Midgetoy -Brief Company History
It was 1943 when Alvin and Earl Herdklotz formed the A & E Tool and Gage Co. Their first products included precision tooling such as gauges
that measured the contours and shapes of airplane propellers. With the end of World War II, there was no more defense work and they decided to
manufacture die-cast toys at their factory in Rockford, Illinois. These toys” were designed to save on production cost and were more basic then the more
established die-cast toy makers such as Tootsietoys.
They decided to call this toy line Midgetoy (pronounced Midget-oy). The picture below is their first die-cast product, introduced in 1946 which they
called the 4 in 1 Truck Set.
Midgetoy 4 Truck Ser
In 1947 the “Buck Rogers” type Spaceship Car was added. It was followed in 1948 by the “Futuristic Auto” shown below. These were
followed with a wide variety of fun to Play with toys. Al stated “Our toys were for the kid on the other side of the tracks.” These toys
were affordable and durable.
Futuristic Midgetoy
949 Ford Pickup introduced in 1950 Bonneville Racer Part of the Junior Series
To find out more about Midgetoy, look for the:
“DIE CAST PRICE GUIDE“
Post-War: 1946–Present
by Douglas R. Kelly
Published by
Antique Trader Books
Dubuque, Iowa
It is a fantastic source of information about toy die-cast vehicles.
