Toy Trucker and Contractor
The Official Site of Toy Trucker & Contractor Magazine
  • Home
  • Subscribe/Renew
    • Canadian/International
  • News/Events
  • Features
  • Shows/Auctions
    • 2024 - 34th Annual National Toy Truck 'N Construction Show
    • 2023 - 33rd Annual National Toy Truck 'N Construction Show
  • Shop
    • Past Issues
    • Models >
      • Truck Models >
        • Peterbilt Model 389 tri-axle Day Cab w/ERMC 4-Axle Hydra Steer® Trailer w/90' Beam Load, 1:64 scale
        • Peterbilt 579 w/Bobcat S76s
        • Midwest Specialized Kenworth T660
        • Western Star 4700 SB Concrete Mixer
        • Western Star 4700 SF Dump Truck, 1:50 scale
      • Construction Models >
        • Northwest 80D Shovel, 1:50 scale
        • Allis-Chalmers TS-300 Motor Scraper 1:50
        • Allis-Chalmers Forty-Five Motor Grader 1:50
        • Bucyrus Steam Shovel, SCALE: 1:48/O-Gauge
      • Tractor Models >
        • Versatile 125 4WD 1:32 Scale and 1:64 scale
        • John Deere 8960 - 1:64 scale
        • International 4166 - 1:64 scale
        • John Deere 8650 4 WD - 1:64 scale
    • Books >
      • Books Page 2
      • Books page 3
      • Toy Trucker Binder >
        • Inserts
      • Toy Farmer Binder >
        • Inserts
    • DVD's
    • Gift Cards
    • Bundle Specials
    • Browse and Buy
  • Advertise
  • Photo Gallery
  • NTT'NC Show Model List
  • About Us
    • Contact
    • Subscriber Info

Larry Phillips’ lifelong passion starts with a SIREN

12/20/2017

 
​​​​​​​By Luann Dart
​
Note: This feature is in the Jan. TT&C 2018 issue.​​
Picture
Click to view this electronic issue.
Picture
Throughout his childhood, Larry received toy fire trucks as Christmas presents, and several still survive in his collection, including this Doepke Rossmoyne American LaFrance ladder truck that he found under the Christmas tree in 1955.
Picture
A sampling from Larry’s collection includes a combination of A.O. Smith, DeHanes and Toys for Collectors models.
His fascination began at birth in 1948, just as he was drawing his first breath in a New York hospital located on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
 “As I was being born, Rescue Company 3 of the FDNY (Fire Department of the City of New York) went screaming by and the die was cast,” relates Larry Phillips, a longtime columnist for Toy Trucker & Contractor magazine and an influential collector. 
Living in Brooklyn, N.Y., the first five years of his life, he remembers regularly exploring an engine house, enthralled by the gleaming 1938 Ahrens-Fox HT pumper and befriended by the affable firefighters.
“We lived just a few blocks from Engine Company 241 in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn and as we walked to church on Sunday morning, we walked right past the firehouse,” he tells. “My dad was the visionary and he put me on the pumper when I was probably close to 3 years old and he said, ‘Larry, this is going to be you for the rest of your life.’”
The prediction came true. Larry’s career has been in close proximity to fire departments across the country. Today, Larry’s home in Jamestown, N.D., is a treasure trove of fire department memorabilia and a museum of model fire trucks, reflecting both Larry’s career and his passion for the model hobby.


Finding a second home
Larry’s father hailed from the Harlem section of New York City, while his mother was a North Dakota native. While Larry’s father was teaching at an Officer Candidate School in Fargo, N.D., the couple met at a USO (United Service Organizations) for wartime soldiers. His mother’s church group was serving food at the weekly USO functions, while his father was playing the piano.
Larry’s family lived in Brooklyn, N.Y., then moved to the suburb of Bethpage, Long Island, where a cousin was a dispatcher at the Bethpage Fire Department and invited the family to visit.
“I walked into that firehouse and it just clicked,” Larry says. “That became my second home.” He spent every waking moment that he could at what would eventually become the headquarters firehouse. He was soon adopted as the “buff,” running errands for the firefighters.
Within a year, the department bought him the traditional bright red Bethpage Fire Department jacket emblazoned with his name and fire department Maltese cross; the jacket is now in his collection.
“From then on, I was hooked and laddered for the rest of my life. The die was very, very well-cast,” he says.
Want to read the rest of the story?  It's available in the January TT&C 2018 magazine!
Download here: JANUARY TT&C 2018

Call (701) 883-5206 or (701) 883-5206 to purchase or order online at: http://www.toytrucker.com/past-issues.html

Comments are closed.

    Categories

    All
    Harrison Custom Minis
    Lines Brothers
    Oil Rig Models
    Plyouth Trucks

    Toy Trucker
    & Contractor

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015

Picture
Contact Info:

Toy Farmer Publications
7496 106th Ave. SE
LaMoure, ND 58458-9404
  • Phone: (701) 883-5206
  • Toll Free: (800) 533-8293
  • Fax: (701) 883-5209

Toy Trucker & Contractor office

©2023 | All Rights Reserved | Website by Forum Printing