Bactrian camels and dromedaries by Lineol and Elastolin

Here is a small overview of the different generations of Bactrian camels and dromedaries by Lineol and Elastolin.


Three Elastolin Bactrian camels from 1930 and their popular zookeeper by Pfeiffer in the same age.







Next generation, the adult Elastolin Bactrian camel with a young camel around 1950.







Pfeiffer dromedary around 1914



Next dromedary generation by Elastolin around 1950.




On the left the Pfeiffer dromedary from 1915 and on the right the Elastolin dromedary from 1950.




Now two adult Bactrian camels by Lineol: On the left the old bactrian camel (Nr. 523, III. generation) from 1931-1940
and on the right the next generation IV. (634), made between 1940-1960.




The Bactrian camels from IV. generation by Lineol. The adult Bactrian camel (Nr. 634) and his young friend (Nr. 636).



The Lineol dromedary from the IV. generation (1940-1960). Dromedary adult (Nr. 630) and his young friend (Nr. 632).





After the whole family has introduced itself, here is a little insight into their everyday life. What is the camels' favourite activity ?
Well, what do they like to do most time, wander through the desert and meet each other in the oasis in the evening - or something like that.










Their enclosure is by brand Gottschalk around 1940.

What a joy to see these photos. Fantastic collection of early camels. I particularly like the 1930 Elastolin and the Lineol IV with Bedouin. It's great that you have found an enclosure and hut for them, it makes the scene and collection complete.

rogerpgvg wrote:

I particularly like the 1930 Elastolin and the Lineol IV with Bedouin. It's great that you have found an enclosure and hut for them, it makes the scene and collection complete.

Thank you Roger II.
The Gottschalk company was mainly known for their extraordinary doll's houses, but Gottschalk also made some very nice zoo enclosures. They are perfect for Lineol and Schleich animals.

Yvette, all those photos and figures are so beautiful!
It is evident you put many effort to offer such a great topic to our community.
I really love best the most recent Lineol and Elastolin but every single figure is so beautiful.
Camels favorite thing is surely to be part of your collection because we all love to be where we are loved.

Wonderful treasures

Many thanks Roger and Andreas.

Great pics, great models, great topic You have a wonderful collection !

May I add a few pics ?

Kikimalou wrote:

May I add a few pics ?

Thank you very much Christophe.
Yes, of course, it would be very interesting, if you can add some more pictures.

oohh!! What wonderful models and pictures! Big congratulations Yvette!

Thank you very much Caracal. I just see in moment, in one of the photos a modern Bactrian camel/dromedary has joined the vintage group. At the first view, it is easy to be overlooked.
Have you find the modern figure, that want to be a vintage figure ?

heu .. not yet.. that maybe means some modern models are very good too!

Caracal wrote:

eu .. not yet.. that maybe means some modern models are very good too!

It´s only a single modern figure...

75senta75 wrote:

what a magnificent herd of camels you have! bravo!!

thank you for sharing these exciting figures :)
It is interesting to see the different levels of detail in the 2 species over the generations. Camels to suit every collector? I even spotted the modern day one and thought, oh! an intruder

Most of all I love the little dromedary baby here

What a beautiful topic , with all these so great photos , showing these amazing models in a perfect way !
It is a real pleasure to watch every single photo and learn more about every model.
Especially these, which I never see on hand.
Thank you very much dear Yvette !
And yes, I saw the modern dromedary , trying to steel the old glory of the models around

Big congratulations, this topic show us , marvellous figures and interesting information .

75senta75 wrote:

Kikimalou wrote:

May I add a few pics ?

Thank you very much Christophe.
Yes, of course, it would be very interesting, if you can add some more pictures.

So here we are, unfortunately without blue skye and palm trees

First a meeting between Lineol IV, Hausser Elastolin (both post WW2) and the Pfeiffer from 1914.



Then a few comparison pics with the Pfeiffer Dromadary produced from 1900 to 1914.
It means it is probably the first Industrially produced toy camel ever !

With the Lineol 524 Dromedary III (1932-1940)



Now with the Belgian Durso ( can't tell anything about the production years)



Two Pfeiffer on this pic, the one from 1900 and the one from 1950 (Tipple-Topple)



With the Lineol 630 Dromedary IV (1940-60)



The whole family  

So many wonderful old models

Wow! Thank you very much for the beautiful pictures, Christophe.
With this second part you really complete the presentation.
First of all with the way it's presented, and second of all because of the models, of which some are extremely rare.
I keep getting astonished by your brilliant photos, which perfectly manage to display the beauty of these old figurines.
Thank you very, very much for this wonderful addition.
The old Pfeiffer models are a true rarity, but the Durso is also stunning.
As you wrote, the old Pfeiffer dromedary (1900-1914) is probably the first industrially produced toy camel ever.
Although composition animals were produced long before the year 1900 in other ways, it wasn't done in the way that Pfeiffer did it.
Emil Pfeiffer began his production of composition animals approximately between 1880 and 1890.
Pfeiffer Austria is often called the "inventor" of composition animals, because he renewed the production of these figurines around the year 1900.
Back then, he already had about 100 employees. Another of Pfeiffer's novelties was the integration of metal wire in the figurines, in order to stabilize them.

In his catalogue from 1914, Pfeiffer already shows models of dromedaries and Bactrian camels.
There are single figures with their own article numbers, but we also see them in various sets.










In the catalogue from 1914 is also the Bactrian camel from the Lilliput series. But that is a topic for the next episode.

The Elastolin Dromedary/Bactrian camel from 1950 was available in several paint versions and it was very often sold as a figure for traditional Christmas cribs.

Thank you Sunny, Andreas, Kosta, Fernando and Taos for your comments.

sunny wrote:

It is interesting to see the different levels of detail in the 2 species over the generations. Camels to suit every collector?

Yes, Pfeiffer (Elastolin) and Lineol have always placed great emphasis on attention to detail over all the years.

costicuba wrote:

It is a real pleasure to watch every single photo and learn more about every model. Especially these, which I never see on hand.

Many thanks dear Kosta. The rarest models are the old Pfeiffer figures posted by Christophe.
I only know them almost from photos too.

Sunny wrote:

I even spotted the modern day one and thought, oh!

costicuba wrote:

...and And yes, I saw the modern dromedary , trying to steel the old glory of the models around

yes, at first glance the modern figure is not immediately visible. Only at the second glance. The reason is actually, I also took photos at the same time for "old meets young", where the modern camels are shown with the vintage models.

Wow, this topic bacame more and more interesting, with these amazing rarities, which Kiki showed
Such a joy for the eye

Thank you Yvette and Kosta.

I never imagine I would be the proud owner of such expensive oldies... especially for a cheap price

I am completely lost for words

For somebody who loves all camels, this is such a huge joy to watch

Thankyou very much for making the sun shine, even if it is dark outside

Beautiful camel comparison. The quality of these old composition models is amazing.

These topics with interactions between members are a landmark of this forum and it is wonderful to see such a historically rich topic on forum. It is nice to know we will have more episodes.
Thanks for sahring your caravan Christophe, You've always been a camel enthusiast.

Wonderful vintage camels It's a joy to see so many examples, and they are all beautifully sculpted