Rowing racer

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Ruderrenner is the brand name of a vehicle for children by Margarete Steiff GmbH from the 1930s to 1960s. Similar toy vehicles are sold today under the name "row cart".

Construction and history

A rowing machine is a four-wheeled vehicle designed for children. It was brought onto the market for the first time in the mid-1930s and achieved greater popularity in Germany since the mid-1950s, particularly with the 2587 model.

The drive, designed based on the movements of rowing , is carried out by pulling a wooden handle with both hands, whereby a belt strap drives the freewheel gear of the rear axle by means of a spiral spring (no reversing possible). Two metal loops on the front (oscillating) axis take the tips of the feet and allow control with the feet. For downhill driving, the rowing machine has a handbrake bar that acts on both rear wheels.

In the models of the 1950s and 1960s, the Steiff rowing machine has an approximate length of 84 cm and a width of 54 cm and is approx. 28 cm high (wheel height 20 cm). The purchase price in the second half of the 1950s was DM 48.

Despite the relatively light wooden frame construction, the metal parts of the classic rowing machine with a weight of over 8 kg make it a relatively heavy play device for the four- to ten-year-old children announced in the brochure. Its use actually promotes physical development as intended and complements the one-sided development of the leg muscles when cycling. But pedal cars make progress much more comfortable, they are more maneuverable and stopping with the pedals is easier to handle. The look of pedal cars was also more attractive for children. Ultimately, it was not the pedagogical intention, which parents would certainly welcome, but the attractiveness in the eyes of the children that decided the sale, and production was discontinued in the 1960s. Today's manufacturers have taken up the principle of the rowing machine and z. Partly continued using rustproof light metals with a changed design.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Steiff - button in the ear. A children's paradise . KAD brochure from 1956, model 139/2587.