Lionel Trains – early history of a collectible icon
Born to a Jewish immigrant family in 1877, Joshua Lionel Cowen would go on become the founder of Lionel Trains. It was just after the Civil War that Lionel Cowen immigrated with his family, settling in New York. Cowen and his family emigrated to America with the backdrop of great world change, particularly the industrial revolution. Edison had just created the electric light and trains signaled the progress of change. The west and east were finally connected in America via the Central and Union Pacific railroads, this led to a sense of expansion, optimism and exciting possibilities for some. Growing up amidst this revolution of change, it made sense that Cowen would be an inventor. Credited with the invention of the flashlight, and getting his first patent for a component used in camera flashes, despite being a college drop out, he had already made some significant achievements.
It’s rumored that Lionel Cowen made his first toy train before the age of ten. One of his earliest creations was a small actual working steam engine carved out of wood. Unfortunately, his parents kitchen was damaged when the steam exploded the engine. Despite this exploding mishap, Cowen was undeterred and eventually founded the Lionel Corporation around the turn of the century. It was at this point that rail travel was the seen as being the epitome of modernity, style, sophistication and progress. The then modern technology enchanted adults and children alike.
It’s sort of ironic that the first working toy train by what would soon become Lionel Trains was not a toy at all, it was a specialty store window display prop, designed to showcase featured merchandise. The success of this gondola train displaying items as it went around a circular track in the store window took an unexpected direction. It failed to highlight featured items in the gondola, this was because it succeeded in creating so much interest that customers would want to buy the fascinating new electric train. Lionel Cowen made a smart decision after seeing this and brought Lionel Corporation around to focus on model trains that remain popular to this day.
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