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
Toccata for Toy Trains models. Eames says the modern era has lost the art of toymaking in the attempt to have "a perfect little copy of the real thing". Toccata for Toy Trains Toccata for Toy Trains is a 1957 short film by Charles and Ray Eames, one of several films (including "Powers of Ten", made many years later) the husband-and-wife design team made during their career. "Toccata for Toy Trains" is also the title of the instrumental music composed for the film by Elmer Bernstein, a frequent collaborator on the Eames films. The film features mostly antique toy trains moving within fanciful settings