Founded in Sonneberg (Thuringia), Germany, in 1790 as J.G. Escher & Sohn, manufacturers of abrasives and toys, renamed to JGES Theuern in 1920. Postwar model production started in 1948, originally to make use of the capacity of the machinery present. The privately held Company was expropriated in 1953 and renamed VEB Press-und Schleifmittel, a name that was later changed into Plasta Werke Sonneberg, Betrieb Theuern, Germany.
There was also a prewar production, but due to the war, the Kdf JGES were never distributed. See the Kdf JGES listings.
The JGES Split Window VW models were made from Duroplast (bakelite), a material that was not injected in the mould but was formed under pressure which resulted in a thicker, hollow one-piece model. Good details for the front and rear hoods, with 13 engine lids, windows and door seams. The Duroplast wheels usually were a different color than the body. One of the few VWs produced in the former East Germany with the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9 and 12 engraved inside the body (as seen so far) and the model number 907. There is no chassis. Company owner was J.G. Escher hence the Company name JGES. Indeed only 2 VW models were ever produced in the former East Germany: JGES and LORENZ!
JGES most probably had (part of?) the production of the toys done by VEB Presswerk Ottendorf-Okrilla, located near Dresden. This company started as a company for the production of brake lips in the 1930's, was dismantled by the Soviet troops in 1945 and restarted in 1949. As from 1949 they were able to make forms in Duroplast. This meant that they could produce the JGES toys on behalf of JGES. Enclosed is a box of 6 different colors, made by VEB Presswerk Ottendorf-Okrilla. They also labelled the boxes for their customers, like the toyshop Ma-Ko Spielwaren. But they also produced for other shops, like Hermann Hundhammer, a shop selling mixed goods like paper, pens, etc...
The JGES cars were also used for traffic education games. For that purpose the cars had a duroplast pole attached to the car (on both sides of the body a hole was drilled to cater for the pole). So if you find a model with 2 holes, it most possibly was a traffic education model.
JGES produced the following Duroplast toys (all numbered from 901 to 908):
|
901 |
US Limousine |
|
902 |
Convertible |
|
903 |
Truck |
|
904 |
Two-axle trailer for Truck 903 |
|
905 |
IFA Pionier tractor |
|
906 |
Two-axle trailer for Tractor 905 |
|
907 |
Volkswagen Split Window Beetle |
|
908 |
Mercedes 300SL |
