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What's So Great about Schield Bantam Cranes?
 

Schield Bantam cranes, while no longer manufactured, represent the high point of the golden age of the American manufacturing tradition. Schield Bantam cranes were manufactured by the Schield Bantam Company, owned and operated by brothers Wilbur and Vern Schield from the time Wilbur built the first so called "Bantam" (named after the Bantam rooster, a small yet remarkably feisty bird) crane in his barn in nineteen forty from spare parts until the company was sold to Koehring in nineteen sixty-three. He sold his first Bantam the next year, though progress was slow for the next several years because war time rationing made it difficult to obtain the steel and other raw materials necessary to produce Schield Bantam cranes in anything approaching production quantities.

While Shield Bantam cranes are no longer built, their unique shape has left its imprint on the American psyche. Shield Bantam equipment is now used as the model for many popular forms of die cast construction equipment and even those who were not alive during the Shield Bantam era become filled with a sense of nostalgia when looking at one of these majestic relics of America's industrial heyday.

Certain models of Schield Bantam die cast industrial toys are now popular collectors' items and can fetch top dollar if in good shape. Many internet sales and trading forums feature Schield Bantam die cast toys. Remaining original Schield Bantam cranes are also occasionally collected, though they are much more difficult to transport than their die cast doppelgangers.

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