Over the many years of its producing toys and rubber products for the war effort and the domestic economy, the Sun Rubber Company earned a reputation for quality and durability. Their first toy on the market, in 1924, was a play water bottle. It was more than a decade before Sun's rubber cars and trucks finally were available to children. Their popularity followed that of Sun's other toy items.
Alas, nothing good lasts forever.
Meeting postwar demand for toys caused Sun much difficulty, as it did the other major toy manufacturers. For Sun, however, the pressures of demand were joined by changing technology as vinyl quickly succeeded rubber. Quality foreign imports challenged the market position of Sun and, by the late 60s and early 70s, labor costs placed a fatal burden on the company (we at the museum take no position one way or the other). Competition for skilled labor with the nearby factories of the tire industry was a constant difficulty.
In 1955, market realities dictated the end of Sun's rubber, wheeled vehicle lines. After 51 years, twenty of them producing high quality rubber cars, trucks, and airplanes, the Barberton plant was repurposed and new owners took over. Some production moved to Georgia. It was there that Wee Wheels, the last gasp of Sun's toy production, were born and made. It is unjust to have them compete with the previous Sun toys. Taken on their own, though, they have a unique charm and are quite satisfactory toys.
