As a kid, I used to love going to the S. S. Kresge’s discount store in the city near where I grew up. The store was a treasure trove of all kinds of exciting things for a young lad, including an extensive candy counter on top of which often were boxes of baseball cards, World War II cards, Davy Crockett, etc. The food counter was a special treat; sometimes my family would eat at Kresge’s during our once-a-week trips into town.
By far my favorite memory is the toy section.
And its two chief attractions were the little Transogram statues of major league baseball players (which I still have) and the huge bins of ten-cent Marx Warriors of the World.
I recently found some of my old toy soldiers tucked into a large storage box of duplicate baseball cards.
Ah, the memories!
One small box in the card container felt too light to contain sports cards, so I opened it. To my surprise and delight, here were my old Marx Warriors of the World figures!
The figures came with a sports card-like small card illustrating the figure, with a brief “biography” on the back. Almost all represented fictional characters, although General James Longstreet, of course, depicted (rather poorly) an actual person.
Anyone remember buying these Marx figures in your hometown five-and-dime store?
Please leave a comment on your memories!
Scott L. Mingus, Sr. is a scientist and executive in the paper and printing industry, as well as the author of several books and magazine articles on the Civil War, including some that deal primarily with York County during the Gettysburg Campaign.
This Cannonball blog presents stories and anecdotes from the war years, as well as announcing local Civil War events of the modern day.
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I remember having a few of those toy soldiers myself–I wish I still had mine! If I recall correctly, you could buy them either at McCrory’s 5 & 10 or Woolworth’s, both on the south side of West Market Street one block before the square. But, I do have the complete set of Marx’s “Blue and Gray” along with the original box from Christmas 1962.
Wow! I forget all about those…had them when I was a kid. Great memory
Up until a few years ago I was serious about collecting “toy” soldiers. I amassed all of the Marx WOtW series, their was 3. I also had a example of all the sets. Alas, I sold my collection and all I have now are the WOtW ACW series, MIB and the Blue and Grey Playset. Great memories. Like Scott I remember the bins for the WOtW as well as a tiered display.
Today I collect 1/30 scale metal soldiers of different brand names.I get the exact same wonderful feeling I did when I was a kid in the late fifties and early sixties,when I’d go downtown on the bus with my Mom shopping and before we went home,we’d stop off at Kresges or Woolworths,and she’d let me pick out one soldier(Barclay’s,Marx )or whatever was on display.Decisions,decisions!!….I’m finally getting revenge on my sister,who gave away all of my “guys”when I went into the service.