Mercury (toy manufacturer) Marklin, the company was started in 1932, by Attilio Clemente and Antonio Cravero, but its first toy was a gun produced about 1939 (Batazzi et al 1974; Force 1992, 5; History of Mercury 2013; Ralston 2009, 62). The company first began making toy cars just after World War II, so is one of the earliest diecast model makers preceding Corgi and many others and it was the earliest producer in Italy (Richardson 1999, 134). In Italy there was little competition for Mercury through most of the 1950s (Force 1992, 5). Early cars were more Tootsietoy-like with simple cast bodies, wheels
Maco (toy company) of products and did not operate in other countries. Competitors included Hawk Model Company, Applause Inc, and Louis Marx and Company. In 1955, the New York City Council passed a bill to "ban the manufacture, sale or possession of imitation revolvers that resemble the real article too closely". In a debate about the measure, an Army .45 caliber automatic manufactured by Maco was used as an example of a toy gun which was similar enough to the real model to be used as a weapon in a robbery. Maco (toy company) Maco Toys, Inc., was the name of a popular