Plymouth , Devon , England. The population was 11,671 at the 2020 census , down from 12,243 at the 2010 census. The town of Plymouth includes the villages of Plymouth Center, Terryville and Pequabuck. The town was incorporated in 1795 and became known nationally for

126-448: A cast-iron Ives locomotive shattering into 15 pieces when dropped from a table, while a Lionel locomotive dropped from the same height would survive with only dents. Other ads criticizing Ives' quality appeared, but they always compared Ives' cheapest products with Lionel's priciest offerings. Although Ives could rightly claim that its lithographed offerings were more realistic than Lionel's simple enameled two-color cars, Lionel, taking

168-431: A cue from Ives, targeted advertising straight at children, claiming its cars were the most realistic and that its paint jobs were more durable. Ives' subdued responses did little to counter Lionel's claims, only calling its competitors imitators whose technology was "12 years behind." It was no match for Lionel's bold and brash ads. Additionally, Lionel's trains generally were priced lower, or, in instances where their price

210-569: A day; a working day in 1902 being ten hours. Ives did not make a machine for rolling their rails until somewhat later (In 1907-1908, after Haberlin had left the Ives' Manufacturing Company to work for Sir Thomas Edison as a toolmaker/machinist with his brother John E. Haberlin in Edison's laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey). Haberlin later went on to work for Ives entirely, using his expertise as

252-403: A private sale and a quick settlement. The motion for a private sale was denied. On July 31, 1928, Ives was purchased by Lionel and American Flyer for $ 73,250. The low price in comparison to the company sales was presumably due to liens on Ives' assets. Lionel and Flyer then operated Ives as a joint venture, retaining Johnson and Harry Ives as president and chairman, respectively. Harry Ives left

294-587: A result, Ives did not benefit financially from the war. After the war, Ives, along with competitors Lionel and American Flyer, lobbied successfully for protective tariffs to promote the fledgling American toy train industry. As a result, there was very little foreign competition after World War I, especially at the high end of the market where Ives had positioned itself. The seasonal nature of train sales continued to cause concern for Ives, and Harry Ives , Edward Ives' son and successor, sought one last time to diversify by selling toy boats, which he hoped would support

336-642: A tool maker to design and machine all of their early dies. When he decided to work for the company, Ives bought his tool shop, Hayes & Haberlin Machine Company, to assist the transition. In 1906, Haberlin left Ives and started making up dies for himself, founding the American Miniature Railway Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut (which was both Ives' and Haberlin's hometown) on April 6, 1907. The company would be one of

378-485: Is in the west. The community of Pequabuck is on the eastern border of the town, southeast of Terryville. According to the United States Census Bureau , the town of Plymouth has a total area of 22.4 square miles (57.9 km ), of which 21.9 square miles (56.7 km ) are land and 0.4 square miles (1.1 km ), or 1.99%, are water. Part of Mattatuck State Forest is in the southwest corner of

420-405: The 1880s, Ives was a leading producer of these toys. Its emphasis shifted to trains as its designs were copied by other toymakers who were willing to sell them more cheaply. Ives' trains were made of tin or cast iron and initially powered by clockwork, and later electric trains On December 22, 1900, a disastrous fire struck and destroyed the Ives & Williams Company main factory, destroying

462-633: The Ives designs they replaced. A notable exception was the Ives 1122 locomotive, first produced in 1929, which was the first near-to-scale model of an existing locomotive to enter the marketplace. Although it had a 4-4-2 wheel configuration, it was otherwise a recognizable copy of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad President Washington Class 4-6-2 locomotive. Whatever the reasons, the Ives product line after 1928 inherited many recognizable traits from three different companies' product lines. In 1930, Lionel bought out American Flyer's share in Ives and closed

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504-454: The Ives e-unit first introduced in 1924 lived on in Lionel locomotives, with a modified version of the Ives design first appearing in Lionel trains starting in 1933. Some historians have said Cowen coveted the Ives e-unit, and that it was the primary reason Lionel bought the company. It would remain present in Lionel trains for more than 50 years. Plymouth, Connecticut Plymouth is

546-535: The Ives factory in Connecticut, moving operations to Lionel's New Jersey factory. Lionel kept the Ives brand on the market through 1932, then repositioned Ives for 1933, branding its entry-level trains as Lionel-Ives , then dropped the Ives name altogether following that year. Although re-issues were occasionally made, the Ives name never re-appeared on the marketplace with any kind of regularity. Although Joshua Lionel Cowen would later claim that he dumped all of

588-506: The Ives molds in the Connecticut River , Ives' influence lived on. Lionel continued the Ives practice of issuing low-end train sets that ran on a circle of O-gauge track with a 27-inch diameter, and Lionel incorporated some Ives-designed freight cars into its product line. The Lionel 1680 tanker car, for instance, was an Ives design that remained in Lionel's catalogs right up to the start of World War II . Even more significantly,

630-405: The average family size was 3.06. In the town, the population was spread out, with 25.8% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 31.8% from 25 to 44, 23.3% from 45 to 64, and 12.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.6 males. The median income for a household in the town

672-535: The building and all the patterns, parts and tools for manufacturing the cast-iron toys. The fire prompted a re-design by William R. Haberlin for 1901 that resulted in Ives' first toy train that ran on track. In 1901, The Ives Manufacturing Company, in a space rented from William R. Haberlin and Timothy F. Hayes, began producing the first "O" gauge trains in the United States to run on a fabricated sectional track. The trains were powered by clockwork machinery inside

714-705: The community is on Route 6, and dates to 1690–1700. In the 1790s, George Washington traveled through here, both to visit relatives and to stay away from the coastline. The Terry family participated in a great deal of Plymouth's history. Eli Terry became partners with Seth Thomas and Silas Hoadley to manufacture clocks in the Greystone section of town. Terry gave the factory to Hoadley and Thomas, and opened his own clock factory near Carter Road in Plymouth Center, while Thomas moved to Plymouth Hollow. Eli Terry, Jr. (son of Eli Terry) joined with another man who

756-515: The company in September 1929, and died within seven years. Ives' new owners immediately discontinued the line of toy boats, and much of Ives' train product line was replaced with relabeled American Flyer or Lionel product, and most new designs were carried out using Lionel and American Flyer parts, even though Ives' own designs were usually more realistic. There are several reasons for this. When Lionel and American Flyer bought Ives, they did not buy

798-505: The company through strong summer sales. The first boats, released in 1917, were powered by a clockwork engine from an Ives O gauge locomotive. However, the designs were unrealistic looking, lacking the costly detail that was the highlight of competing German designs, and had a tendency to sink easily. Additionally, since Ives did not use a primer when painting the boats, the paint flaked off easily. Ives had difficulty adapting its methods for designing and building trains to work for boats. Despite

840-639: The company. For a time, the Ives Manufacturing Company used the slogan : "Ives Toys Make Happy Boys". In an effort to turn around the company, Harry Ives relinquished his presidency in 1927, becoming chairman of the board and bringing in an outsider, Charles R. Johnson, as president, but problems continued and Ives' largest creditor sued in 1928. Ives filed for bankruptcy , reporting liabilities of $ 188,303.25. As Ives already had $ 245,000 in Christmas sales lined up, Johnson petitioned for

882-498: The district and students attend Terryville High School . The town is served by U.S. Route 6 , Connecticut Route 72 , and Connecticut Route 262 . Route 6 passes through Terryville and Plymouth Center, leading east through Bristol 22 miles (35 km) to Hartford , the state capital, and west through Thomaston , 8 miles (13 km) to Watertown . Route 72 least southeast 3 miles (5 km) to Bristol and north 9 miles (14 km) to Harwinton , while Route 262 south and west via

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924-434: The face of increasing competition and Lionel's greater momentum, the latter having released its first electric trains nearly a decade earlier. Meanwhile, construction toys were gaining in popularity, so in an effort to re-diversify, Ives released a Meccano and Erector Set -like construction toy in 1913 named Struktiron. Although it offered parts its competition did not, the set was not very successful and Ives withdrew it from

966-422: The factory or tooling, which they then had to rent. It may have been less expensive for the parent companies to supply their own parts than to rent the old Ives tooling. Some historians have speculated that the Ives tooling was worn out and no longer suitable for use. A third factor was that Lionel's and Flyer's manufacturing process was less labor-intensive, which made their designs less expensive to manufacture than

1008-460: The first tools and machinery ever built in the United States for manufacturing tinplate track. The first year, as Ives was in a hurry to get track, a set of drop-hammers were made up for the rails and ties. The tinplate was first cut up into strips and then placed under the drop-hammer. The next year Haberlin and Hayes made up regular dies for use in a punch press, which would cut the rails and ties out of sheet tin. Thirty thousand rails could be made in

1050-492: The least known of the early American tinplate manufacturers, only gaining recent notoriety. Having designed and built the original line, Haberlin's new company would create and manufacture a similar line to Ives until 1912. Ives released its first electric trains in 1910, partially in response to companies such as American Flyer undercutting its prices on clockwork trains. Ives initially produced electric trains in O gauge and 1 gauge . Ives' train sales continued to decline in

1092-410: The manufacture of clocks. The town was named after Plymouth, Massachusetts . Plymouth (formerly Northbury, a section of Waterbury ) was originally used as a burying ground for Waterbury. History records show that it was founded by a group of people who believed they had found a large deposit of lead . This fabled "lead mine" never actually existed (or is still yet to be discovered). The oldest home in

1134-611: The market in 1917. World War I had mixed effects on the company. On one hand, it eliminated imports from Germany , increasing Ives' share of the market. However, Ives' geographic location made it difficult to bring in the materials it needed to make trains, as well as shipping finished products. Lionel and American Flyer, being headquartered in New York City and Chicago , respectively, did not face that challenge. Additionally, Ives' isolation made it impossible for Ives to gain lucrative wartime government manufacturing contracts. As

1176-401: The name. While Ives was inconsistent in what it called its larger-gauge trains, it most frequently called it wide gauge. Numerous other companies also entered the wide gauge market in the early 1920s, increasing consumer interest in the size and forcing the manufacturers to innovate in order to survive. In 1924, Ives introduced a locomotive engine that would change directions when its power flow

1218-715: The patterns for the iron locomotives bodies (made by Charles A. Hotchkiss, mentioned in Model Craftsman - March 1944) and the clockwork mechanisms themselves (manufactured by The Reeves Manufacturing Company in New Haven, Connecticut, later in Milford, Connecticut), everything that went into this line was tooled up by Haberlin and his partner, T.F. Hayes (Timothy F. Hayes), in their tool shop, the Hayes & Haberlin Machine Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The work included

1260-408: The population. There were 4,453 households, out of which 34.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.7% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.5% were non-families. 22.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and

1302-436: The problems, Ives continued producing the boats until 1928. Few Ives boats exist today, but it is unclear whether this was due to lack of popularity or their propensity to sink. Harry Ives had a heated professional relationship with Lionel founder Joshua Lionel Cowen , in which they traded lawsuits and, starting in 1915, Lionel criticized the quality of Ives' offerings in print advertisements, calling its cars flimsy and showing

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1344-441: The success of Ives' fictional railroad, Ives Railway Lines, depended on their shrewd management. The campaign succeeded in building brand loyalty for the company, and they would go on to become the largest manufacturer of toy trains from 1910 until Lionel overtook them in sales in 1924. William R. Haberlin is the man who made all of the tools and dies for the original Ives O-gauge ("O" gauge) clockwork train line in 1901. Aside from

1386-459: The time, Ives opted to remain with clockwork, partly because many U.S. homes still lacked electricity. Initially, Ives' greatest competition came from German imports, and not from domestic manufacturers. Ives' response was with a marketing campaign targeting the American twelve-year-old boy, which was their ideal demographic. Its campaigns addressed boys as business partners, telling them that

1428-543: The town. As of the census of 2000, there were 11,634 people, 4,453 households, and 3,228 families residing in the town. The population density was 535.6 inhabitants per square mile (206.8/km ). There were 4,646 housing units at an average density of 213.9 per square mile (82.6/km ). The racial makeup of the town was 97.34% White , 0.78% African American , 0.15% Native American , 0.42% Asian , 0.01% Pacific Islander , 0.32% from other races , and 0.97% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.26% of

1470-474: The toy, and sales for the year totaled $ 2,600 (equivalent to about $ 94,000 of purchasing power in today's money). In 1901 and 1902, the die stamping production of trains, cars and track was subcontracted out to Haberlin and Hayes Bridgeport Tool & Die. In the end, the fire benefited the Ives Manufacturing Company, as the insurance money permitted it to build a modern factory with state-of-the-art tooling. Although several companies were selling electric trains at

1512-505: Was $ 53,750, and the median income for a family was $ 62,610. Males had a median income of $ 41,985 versus $ 32,359 for females. The per capita income for the town was $ 23,244. About 2.7% of families and 4.1% of the population were below the poverty line , including 2.9% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over. Plymouth is served by the Plymouth Public Schools District. There are four schools in

1554-451: Was comparable to Ives, they were larger, making them appear to be a better value for the money. As a result, Lionel continually gained ground on Ives, finally overtaking them in sales in 1924. In 1921, Ives abruptly discontinued its slow-selling 1 gauge trains in favor of Wide Gauge trains, a standard Lionel had introduced several years earlier and called "Standard Gauge". Ives did not call its trains Standard Gauge, as Lionel had trademarked

1596-638: Was interested in the cabinet and lock industry, and they opened the Eagle Lock Company . In the 1880s, the Plymouth Hollow section of Plymouth decided to split off and become the town of Thomaston , named after Seth Thomas. The Eagle Lock Company closed in the 1970s, and in 1975 the entire abandoned site burned, leaving one building left undamaged. The rest of the buildings were torn down or had floors removed. The Main Street School

1638-422: Was interrupted, a feature that Lionel would not offer for another two years. Even after Lionel's introduction, Ives' offering was unique in that it offered a neutral position as well as forward and reverse, and the engine's headlight continued to operate even when the train was in neutral. Ives charged a premium for this feature, which it dubbed the "R-unit" (the "R" stood for 'remote'), and it increased sales. This

1680-696: Was located on the green (Baldwin Park) in Terryville. It was demolished in the 1930s, and the new Terryville High School was constructed behind the green on North Main Street. In the mid-2000s, Prospect Street School and Main Street School (previously called East Main Street) were left abandoned, so the construction of the new Terryville High School could begin in the Holt section of town. The Harry S. Fisher Middle School

1722-441: Was not enough for Ives to re-take its former place as market leader—by 1926, Lionel's revenue was twice that of Ives'--and, worse yet for the company, Ives was losing money by the mid-1920s. This was worsened by Ives' attempts to compete at the low end of the market, where, unlike its competition, it sold its entry-level models at a loss. If Ives' low-end products were higher quality than its competitors, it benefited its customers, not

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1764-731: Was turned into the Harry S. Fisher Elementary School, and the old Terryville High School was turned into the Eli Terry Jr. Middle School. Plymouth is in southeastern Litchfield County and is bordered to the east by the city of Bristol in Hartford County and to the south by the city of Waterbury in New Haven County . Terryville , the largest community in Plymouth, is in the eastern part of town, while Plymouth Center

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