A recent post mentioning StromBecKer brought back many fond memories for me. I Googled the name and found a great history of the company. It was formed in the early 1900s by T. F. Strombek and R. D. Becker, thus the name StromBecKer. The company in Moline, Illinois made wooden models of trains, aircraft and ships - many to scale. I have a 2-8-2 locomotive in my home office - I am 78 years old and have had this loco for at least 70 years. I also had a model of the USS California and the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star (I was in the AIr Force so know the the P designations were later changed to the F designations), unfortunately I no longer have this ship or airplane. The ads shown in the history lists prices - an early ad had the California model priced at $.25 and the P-80 at $.50. Times have changed a bit. Any StromBecKer fan will be fascinated with this story. Google and enjoy!!
Wow, do you bring back some memories. My first kit was a StromBecker ship model, which I got for my 4th birthday in 1948. In fact, I still have a passenger car, at least the body is original, while I replaced the original cardstock sides with newer ones. The milled wood is very similar to Northeastern streamlined roof and floor stock. I also still have an original F-94B I built maybe 30 years ago.
I get a yearly mailing from someone in I think Napierville, Il who finds these old kits and resells them mail order. Some of these old $0.50 kits are getting as high as $50.00.
It seems to me that Strombecker made electric slot car s and tracks during the early to mid 60’s.
George Strombeck has a ton of Rock Island books out there.He was a son or grandson to the founders of said company.
The building still stands in Moline. Not sure whos in there now,but I think it still says Strombecker on it.
Stombecker had a plastics plant in my hometown of Durant, Oklahoma.
When I was a pre-teen they had a habit of dumping mold overruns in the trash, this was in the days before anyone thought of recycling the plastic, so it was not unusual to see us local kids with various kit parts / multiple whole kits in their toy chests. The plant also did contract runs for other company’s promotional give-aways. At one time I had a collection of whistles that would have taken buying a $100 worth of shoes to get any other way.
As far as I know the plant still exists and is operated independently these days.
Mark Gosdin
Boy, that brings back fond memories! When I was a kid, I built four of the StromBecKer trains–the City of San Francisco, the Rock Island Rocket, the B&O Royal Blue and their freight set with a 2-8-2 Mikado. Wish I’d kept them around, they were fun to build, and actually helped me a lot when I went into HO scale back in the late 'fifties. I remember that it was possible (with a LOT of work) to make the E-6 diesels in both the City and Royal Blue trains operational–the wooden diesel bodies had already been hollowed out to accept a motor.
And if you ever built one way back then, who can forget that powdered Casco glue that came with the kits? Man, talk about a MESS! I remember finally giving up and just using model airplane cement, LOL!
Tom [:P]
I have in my —don’t open that closet-----CRASH!!!—ooopps closet a slot-car set made by Strombecker----I think I got it at a yard sale a while back-----darn thing still works too. When I was a kid I had 3 of these things–used to combine them and run them up/down the 2nd floor hall—would drive mother nuts with the racket on hardwood floor—kitchen underneath—[:-^]
I can’t remember the exact year or years, but it was in the mid 60’s?
But just after a local TV station kids show, just before Christmas there was a show sponsored by a local toy store called Koehlingers, and the man who owned the store , known as “Uncle Winn” always showed their Strombecker slot car tracks and he and the the local TV guy would race each other on the slot car track.
Of course it was geared to to increase sales, but slot cars took off back then and local hobby shops soon all had slot car tracks you could rent time on and race your slot cars.
I still have an Aurora HO slot car set that still works.I got it for Christmas about 1964 or 1965. Thought about using it with my layout, but changed my mind.Aurora did make a train crossing.
Anyone else remember these?
TheK4Kid
I built my first Strombeker kit the night of my fourth birthday. One of the challenges I had was that I got too impatient to wait for my dad to help me the next day, so that night, I snuck out of bed after my folks were asleep, got the kit into my bedroom, and then having to figure out how to read the plans. Especially challenging was trying to figure out which of the small packs was the glue, and which was something called a filler, and even what the heck a filler was for.
I think I mixed the glue with salive.
Here is a old RI Rocket that I have had for years still have box but have lost paper work…Cox 47
Gee, I had one of those. Peter Smith, Memphis