The Boucher Manufacturing Company was an American

toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pet ...

company that specialized in toy boats and

toy train A toy train is a toy that represents a train. It is distinguished from a model train by an emphasis on low cost and durability, rather than scale modeling. A toy train can be as simple as a toy that can run on a track, or it might be operated b ...

s. It is best remembered today as the last manufacturer of Standard Gauge/Wide gauge toy trains until the much smaller McCoy Manufacturing revived the old standard in the mid-1960s. Boucher entered the toy train business in 1922 with its purchase of the Voltamp line of trains. Voltamp had been a direct competitor to

Carlisle & Finch Carlisle & Finch is a manufacturer of nautical equipment founded in 1893 or 1894 in Cincinnati, Ohio, where, , it still has its headquarters. The company's main products through its entire history have been searchlights, mostly for marine applic ...

, the inventor of the electric toy train. Boucher modified the Voltamp trains from Carlisle & Finch's gauge to match

Lionel Corporation Lionel Corporation was an American toy manufacturer and holding company of retailers that had been in business for over 120 years. It was founded as an electrical novelties company. Lionel specialized in various products throughout its existence. ...

's Standard gauge. The Voltamp/Boucher offerings were highly accurate and detailed and occupied the

premium Premium may refer to: Marketing * Premium (marketing), a promotional item that can be received for a small fee when redeeming proofs of purchase that come with or on retail products * Premium segment, high-price brands or services in marketing, ...

end of the market. For the duration of Boucher's life the market was dominated by the so-called "Big Four" of Lionel,

Ives Ives is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname: * Alice Emma Ives (1876–1930), American dramatist, journalist * Burl Ives (1909–1995), American singer, author and actor * Charles Ives (1874–1954), Ame ...

Dorfan Dorfan was an American toy company based in Newark, New Jersey from 1924 to 1934. Their production lines specialized in O gauge and Wide gauge toy trains. History Bringing years of previous toy making experience, Milton and Julius Forcheimer, ...

, and

American Flyer American Flyer is a brand of toy train and model railroad manufactured in the United States. The Chicago era, 1907–1938 Although best remembered for the S gauge trains of the 1950s that it made as a division of the A. C. Gilbert Compan ...

. Like all of them, Boucher struggled through the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, and while it outlived all but Lionel, by 1940 the 2 1/8-inch Standard gauge had become an orphan standard that was priced beyond the means of most consumers. Without a smaller, more affordable product to sell, and with

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

limiting what it could produce, Boucher went out of business in 1943.Tinplate FAQ Part 1
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References

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Toy train manufacturers Defunct manufacturing companies of the United States Toy companies of the United States {{Model-rail-stub