FWIW, I toggle back and forth between the just-the-facts headlines and the annoying, jokey ones. Guess which one this is?
A couple of very interesting looking ADO toys designed by Ko Verzuu just popped up on eBay Austria: a great little truck and a doll-sized chair.
ADO was the Dutch sanatorium where patients created simple, wooden toys [most of Verzuu's design] as part of their therapy. In the 1920's and 30's, ADO toys were a big hit among the modernist and De Stijl-loving shoppers at Metz & Co, the same department store which commericalized many of Gerrit Rietveld's furniture designs.
I wish the chair was actual kid-size, but according to the eBay description, we're lucky to see one as tall as it is [18cm.] The truck is with the same seller, and it has a little ADO hood ornament and original paint.
The interesting-looking set of Albers-colored blocks in the background is a separate lot. I can't quite tell, but it looks like they're rectangular unit blocks for doing counting and math. The seller dates them to the 1930's.
At EUR1 apiece, the shipping costs seem ridiculous. But I suspect that the final prices will make shipping look like a bargain.
Ko Verzuu Arml.stuhl ADO 1925, current bid, EUR1 + EUR22 for Intl DHL, auctions all end Nov. 25 [ebay, thanks dt reader stephen]
Ado truck LKW Ko Verzuu 1934 Selten, currently EUR1 + 22 s/h
The Blocks: Spielzeug-Steine 1930er Jahre, same deal: EUR1+22 s/h
I enjoy the "annoying" jokey ones!
For original antique ADO toys made by Ko Verzuu check: www.toys-art.eu