Tomte Lærdal

In the 1960's the company that is known for the "Resusci Anne", Lærdal Medical, made furniture friendly toy cars from vinyl. More than 100 million toy cars were made at the factory in Stavanger, Norway. 

 

The cars are still available today at tag sales, flea markets and you can even find some on eBay!. 

 

35 different types were made from sportsters to fire trucks. They varied in color; blue, green, orange, red and yellow. Some of the earliest models were handpainted.

 

Most of the models are in a scale of 1/43, but some of the early cars were larger (1/24). The latter include several pickups (Volkswagen,Studebaker Pickup and a Ford), a tractor and wagon, a firetruck and a race car.

 

Tomte Lærdal started out as a small publisher and toy manufacturer during the Second World War. Pioneering in soft plastics in the early 50's, Laerdal made millions of realistic play dolls and "furniture friendly" toy cars. Realistic wound simulations and the life-size, life-like Resusci Anne, a training manikin for mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, set a new course. First aid and emergency medicine became Lærdal's field of activity, with an emphasis on training.