Issued 1949-1959    Length 118mm

The Hansom Cab was another successful Morestone model which had a long production life. It was made by Modern Products Ltd who had already manufactured most of the early models.

 

Cast in one complete piece with 'Made in England' inside, the body of the cab was always painted black. The shafts were rivetted onto the front and also coloured black. Because the models were spray painted, quite often the underside was missed so part-painted models were not unusual.

 

Two types of horse were used for the Hansom Cab. The first was white with black trim on the harness, mane, feet, and sometimes the tail. The second horse was metallic dark-grey without decoration.

 

Bright yellow paint was used for the large wheels and the little driver was always red with a black hat. On each side of the cab roof, two unpainted lanterns were positioned. A long elastic band was provided to serve as reins.

 

The Hansom Cab was boxed in a brown or off-white end-flap card box. Both faces had blue line drawings showing a moving cab, and on one side 'Morestone Series Hansom Cab' was printed. The other side just had 'Made in England' on it. The end-flap at one end proudly stated 'This Carton contains a Morestone Series Hansom Cab with all Accessories' and at the other end 'Complete with driver, lamp and reins'.

 

Despite dating from the 1940's, it was in production for ten years so the Morestone Hansom Cab is not hard to collect.

 

In 1972 the model was re-issued in new colours and a new box as Budgie No.100 Hansom Cab