Summerdale Junction posted:Dan , I believe that you are right that American Flyer O-Gauge three rail would have been able to give Lionel some decent competion in the post war era . You have to remember that Lionel only made it through the depression with the help of Disney and Mickey Mouse .Those one dollar hand cars sold well . W.O. Coleman and the gang from Halsted street in Chicago were not so lucky . In 1932 , a President's Special wide gauge set sold for $100 and a Mayflower set set you back a whopping $150.Not a lot of takers back then . The American Flyer name and factory was sold to A.C. Gilbert in 1937. And as they say , the rest is history . I think that they were on a par with Lionel in the Teens and Twenty's and had they survived , They may have been as innovated as Lionel was in the post war era.
AC Gilbert did not purchase the Flyer Factory on Halsted Street, as W.O. Coleman did not own the building and was leasing it. AC Gilbert purchased the name and tooling and any remaining inventory. He had all of the tooling/equipment moved to New Haven after the purchase.
As stated, American Flyer (in Chicago) was barely hanging on in the late 1930s and likely would not have survived to WWII, as W.O Coleman passed in 1939.
