The Straco Layout, Part 30 - The name is Bond. Bond Bread

The Line Mar Bond Bread van.
(click on images to enlarge)

Read all the installments of the Straco Express layout project here.

The most recent addition to the Straco layout/display is something of a curiosity. In Part 27, Local Power to the People!, I wrote about a Line Mar truck I obtained with Potomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO) livery. Line Mar was a Japanese subsidiary of Louis Marx & Co., a major American toy manufacturer.

I thought it unusual that the truck was branded PEPCO, as most Japanese trucks sported generic logos, such as "Coal" or "Milk."

Although not an exact match, it's easy
to see Line Mar used prototypical
colors and design.

Was this an advertising premium of some kind?

When I saw this Bond Bread van on eBay, it raised those questions again. Because this, too, is a Line Mar truck. And it sports the logo of the General Baking Co.'s Bond Bread -- a major product line in the 1950's and early 1960's.

I also was interested in this particular vehicle because of the outline. This is the only step van I have on the layout, and indeed, it's the only example I've seen in this size.

How was this originally sold? Was it sold loose in the bins with the rest of the Japanese tin toy cars at the five and dime? Was it something you had to collect Bond Bread wrappers for and send away? Was it included in specially marked General Baking packages as a premium? I have no idea. But I do wonder.

My two "real-world" Line Mar vehicles.

Total cost for the project:
Layout construction:

• Pegboard: $4.95
• Flathead Screws: $0.40
• Molding: $2.49
• SilClear: borrowed from a friend
• Green Paint: left over from another project
• Wood Screws: $3.60
• Felt Pads: $1.99

Power Pack: $5.90
Small Houses: $3.00
Testor's Gray Paint for road: $1.29
Bandai Areo Station: $8.99

Another shipment of delicious Bond Bread arrives
at the Areo Station. My new purchase fits in nicely.

Vehicles:

• Two Japanese toy cars: $2.00
• A.W. Livestock truck: $4.99
• Taxi: $2.99
• Ambulance: $2.99
• Two Japanese patriotic cars: $6.99
• Namura Police Car $2.52
• Haji three-wheel sedan $3.00
• Namura lumber truck $3.48
• 1950's sedan $2.99
• 6 Namura vehicles $16.99
• LineMar Pepco Truck $8.50
• LineMar Bond Bread Van $8.00
• Namura Red Sedan $5.00
  

Total Cost: $103.05