.: Antiques - Toys - Antique & Vintage - Buddy L :.

Buddy “L” toys, names father owner Fred Lundahl’s son, Buddy were first manufactured by the Moline Pressed Steel Company of Moline, IL in 1921. Lundahl started the company eight years earlier in order to manufacture car and truck parts. The toys, originally made as special items for his son, caught the attention of other children and their fathers.

Buddy “L” toys are large, averaging twenty-one to twenty-six inches in length. The original toys were made of heavy steel and could support a grown man’s weight, but lighter material was adopted in the 1930’s. Wooden toys were produced during WWII when steel was in short supply.