Boucher

The Boucher Manufacturing Company was an American toy company that specialized in toy boats and toy trains. It is best remembered today as the last of the manufacturers of Standard gauge/Wide gauge trains until the much smaller McCoy Manufacturing revived the old standard in the mid-1960s.

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Boucher entered the toy train business in 1922 with its purchase of the Voltamp line of trains. Voltamp had been a direct competitor to Carlisle & Finch, the inventor of the electric toy train. Boucher modified the trains from Carlisle & Finch's 2-inch gauge to match Lionel Corporation's 2 1/8-inch Standard gauge. The Voltamp/Boucher offerings were highly accurate and detailed and occupied the premium end of the market.

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For the duration of Boucher's life the market was dominated by the so-called "Big Four" of Lionel, Ives, Dorfan, and American Flyer. Like all of them, Boucher struggled through the Great Depression, and while it outlived all but Lionel, by 1940 the 2 1/8-inch Standard gauge had become an orphan standard that was priced beyond the means of most consumers. Without a smaller, more affordable product to sell, and with World War II limiting what it could produce, Boucher went out of business in 1943.

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American: :This page disambiguates the many uses of American. For an article about those various uses, please see Use of the word American....

Toy: :This article is about things that people play with. See also Toys for the 1992 film of that name starring Robin Williams; or toy dog, referring to one of many very small breeds of dog....

Boat: A boat is a watercraft, usually smaller than most ships. Some boats are commonly carried by a ship or on land using trailers....

Boucher related Images and Photos (experimental)

Brian Boucher 2010-11 Action

Francois Boucher Self-Portrait the Painter in His Studio

Portrait of Francois Boucher 1741

André Lefaur Max Dearly Saturnin Fabre and Victor Boucher: Ils Étaient Neuf Célibataires 1939