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Pinebille Station Pic
I call this The Pineville Set because that is the name on the train station. There are no other identifying marks on these pieces. Not even country of origin, but I am 99.99999% sure they are American.
It was 1946. Johnstown, PA. Christmas. The tree and village already up. I was quarantined at home from kindergarten with measles. There was a "QUARANTINED!" card tacked on the front door.( They did those things in those days. ) Brother Jim was just over a year old, crawling and scooting around enough to do real damage. Mom came home from downtown errands with a set of these. She was delighted as we put them under the tree - the first replacements she'd been able to get for our plain old wartime DOLLIES, which had gotten pretty shabby by that time, doors and windows all punched out by little punchy-fingers (guess who?) -sat on, spilled on and just generally played to death. I loved 'em!
We had six pieces. I didn't discover the 7th existed (the long, 2-story barn-like structure in the back row ) until about ten years ago. It's an odd mix, this! You have, on the one hand, thatched-roof English or European farm buildings, a Swiss "Chalet," and the American comic strip "Lil' Abner"-esque rural comedy of the General Store and Train Station. The Church could be The United Presbyterian around the corner.
There are no lights holes. No cellophane windows. Just solid cardboard lithos on heavy cardstock bases.
Pineville Pick
Pinestore Front Pic
 
Can this be anything but American?
Pinestore Back Pic
....I ask you!

Who made the Pineville Set is a total mystery to me. Whether they became available during The War or just after I also do not know. I suppose they would more properly be classified as "PostWar," but I associate them as WarTime because they were about the first new things you could get as The War drew to a close. I believe they went on being sold throughout the late '40's, but for how long I don't know. You see them fairly often around here in Pennsylvania.
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