Vintage Astronauts

Did you play with little green Army men when you were a kid? Seems like I played with the cowboys and Indians and maybe a plastic farm set as well.

Did you know there were astronauts too?

When I was a kid, nearly every grocery store and five and dime had a rack of bags packed with these little inexpensive plastic figures.

Every kid had some but these astronauts were before my time – likely from the mid to late sixties when Americans were space obsessed and headed for the moon.

The first Army men were produced in 1938 by Bergen Toy and Novelty Company. Over time, a number of other companies offered their version. I didn’t study these in the store but a quick Google search tells me they likely were made by the Marx or Multiple Products Company.

For me, half the fun of antiquing is finding things I haven’t seen before. This certainly fit the bill. In case you’re wondering, I didn’t buy them. Perhaps they’re still hanging on a rack at the Brass Armadillo Antique Mall!