Vintage Toyota antiques are somewhat difficult to find in the United States. Only a handful of the high-end collectibles which make their way to the U. Are advertising in nature, which makes this surviving porcelain Toyota sign a very scarce and exceptional piece. Imported from Japan, this is a double-sided porcelain sign advertising one of Toyota Motor’s home products. Toyota began manufacturing high quality sewing machines in 1946, very soon after the end of WWII, designing them to be both functional and beautiful. They achieved a high degree of success, and in 1954 added knitting machines to their product line. This porcelain sign advertised the knitting machines. Beneath the English TOYOTA text is what appears to be an English “T”, a backwards “E”, and a “Q”, however they are actually Japanese Katana characters. The “T” translates to “To”, the “E” to “yo”, and the “Q” to “ta”: TOYOTA. I cannot translate the literal meaning of the bold red lettering beneath that, but believe it to say “Knitting Machine” or something of that nature. I believe the yellow characters at the bottom translate to “Distributor”, so this sign was likely used to advertise a Toyota knitting machine retail location. Toyota used the “TEQ” logo throughout that period. Each side is adorned with purple, red, white, and yellow colors. Size is a robust 24″ x 18″ with two hanging holes at the top. As you can see in the photos there are rust spots where the enameling has chipped on both sides throughout the piece. The edges are rough from rust also. There are no holes except for the ones to hang. There are some blue over paint spatters on the surface, probably from someone not covering the sign while painting the building. Many enthusiasts deem these issues to be distracting, however I belong to the other school of thought which believes the present condition adds to its character. The item “Extremely Rare Vintage Toyota Porcelain Japanese Sign” is in sale since Friday, December 28, 2018. This item is in the category “Collectibles\Advertising\Merchandise & Memorabilia\Signs\Original\1930-69″. The seller is “dmamj” and is located in Gilbert, Arizona. This item can be shipped to United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Czech republic, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Estonia, Australia, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia, Japan, China, Sweden, South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Bahamas, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Saudi arabia, Ukraine, United arab emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Croatia, Malaysia, Colombia, Panama, Jamaica.
- Type of Advertising: Sign
- Country/Region of Manufacture: United States