City Sanitation Truck

1940’s Marx City Sanitation Truck, 13” long.

Marx produced a number of variations using the cab from this truck. This truck however is one of the most sought after and rare versions, and is not even listed in the Greenbergs Guide to Marx Toys. It is highly sought after in part because of the high grade lithography design marx produced during this time period. The designers used shading techniques to gain the perception of depth on the rivets, note the top of the rear of the truck. Its aguabley one of the best lithography designs Marx made throughout their time in business. 

As described on the “Grand Old Toys website.

“ Besides being an incredibly scarce toy to find, the Marx City Sanitation Truck is notorious for showing even the slightly amount of wear or scratching. A combination of a baked on enamel pressed steel body with a tin litho rear hopper, the truck was manufactured in versions of brilliant white and mint green. Both are light colors and will show the most minute points of wear. This is why I knew this to be a truly "rare find" when I saw this amazing example.

This is not only a toy, but a work of art. Only when you see rare high grade examples like this do you get an idea why a large, heavy, all-white vehicle was conceived. The blazing white surfaces contrasted against the black outlined plates complimented with rivet heads spaced at regular intervals makes it look cleaner than a Wyandotte ambulance. In addition, not only was embossing used to give the flat metal a three dimensional effect, but shadowing was used to give the surfaces an appearance of depth. To accomplish this gray shadows were lithoed below the roof tabs (along the upper edge of the refuse compartment). This not only made the tabs looks more realistic, but also made it appear that the tabs were part of the truck design and not just there to hold it together. In fact, I'll bet that most people who've looked at this truck have never notices the gray shadowing effect. It's so natural that it blends right in. 

Other things like the double embossed rear fenders Yes, it has two Marx logo's, not one, which improves the symmetry. And of course the smattering of red litho on the text and lights gives it an even cleaner, brighter overall appearance. 

Additional "features" only add to its beauty; pressed tin lithoed balloon tires (black with yellow & white sidewalls and red centers), polished and embossed tin grille assembly with separate hood divider, split front windshield, and the sloping rear compartment door all add to its attractiveness.