The Company was started in 1940 by Aasmund Sigurd Laerdal in Stavanger, Norway. Originally a small publishing house, it specialized in greetings cards and children's books. By 1943, the Company had expanded into the manufacturing of wooden toys under the name Smavare Industry. In 1951, the Company expanded into plastics and began manufacturing realistic play dolls and in 1959 started producing "furniture friendly" toy cars under the name Tomte Laerdal. These were similar in concept to cars made by the Auburn Rubber Company in the United States or Galanite of Sweden. The first series included an Opel, a Volkswagen, and a Mercedes 190 roadster, which are quite collectible today. Other models included a Studebaker pickup, a Renault Floride sports car, a Volkswagen Pickup Bus and others. In many cases the TOMTE toys seem to have been produced using recycled dies previously created by CORGI and DINKY TOYS. Production seized in 1978.
A one piece rubber VW Pickup Bus with solid unpainted windows. Their production number was 747/D. Body molded with headlights, turn signals, front VW emblem, taillights and license plate lights. Red busses had yellow wheels and yellow busses had red wheels on metal axles mount to pillars on the body. These rubber versions are extremely rare as TOMTE changed to producing vinyl in 1962.
