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Allied Mfg. Co. 1934-bef.WWII

Allied MFG Co., 1338 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 

Allied Mfg. Co., also known as Allied Products Co. was a Chicago-based novelty and toy manufacturer primarily active during the 1930s. They are known for their "Playstone Funnies" and "Kasting Kits," which allowed children to create their own figurines of famous comic strip characters using molds.

While many companies made lead soldier molds, Allied Mfg. Co. carved out a niche by licensing popular cartoon caricatures of the era. Their most successful line was the **Playstone Funnies Kasting Kit** (c. 1936). Having worked out a licensing deal with the Famous Artists Syndicate, Allied was able to sell merchandise depicting the popular characters of 1930s newspaper comic strips, or “funnies,” including Dick Tracy, Little Orphan Annie, Moon Mullins, and Krazy Kat, among others.

Allied Mfg. Co. didn't survive as a major toy player long after the 1930s, likely due to the shift in materials during WWII and the rise of plastic in the late 1940s.

The Allied Manufacturing Company is believed to have produced about a dozen moulds including three different Dick tracy Moulds. Also produced were The Gumps; Little Orphan Annie; The Lone Ranger and others. They also produced a military mould that had a cannon, however that mould has never been seen so may not actually exist. By the start of WWII Allied Mfg. was no longer producing moulds.

I have not found a complete catalog though I do have the insert found in their Dick Tracy Kasting Kit. Not totally sure how they numbered their moulds as there seems to be a variety of non-sequential numbers and the Dick Tracy No. 90 (which does not have a number on it) does not appear in the catalog listing (perhaps because it is part of the initial Kit)?

• 50. Moon Mullins - Moon Mullins, Kayo, Uncle Willie
• 51. Tracy Fighting - Dick Tracy, Pat, Bank Teller
• 52. Harold Teen - Harold Teen, Pop, Shadow
• 53. Smitty - Smitty, The Boss, Herbie
• 54. The Gump - Andy, Hilda, Uncle Bim
• 55. Fort Dearborn - Fort, 2 Pioneers
• 56. Indians On The Warpath - Cowboy and 3 Indians fighting
• 57. Gasoline Alley- Uncle Walt, Skeezi, Avery
• 58. Lone Ranger - Lone Ranger, Cowboy, Indian
• 60. Orphan Annie - Orphan Annie, Sandy, Daddy Warbucks
• 61. U.S. Soldiers - Officer, Cannon, Private. Note: It is believed this mould was never produced
• 90. Dick Tracy - Dick Tracy, The Chief, Junior

The Moulds were typically smooth backed, had a threaded boss for the handle and were marked with the name of the mould as well as the number and "Allied Mfg Co. Chicago ILL". Below are examples of the mould backs: