Did You Have A "Go To Hobby Shop" During The Postwar Era?

Yes, Glen's Train Shop in Akron Ohio. I made it easy for my parents when it came to Christmas and Birthday presents. One stop shopping.

Model Railroad Equipment Corporation at 23 West 45th Street in Manhattan in the Carmen Webster era, and

Polk's Model Craft Hobbies at 314 5th Avenue, also in Manhattan, in the Lewis Polk era.

Full disclosure: I worked in the train department at Polk's in the early 1970s.

- Mike

AK Hardware in McKees Rocks, PA.  Walking into that store as a kid and seeing all the Lionel boxes on the shelf was amazing.

Tom's Trains in Ardsley, NY.

Wilson's Hobby Shop, in Parkersburg, W.Va. At Christmas though, it was Swan Hardware, in Marietta, Ohio.

Jeff

We had Frank Kanzler at Kanzler Electric, ABC Sport Shop on Monroe Ave, and Gardner, The Train Doctor(still in business today).

Wolff, Kubley, Hersig in Madison, WI. It was a hardware/department store that carried Lionel, Plasticville, etc. For a seven year old, it was the place to go.

Jaye & Jaye Hobby in East Cleveland, Ohio.

When I was 8 or 9, back in the early 1950’s, my dad would take our family to Dallas, (we lived in Dennison Tx.), to Cullum and Boren Sporting Good’s store where they had a hugh Lionel train layout and beautiful display of trains. They closed in 1981. From the time I turned 21, we shopped in Nashville Tennessee at “Phillips Toy Mart” and they are still in business today, a beautiful store. There are a lot of stores that I could list, but these were near my homes. Happy Railroading Everyone

In Pittsburgh in the 50s and 60s, the Buhl Planetarium (across the Allegheny River from downtown) had a huge Lionel display around Christmas.  For a kid, maybe even adults too, it was jaw dropping.  I haven't been back to Pittsburgh in a decade, but I think Buhl is still around today, closer to the 3 Rivers, but I don't know if they still do the train display at Christmas.

Amers Youngstown, Ohio!

Ron

Kraft Hardware, Irvington NJ

Hollywood Hobby on Cahuenga in Los Angeles.  My mom took me and my 736 Berkshire for a free check-up if you mentioned that "Engineer Bill" from the TV show sent you.

Trost's Hobbies on south 63rd St in Chicago.  If they didn't have it, you didn't need it.  

Had to be Madison Hardware 23rd and Lex in Manhattan.

The Hobby Shop in Latrobe. Lionel boxes floor to ceiling. Grade school and high school.Also mom ,dad and me would take the PRR passenger train to downtown Pittsburgh at Christmas. Go to the stores .I'd go to the train layouts. Come home at night. Ironically my first Lionel train dad ordered it at Madison Hardware. Surprise Christmas present.

I may be stretching "postwar" since the time frame I'm referring to started in the 1960s but the shop was E&H Model Hobbies in Philadelphia.  They were mostly HO and N scale and I bought a lot of N scale from them.  But they actually ended up getting me back into O scale.  In the early 1970's, when General Mills bought Lionel, they got E&H to sign up to carry Lionel again.  Apparently, it didn't "take off" for E&H and they ended up putting on sale the remaining sets they had.  One of the sets was a Santa Fe Alco FA freight set that was similar to the only Lionel trains I had had but lost as a child (most of my childhood trains were Marx).  I bought it as the set was only $19.95 on sale IIRC (couldn't pass it up) and I still felt a bit of a twang about losing the Lionels. (How I lost them is another story but that was when I learned that not all adults can be trusted, notably the mother of a friend).  I didn't take the trains out of the box for many years.  But one day, long after I had moved from Philadelphia, I came across the still sealed box and decided to take out the trains and run them.  I remember my first impression was that they ran much more smoothly than my N scale trains and they were just a lot more fun.  I didn't immediately think of switching to O but then I bought a GG1 and that marked the start of the slippery slope into O.  It was very gradual at first but by the late 1980s I had switched to O.  And what started it was the set from E&H.

"My go to hobby shop" in the fifties, it could only be Santa Claus at the North Pole.

In Philadelphia, PA it was Wm. Becker on north 11th Street. Small store with trains everywhere. And, it had that unique scent as soon as you entered. His son still sets up at local train shows.

Two Guys department store in Schenectady, NY.

Sadly, no.  I never knew Lionel made anything other than my 671 steam engine set from 1947, I think.  I never saw a catalog or advertisement.   There wasn't that much cold weather in Oklahoma so it was only setup for two weeks around Christmas.

I was shocked at age 36 (1987), at all the trains and accessories that Lionel had made. 

Of course,  since then I have been trying to make up for lost time/childhood.

@Arnold D. Cribari posted:

Tom's Trains in Ardsley, NY.

While I’m way too young to have lived through post war, that’s where I bought my first o scale train item, a 3 pack of North Pole central passenger cars. I got the engine on eBay

In the early sixties living in Baltimore suburbs we had many hobby shops. Wherever my mother would take me was my favorite.

Superior Lock & Electric and General Electronics...Washington, D.C.

@Arnold D. Cribari posted:

Tom's Trains in Ardsley, NY.

Our father bought my brother’s S gauge trains at Arthurs Toy store in Fresno, CA.  My brother later traded them all for an HO brass Atlantic and some passenger cars at Tom’s Trains, also in Fresno.  For a while, we would go to Tom’s weekly but for HO.

In Baltimore: Taubmann's Hardware, Belnord Hardware, and Two Guys - all for those day after Christmas sales. I couldn't afford to go to Kleins.

No.  There was a place that carried O gauge about 10 miles away.  Almost every time we went, they were closed.  I think my brother got one car from them.  My father bought our trains at a place in Washington, D.C. but I only went there once.  There were hobby shops around, but they didn't carry O gauge.

Polk's on 5th Avenue in NYC as well as Model Railroad Equipment Corp on 45th St.  During my N scale days, I would go to America's Hobby Center in NYC.  I believe that they were on 18th St.

     During the late 1950's and early 1960's, I would ride my bike from Oceanside, NY to Lynbrook  to check out Trainland on Sunrise Highway. Bought a Lionel 6464-500 with my paper route money there.

John

Two Guys in Allentown. all our train purchases made during their after Christmas sale. most memorable is my ZW, still showing $23.98 on the orange box. My ma asked me to  'take good care of it because it cost a whole weeks pay. Though now retired to accessory power duty, it continues to work flawlessly

Through out the '50's...

Glenn's trains Akron.

Becker N. 11 th street Phila.

Nicholas Smith  N. 11 th street Phila

Todd's Model shop Upper Darby, PA

E&H Upper  Darby, PA

Plus all the department stores had a train department where one could dream.

Post war sources (I was a kid most of the time, but parents and I bought trains) at:

1. Kaufer Bros Hardware store in Plains, Luzerne County, PA. Dad

2. American Auto store, Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, PA. Dad

3. Stull Bros store, Kingston, Luzerne County, PA. Dad

4. After Christmas sales, The Boston Store, Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, PA Me

5. Madison Hardware, by mail, NYC Me

They are gone and replaced by new venues. Life goes on.

Mark

Honig's Parkway , a postwar variety store under the White Plains Rd #2 EL at Allerton Avenue in the Bronx....the store is long gone......as I am......I left the Bronx in '75 at age 22, never to live there again......

Peter

Amato's in New Britain, CT.  The legendary Dad also had store in Middletown, CT.  Sadly, son Steve closed the NB shop only last month.  His sister still runs the store in Middletown.  The family bought tons of PW trains from them, enough for five different family layouts.

Jerry

I the late 50's and early 60's it was Otasco  (Oklahoma tire and supply company) on main street in Duncan, Oklahoma. And the big man up north.  I think Santa restocked before stopping at my house on Christmas night (Santa left the same trains that Otasco had in stock, if Otasco did  not have it, Santa did not leave it)

Several people mentioned Two Guys, which was also my local train shop. For those who don't know, Two Guys was one of the first big-box stores and had locations throughout the northeast.

If I remember correctly, Two Guys stocked Lionel trains only at Christmas. On December 26th, all the remaining Lionel inventory was put on sale at 50% off. If you got any cash for Christmas, this is when you could really making a killing!

I grew up in Morristown, N.J., only about 30 minutes from Lionel's Hillside factory, but I can't recall any local shops that stocked a lot of Lionel. The closest was Leitner's Toy Store, which was a Lionel dealer and carried a tiny bit of Lionel. What I remember about Leitner's is that they sold replacement chemicals for the chemistry sets we all had back then. I'll bet about half those chemicals are now considered hazardous materials! I also remember that Leitner's was so old-school that even the kids who worked there after school had to wear neckties.

@PRRronbh posted:

Amers Youngstown, Ohio!

Ron

Ditto! My first Lionel train--and a good many subsequent Lionel trains--came from Howard Amer's place from 1950 through 1961, went I went away to college.

Jack Colliers Toys for Men in SF,Lees Trains in Piedmont and there was a train store in San Anselmo and Talbots Trains in San Mateo,those were the days.

Mikey

@texgeekboy posted:

In Pittsburgh in the 50s and 60s, the Buhl Planetarium (across the Allegheny River from downtown) had a huge Lionel display around Christmas.  For a kid, maybe even adults too, it was jaw dropping.  I haven't been back to Pittsburgh in a decade, but I think Buhl is still around today, closer to the 3 Rivers, but I don't know if they still do the train display at Christmas.

It moved to the Carnegie Science Center when it opened in 1992. The layout is up year round but closes for about a month or so in the fall for maintenance, cleaning, and addition of any new structures. It's also 60% larger! Check it out at the Carnegie Science Center's web site.

Miniature Railroad & Village

Manor Hobbies, Woodhaven, Queens, NYC and Savoy Merchandise, West 23rd St., NYC.

Toy Craft was my store of choice for Lionel in Norfolk from 1956 until I went away to college in 1970.

Toy Craft

3904Granby St.

Norfolk, Virginia

My Dad said they used to buy their Lionel and Marx items at Calvaresi's Hardware Store in Republic, PA (1 hour south of Pittsburgh).

His Father purchased our Lionel 1503WS set there in in the mid 1950's and quickly traded in the 1033 set transformer for a 275w ZW.

I had Marx, before succumbing to HO, so the only all year hobby shop with trains in Louisville, Ky , Lionel, was Fischer's, written up in one of the 3 rail mags.  Woolworth's toy dept. had occasional Marx outside the holiday season.  Sutcliffe's, a sporting goods store, had  all brands, Marx, AF, and L then, but packed all away right after Christmas, when l showed up with gift money to add Marx 3/16 cars, so never got any additional cars. Sears in Louisville had the best, basement, holiday train display, but the two major dept. stores had displays, one Lionel, and the other, AF, and are remembered. (( I still remember wishing the AF U.P. 4-8-4 was three rail, and liked AF (MoPac?) PA's, too))

@leapinlarry posted:

When I was 8 or 9, back in the early 1950’s, my dad would take our family to Dallas, (we lived in Dennison Tx.), to Cullum and Boren Sporting Good’s store where they had a hugh Lionel train layout and beautiful display of trains. They closed in 1981. From the time I turned 21, we shopped in Nashville Tennessee at “Phillips Toy Mart” and they are still in business today, a beautiful store. There are a lot of stores that I could list, but these were near my homes. Happy Railroading Everyone

I see Looney Tunes on the drive-in's screen!

San Antonio in the 50's was Joskey's and Dibbles

Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania.

American Auto stores on Wyoming Avenue in Kingston.

Trost Hobby Shop, on W.63rd Street near S. Kedzie, in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood, right around the corner from the Marquette Theater.

My favorite place. Gone but not forgotten. The building is now a bar in Akron, Ohio.

Two hobby shops in downtown Toledo sold electric trains. We had a local store that sold household goods and Lionel trains. The owner also repaired them.

Amer's Hobby Shop in Youngstown, Ohio

Lenny, that is truly a sad photo of years gone by.

Growing up in Brooklyn you’d think I had a lot of choices, but most of my young life experience was with Macys and Madison Hardware. Macys was across the street from my mother’s office so it was really easy. Its not so much like I bought much from them, but it was a great place to watch and dream. Especially, during the holidays when they had the holiday display running.  They helped me get my Christmas list going.
Madison Hardware was mostly for parts. It was a long round trip subway ride from East Flatbush, but normal enough growing up in the city.  Lou and Carl weren’t exactly friendly since I was a kid and not a big spender.  But, I took it in stride since that attitude is SOP in New York.
Most of my trains were presents so the major asset I needed was to be able to practice delayed gratification.  That seems to be a lost art.
Alan

@colorado hirailer posted:

I had Marx, before succumbing to HO, so the only all year hobby shop with trains in Louisville, Ky , Lionel, was Fischer's, written up in one of the 3 rail mags.  Woolworth's toy dept. had occasional Marx outside the holiday season.  Sutcliffe's, a sporting goods store, had  all brands, Marx, AF, and L then, but packed all away right after Christmas, when l showed up with gift money to add Marx 3/16 cars, so never got any additional cars. Sears in Louisville had the best, basement, holiday train display, but the two major dept. stores had displays, one Lionel, and the other, AF, and are remembered. (( I still remember wishing the AF U.P. 4-8-4 was three rail, and liked AF (MoPac?) PA's, too))

Your Flyer 4-8-4  for 3 rail operation wish can come true - Gilbert made 3 rail O gauge trains prior to WW2 which were built to 3/16ths scale proportions, and the UP 4-8-4 was one of their nicest pieces. They look especially nice pulling a string of Marx 3/16ths O gauge tin litho cars. Here's a 572 3 rail UP 4-8-4 in action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Yo2wJjpvNE

@Dave Warburton posted:

Jaye & Jaye Hobby in East Cleveland, Ohio.

Hey Dave,

Thought you'd like this picture.

Lou N

The Postwar era ended four years before I was born, but to a kid growing up near Des Moines, IA, the place to go for three rail trains was Doug's Train World on University Ave. For HO and N gauge you went ot Hobby Haven but for three rail nothing compared to Doug's.

@Joe Connor posted:

Several people mentioned Two Guys, which was also my local train shop. For those who don't know, Two Guys was one of the first big-box stores and had locations throughout the northeast.

If I remember correctly, Two Guys stocked Lionel trains only at Christmas. On December 26th, all the remaining Lionel inventory was put on sale at 50% off. If you got any cash for Christmas, this is when you could really making a killing!

I grew up in Morristown, N.J., only about 30 minutes from Lionel's Hillside factory, but I can't recall any local shops that stocked a lot of Lionel. The closest was Leitner's Toy Store, which was a Lionel dealer and carried a tiny bit of Lionel. What I remember about Leitner's is that they sold replacement chemicals for the chemistry sets we all had back then. I'll bet about half those chemicals are now considered hazardous materials! I also remember that Leitner's was so old-school that even the kids who worked there after school had to wear neckties.

I grew up and still live in the area (heck, worked at the Two Guys in Morris Plains, my first job), grew up in 60's and 70's there. There used to be Rich's hobbytown, which originally was in Parsippany where the Holiday Inn is just before rt 46 and 80 cross, they had some Lionel (though were more scale trains and other hobbies). They later moved a bit west on Hook Mt Road in Montville (it was a repurposed church that later became Gametown arcade and then a restaurant, is an empty lot now).

The other place, that still exists, opened up in the early 70's, Mountain Lakes Train Station. It focused on Lionel, still does.  It especially focused on post war stuff. Problem with it is that it is basically expensive, you will pay MSRP there (and when post war was at its peak, well...the prices there still look like that). Still nice to have a local place, and they do repairs.

And you recall well, Two Guys only carried trains around the Christmas holiday season, by Jan 1st it was all gone. Mostly sets, and maybe some holiday themed cars if I remember. I also remember talking to someone from the toy department (manager) about it (this was late 70s), basically said they knew the week after Christmas they would be taking back a ton of stuff that didn't work,he spent a lot of time testing engines and the like to see if it was in fact broken (MPC quality was, well, what it was), he had been there like 12 years and said it started being like that in the late 60s.

@bigkid posted:

I grew up and still live in the area (heck, worked at the Two Guys in Morris Plains, my first job), grew up in 60's and 70's there. There used to be Rich's hobbytown, which originally was in Parsippany where the Holiday Inn is just before rt 46 and 80 cross, they had some Lionel (though were more scale trains and other hobbies). They later moved a bit west on Hook Mt Road in Montville (it was a repurposed church that later became Gametown arcade and then a restaurant, is an empty lot now).

The other place, that still exists, opened up in the early 70's, Mountain Lakes Train Station. It focused on Lionel, still does.  It especially focused on post war stuff. Problem with it is that it is basically expensive, you will pay MSRP there (and when post war was at its peak, well...the prices there still look like that). Still nice to have a local place, and they do repairs.

And you recall well, Two Guys only carried trains around the Christmas holiday season, by Jan 1st it was all gone. Mostly sets, and maybe some holiday themed cars if I remember. I also remember talking to someone from the toy department (manager) about it (this was late 70s), basically said they knew the week after Christmas they would be taking back a ton of stuff that didn't work,he spent a lot of time testing engines and the like to see if it was in fact broken (MPC quality was, well, what it was), he had been there like 12 years and said it started being like that in the late 60s.

Ah, the memories. I can remember being in Rich's Hobbytown on Route 46 only once, in about 1965 or so. They had a pile of motorized units for sale for $4.95 each. I bought a ballast tamper, which I had never seen before but which impressed me as incredibly cool.  As for the Train Station in Mountain Lakes, that was the store I wish had been around in the early '60s!

@Lou N posted:

Hey Dave,

Thought you'd like this picture.

Lou N

OMG, Lou, you have NO idea how happy I am that you shared this photo! I have looked and looked for photos of Pappy Jaye’s and here out of the blue you share one! I will get an 8x10 print made immediately and it will be framed on my train room wall very soon. With pride.
Thank you SO MUCH for kindly posting this. It puts a huge smile on my face. Such an important part of my childhood in the 50s and 60s.  

@MTN posted:

Your Flyer 4-8-4  for 3 rail operation wish can come true - Gilbert made 3 rail O gauge trains prior to WW2 which were built to 3/16ths scale proportions, and the UP 4-8-4 was one of their nicest pieces. They look especially nice pulling a string of Marx 3/16ths O gauge tin litho cars. Here's a 572 3 rail UP 4-8-4 in action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Yo2wJjpvNE

I have my own O Gauge Flyer 4-8-4 that's under repair at Brad's Train Repair in either Chesterfield or Mt. Clemens, Michigan. I wonder how long that's taking since the engine and matching tender themselves are scarce.

I went to Jack Colliers Toys for Men growing up in San Francisco and Lees Trains in Oakland,always left drooling.Dad got the 1948 Berk and Madison Cars and then the GG1 in 49.