Product Miniature Company

Product Miniature Company, or known by the acronym PMC, was a company that manufactured pre-assembled plastic promotional models cars, banks and toys in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was started by brothers William Edward "Ed" and Paul Ford in 1946. Car model production, the company mainstay, ended about 1965. In 1958 or 1959 the company moved to Pewaukee, west of Milwaukee, and remains there to this day, now producing other plastic promotional products, but not vehicles. Sigmunt "Zigmund" Alexander Suchorski worked as a molding machine operator for Product Miniature in Milwaukee

A first in plastic

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, PMCs main rivals in promotional vehicle models were Banthrico, National Products, AMT, SMP, and Jo-Han. PMC's vehicle products were called "Tru Miniatures".

PMC introduced its first models about 1947, around the same time as Ideal Models, which later changed its name to Jo-Han. Though Banthrico and the similar National Products models were metal, PMC, along with Jo-Han, were the first promotional companies to introduce plastic models to dealerships, both beating AMT by a year or so. Models were first molded in cellulose acetate, which tended to warp over time. Among automotive promotional model makers, PMC and SMP were the only promotional companies that produced nearly all of their products through the lives of their companies (the 1950s) in warping plastic, as they were largely defunct by the time non-warping styrene was introduced. In the early 1960s, PMC did produce some commercial toys in styrene.

PMC's Chevrolet products, like Banthrico, were in the form of banks. Many bank models had the inscription on the bottom "To help save for a rainy day, or to buy a new Chevrolet. Banthrico and PMC set the stage for future manufacturers like AMT and Jo-Han, producing almost exclusively in 1:25 scale, though a few Chevrolets and Plymouths, like the 1953 Chevrolet Handyman and the early Plymouth Suburban, were produced in a larger 1:20th scale.

Main clients

International Harvester was a regular client throughout PMC's existence with trucks models produced as late as 1957. PMC regularly worked with GM, specifically Chevrolet, while AMT cornered most Ford products, and Jo-Han most Chrysler products. Still, PMC did make 1955–1959 Ford Country Station wagons (and the 1959 Ranchero). The 1959 Fords were apparently PMC's last promotional offerings. Sigmunt "Zigmund" Alexander Suchorski's father Wladyslaw "Walter" Thomas Suchorski worked for International Harvester. Apart from Big Three products, the company also made a few promotionals for independent companies, like the 1952–1953 bathtub Nash Ambassador. One interesting aspect of these Nashes was that the 'windows' were a molded part of the body and not clear – the windows came covered with a self-adhesive silver foil that didn't hold up well through time. PMC also made a couple of Trailways buses, including a GMC model 4102 or 4103 marketed by Ideal and issued in about 1952. It had an opening passenger door and changeable destination sign. Later, a larger Trailways Thru-Liner bus with opening side panels and removable luggage was also produced. In addition were Oscar Mayer Weinermobiles in 1954, 1992, and 1996 variations. The 1990s versions were far beyond the time that PMC usually made wheeled promotionals, and were the last vehicles PMC made.

GM offerings in the late 1950s spilled over to European Opel, when the Rekord was made for 1959 (and beyond in commercial styrene form). They even made a Volkswagen Beetle in the late 1950s and early 1960s, but it was unlikely the bug was actually a promotional for German VW.

Product Details

Most years, PMC packaged its cars and trucks in fairly bright, colorful boxes – often with accurate illustrations of the vehicles adorning their sides. Often boxes would say "A Tru-Miniature" on the sides in large letters – possibly making some believe that was the name of the company. Most PMC models throughout the years did not have interiors, exceptions being convertibles like the 1953 Chevrolets, the Corvettes, and the 1959 Ford Ranchero and Country Sedan station wagon. Of course, early Chevy cars were banks, so a detailed interior was not offered. On the bank models, a coin trap was made in the chassis so money could be removed.

Chassis detail varied quite a bit in different models. Though more toy-like in execution, early International pickups had detailed plastic bases with engine, exhaust and suspension details clearly molded. Starting about 1954, though, most bases/chassis were made of metal, which apparently added structural strength for friction motors that started to be popular in many promotionals. For example, the 1955 Bel Air without friction motor had a chassis completely smooth and molded in plastic, while the 1954 Corvette, with "spin-torque motor" (as PMC called it), had a metal base. Though PMC offered no promotionals after 1960, other promotional model makers found the new and harder styrene plastic durable enough to support the motor. Also, plastic bases did not rust over time.

PMC Chevrolet models often came colored with actual GM colors. The name of the color would actually be stamped in white or black depending on the shade of the car (for example, "Woodland Green", "Sungold" or "Campus Cream"). The color would be printed on the center of the roof parallel with side windows. In the case of the 1953 Bel Air convertible, the name was found on the center of the trunk lid, printed parallel with the bumpers.

Tires were black rubber often with a whitewall. Early PMC wheels on IH trucks were attractive red plastic with a small metal hub. These also appeared on many Chevys. Some of the wheels were simple "moon" type style, while some of the International and Plymouth wheels were a less attractive simple white plastic hub which commonly yellowed and became brittle with time.

Retail Toys

About 1959, PMC moved a few miles west of Milwaukee to Pewaukee. The 1959 Ford Ranchero and Country Sedan wagon and a 1959 Opel Rekord seem to have been the last promotionals offered by PMC. Since the Opel did not change much for 1960, it was carried over to the next year. By 1960, however, Hubley gained contracts for plastic promos of the Ford station wagon, which it carried over through 1962, apparently pushing PMC out of the promotional business.

After 1959, PMC's history gets fuzzy. PMC, or another caster using PMC's dies, later made simplified retail toy versions of earlier models up to as late as about 1965. Available at dime stores like G. C. Murphys, the Ranchero, Beetle, Opel, 1958 Chevrolet Cameo pickup, and probably others, were offered in a more simple style in non-warping styrene. They were simplified from the promo versions, with no interiors or windows and wheels were solid black styrene with or without whitewalls. The earlier of these retail versions of the Ranchero were still molded in two-tone colors, but later, solid colors were used (turquoise green or red were two choices). These were offered as either unassembled kits or assembled models, sometimes poly-bagged.

It appears 1959 was a pivotal year for promotional model makers, and PMC in particular. Perhaps some of the company's decline had to do with the expense of engineering the new non-warping styrene plastic mixed with the tooling required to make the ever more popular kits that other manufacturers took up. PMC's kits were very simple and not as well known as those of AMT, SMP or Jo-Han. As a company, Jo-Han did well, but was always the lesser of the Big Three (being AMT, MPC and JoHan. Venerable maker SMP was absorbed by AMT, but PMC was several rungs down the promo ladder by 1960 and gradually weakened through the decade.

Another blow to PMC's car production was Hubley's contract for 1960 through 1962 Ford wagons and hardtops, a niche that PMC had in 1959. Adding insult to injury, Ford dropped its full-size Ranchero model and neither did PMC get the contract for the new Falcon-based pickup.