PROCESSED PLASTIC was founded in Aurora, USA, in 1948 by Ross Bergman, Richard Simms, and Roy Raymond. Their first toy was a plastic dump truck. Over the years, the product line was expanded to larger trucks, racing cars, tanks, and rockets sold primarily to Woolworth and Kresges (K-Mart). In 1964, they purchased the Tim-Mee Toy Company from Anchor Brush. As a result of this purchase, PROCESSED PLASTIC became the largest U.S. manufacturer of high volume plastic dinosaurs, farm animals, and toy soldiers. PROCESSED PLASTIC finally closed its doors in 2005 due to heavy Chinese competition.
A soft plastic Volkswagen Pickup Bus with cut out windows. Body details include door seams, headlights, front VW emblem, taillights and engine lid. Front and rear bumpers are molded into the body and the bed doors are detailed. The pickup bed has groves to simulate wood slats. There is no chassis and the black plastic wheels and axles snap onto the body pillars.
PROCESSED PLASTIC Company of Aurora, Illinois manufactured only one version of the split windshield Volkswagen Bus, and early single cab. The toy is one piece injection molded plastic with snap in place wheel and axle assemblies. There are five known colors; red, yellow, blue, green and gold, the last seldom found. The length is 110mm (just under 4 3/8”), body details are pretty correct and include under bed storage doors on both sides. Apparently in an attempt to give the cab roof more support, the cab door windows were always kept solid. Four of these have the rear license number “1234”, but the green one is blank. The bottom of the truck bed is marked “PROCESSED PLASTIC CO., AURORA, ILL. USA”. As seen on the original sales stickers marked “Unbreakable Polyethylene”, they sold for ten cents most likely in the 1950s.
