Lineol
The company Lineol AG was founded in 1906 by Oskar Wilhelm Wiederholz in a small town in Brandenburg an der Havel in Eastern part of German Empire. Lineol became one of the leading Germany toy-soldiers manufacturer. Besides of military troops there were an extensive collection of the medical personnel – surgeons, combat medics and nurses as well as wounded soldiers. In the 1930s, LINEOL AG employed 300 to 400 people and offered over 600 catalogue items. During World War II, toy toy manufacturing continued until 1943, when the factory was converted to the production of artillery fuses. After WW2, the company was expropriated and merged with another toy fabricant in the same town of Brandenburg, the Lehmann Company, a manufacturer of tin toy models. This company was also nationalised and under the name VEB Mechanische Spielwaren was considered the leading tin toy manufacturer in East Germany. In the 1950s, Lineol moved to Dresden, where the toy soldiers of the GDR army and navy were produced under the brand name VEB Lineol-Plastik until 1963. After the reunification of Germany in 1985, the name Lineol was re-established and today the company operates under the brand name Lineol Duscha, offering pre-war Lineol replicas as well as new figurines in a light yellow-brown composition material called Duroplast.
Series of the toy-soldiers
The figures were made of LINEOL – composite mass, developed in 1903, containing wood sawdust, linseed oil and tree resin. After the hardening of the composition the figurines were enamel painted. There were several series of the size standards. In 1920-1930s the most popular size was 6.5 cm (from foot to the top of the head). In early 1930s the standard 7.5 cm became leading even though that 6.5 was compatible with popular British lead toy-soldiers. The 7.5 cm series was made more detailed and artistic, with a variety of poses and motifs. The Lineol toy soldiers have a rectangular base (and not oval like by their competitor Elastolin of O. & M.Hausser) with stamped inscription "LINEOL GERMANY".
Reference literature
Dennis Fontana. The War Toys 2: Kriegsspielzeug : The Story of / Die Geschichte Von Lineol. Pei Intl; January 1, 1991. Languages: English and German. 176 pages. ISBN: 978-0904568295.
