Smithsonian Institution
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Asset Name:
media:NASM-NASM2014-04380

File Usage:

Not determined
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Object details:

Object Name: Molds and Clamp, Buck Rogers, Junior Caster's Set
Smithsonian Record ID: edanmdm:nasm_A19970643000

	Object Name
	Molds and Clamp, Buck Rogers, Junior Caster's Set

	Metadata Usage
	Not determined

	Guid
	http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv923bde004-d2bd-4ff4-9fa1-63c03e7a3013

	Data Source
	National Air and Space Museum

	Manufacturer
	Rappaport Brothers

	Materials
	Overall, die cast iron; clip, iron; handles (2), wood

	Dimensions
	3-D (Each Half): 14 × 10.2 × 6.8cm (5 1/2 × 4 × 2 11/16 in.)

	Dimensions
	3-D (Clamp): 11 × 7 × 0.2cm (4 5/16 × 2 3/4 × 1/16 in.)

	Summary
	This two-part mold with an M-shaped clamp was one part of a Buck Rogers' Junior Caster set marketed in the 1930s. Fans of the space adventure series could make their own lead figurines using the lead bars and melting cauldron included alongside this mold. The results were small, paintable, models of favorite comic characters and vehicles. Available at different levels (Electric, Miniature, and Junior), the casting kits could also be supplemented with additional molds, allowing the creation of new models. The Home Foundry Manufacturing Company offered a comparable casting set for the Flash Gordon characters.

	Summary
	The Buck Rogers comic strip (written by the character's creator Philip Francis Nowlan and illustrated by Dick Calkins) debuted in 1929, followed by a color Sunday strip in 1930 and a radio program in 1932.

	Summary
	Michael O'Harro donated this mold to the Museum in 1993.

	Country of Origin
	United States of America

	Credit Line
	Gift of Michael O'Harro

	Inventory Number
	A19970643000

	Type
	MODELS-Science Fiction

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