Tag Archives: 1982

25 Days of Holiday “Trainvertising” #3: Walking in a Wooden Wonderland

LEGO makes a Christmas card for its employees each year, and this was the example made to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary in 1982. It is filled with vintage LEGO goodness, including loads of wooden toys, 1:43 scale Chevrolet trucks, early LEGO building toys and some 1980s LEGO sets under the Christmas tree.

If you look closely, the box of wooden toys contains a special steam engine. Those Chevrolet trucks would also look mighty nice on an O scale layout. LEGO produced wooden toys from 1932 through 1960, following a fire that destroyed the wooden toy warehouse. The plastic Chevrolet trucks were made between 1952 and 1957.

These images originally appeared in the 50 Years of Play book, a LEGO history book given to LEGO employees in 1982. The book is hard to find, but you can read the digital version online via Brickset.com.

 

North America – At least we had 4.5 Volt (1982)

Back in the 1980s, 12 Volt trains reigned supreme in the UK, continental Europe and Australia. Meanwhile, across the pond we “Yankees” were less fortunate and missed out on the joys of 12V trains. Fortunately, we were able to get push trains and 4.5V battery-operated trains.

This hard-to-find brochure is from 1982 and advertises the 4.5V system for the North American market. The front cover features a charming illustration of set #7720, displayed with a mix of LEGO and traditional model railroad landscaping. We might not have had all the bells and whistles, but at least we had trains!