I feel like I’m in a different world…hot pink is very unusual for me! Although I might be going through a phase, because there’s also a pink hibiscus flower painting that’s waiting for me to finish it! But this oil painting of the little pink Tonka truck is special for a few reasons.
It’s a hefty little metal truck, with lovingly-applied scratches and rust. I wonder, was the person who owned this truck male or female? I would like to think it was a little girl, but my instincts aren’t always correct. I’m a little bit interested in why Tonka decided to make it hot pink…maybe they were trying to attract a female audience, or maybe they were trying to expand their color-palette?
Nevertheless, I’m glad that it’s flaming pink. It incites questions about how and why toy companies go about genderizing their products.
I’m not sure how long this lil’ beauty has been in my possession. I’m pretty sure that I found it abandoned in a tool shed, possibly the same time as the fishing lures from “Lazy Ike“. I have since tried to researched the history of these Tonka trucks, but only found out that in the early 1970’s Tonka manufactured a pick-up version of this truck (without the topper). I don’t know if the camper-top version of this truck was made around the same time, but I assume so. (I once found another one of these camper-top models for sale on eBay, but it was in terrible condition, and they didn’t have any information about it listed in the auction.)
If you happen to be an aficionado of toy cars, or happen to know anything else about this particular model, I’d love to hear about it. As for this truck, I can only speculate about how it spent it’s younger years…