Federico Cavedo identified the Jeep toy seen here as being a pedal Jeep manufactured in Argentina by Establecimientos Broadway S.A.. The photo was taken at Ciudad Infantil ("Children's City") in the Belgrano neighborhood of Buenos Aires, a facility for underprivileged children built by the Eva Perón Foundation in 1949. (Much of the facility was destroyed after the military coup in Argentina in 1955.)
The Jeep is immediately notable for its correctly side-mounted spare tire, and it's a fairly accurate representation of a CJ-2A. It was not based on a Jeep manufactured locally, because IKA in Argentina never built flatfender Jeeps, but neither does the name "Broadway" have a very Argentine flavor.
Ads for Broadway toys reveal that their Jeep also had an American star on the hood, (although in red it looks more like a Russian star.)
They apparently couldn't decide on the best slogan, so they used two: En todos los corazones infantiles ("In the hearts of all children") and El mejor premio para la salud y alegria de una infancia feliz ("The best prize for the health and joy of a happy childhood.")
This ad may show the Jeep Johnson, because it appears that for some reason the spare was moved from right to left in the new, improved version.
The Christmas season ad has the headline Los Reyes Magos vienen... which translates as "The Three Wise Men come..." and they are apparently going to try putting large toys with wheels into children's shoes left out on Christmas Eve.
Photos courtesy Nicolas Musante.
The Broadway two-spoke steering wheel is very distinctive.
Also seen here is a military figure that reportedly was originally available from Broadway for the Jeep. See a closer photo (80K JPEG) of the figure.
Thanks to Federico Cavedo for finding this information. I would love to see more photos of other examples of the Broadway Jeeps, to help confirm what was original to the two versions. -- Derek Redmond
Also on CJ3B.info, see Pedal-Drive Jeeps from other manufacturers.
Return to the Toy Jeeps Pages on CJ3B.info.
According to the website Info Juguetes ("Toy Info") in Argentina, the Broadway brand goes back to 1929, and they produced a variety of dolls, as well as just about anything with wheels, in their plant in Buenos Aires. The "Jeep Broadway" was introduced in the early 1950s, and an improved version called "Jeep Johnson" replaced it in the early 1960s.
This nicely restored example also looks like the Jeep Johnson, although it has been advertised for sale as 1957 vintage. Details such as the tires, chromed windshield and even the front grille, may not be original.
The Broadway windshield folds down, which is another feature that many pedal Jeeps don't have, but it also appears more delicate and vulnerable to damage than the rest of the toy.
This very unrestored Jeep has a windshield and steering wheel that look like a Broadway, but the rounded rear corners and lack of a bolt hole for mounting a spare wheel are different from the other examples here.
These snapshots of a Jeep Broadway are reportedly from 1957.
The front and rear lights, and the narrow slots in the grille of the restoration, are quite different from the original seen above, but it's not clear if any of these details might be part of the changes made for the Jeep Johnson version in the 1960s.
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