Toy, Airplane, Lindbergh, King Collection

This "tin toy" version of the Spirit of St. Louis is painted gray overall with a scalloped patterned black/gray nose with black painted-on engine cylinders, the "windows" left and right side are painted with an image of a pilot's head appearing, the lettering overall is in black. The body and wing are made of a ferrous metal. The wing is connected to the fuselage with folded metal tabs as well as support struts on either side which angle down from the center of the wing to the middle of the fuselage, just under the pilots' window. The text on the left and right side of the nose reads "Spirit of St. Louis". On the top right wing panel in large bold letters is "NX 211", on the horizontal tail surface is text as well as an image relating to the manufacturer of the toy, this reads "Henry Katz & CO..INC., NEW YORK.U.S.A." on the left side is a trade mark logo which is of two cats on a ball playing with the words "KATZ TOY" in the center, on the right side is a circle with "NO. 117" in the middle. The red colored metal propeller and spinner at the front of the plane is connected through a piece of gray metal into the fuselage and is connected to the gear box which sits inside the fuselage, this has a bar running through it, on either side of the fuselage where two (2) red painted metal wheels are attached, a separate and smaller third wheel that is painted blue is attached at the tail end of the craft. Within the fuselage are a set of gears along with a main spring this is attached to a metal key which leads out of the right side of the fuselage under the wing, when this is wound tight and released the two red wheels rotate as does the propeller.

On May 20-21, 1927, Charles Lindbergh literally flew into history when he crossed the Atlantic Ocean in his Ryan NYP Spirit of St. Louis, thus becoming the first pilot to fly solo and nonstop from New York to Paris. This flight made Lindbergh a household name and catapulted him into fame and celebrity. The objects of popular culture in the National Collection display everything from ashtrays to wristwatches reflect the public adulation for Lindbergh and the powerful commercial response to his celebrity. More than 75 years after the Spirit's historic flight, Lindbergh's name still has the power help sell manufactured goods.