We have read the following statement online many times: “We talked to an engineer that was on this project, and he felt the production was about 5000 total but he was not sure”.
We know that you have heard this before but reading something on the internet does not necessarily make it true. It appears that this one statement regarding 5,000 units makes its way into every eBay auction and Big Loo article. Heck, it may even be true. The “not sure” part is a little troubling as now this “fact” appears everywhere.
We would love to track down the individual who actually talked with the Marx factory worker and who first made this quote. Maybe you are reading this article now? If we had a name of the Marx factory worker and the date of the meeting, it would lend some credibility to this statement.
As Big Loo enthusiasts, we absolutely need documentation that points to some real numbers. Without it, that 5,000 number is just hearsay or hyperbole (maybe even both). The big problem is that before computer databases became common, paper work was sometimes lagging. Enter the fact that the company went out of buisness decades ago usually means that all the paperwork was lost.
But not always. As collector hobbies grow and the Big Loo hobby is no exception, research ramps up driven by those who find such things interesting. It will be fun to see our hobby obtain more accurate information as our enthusiasts grow in number and so do the facts.