Hubley Manufacturing Company was incorporated by John Hubley in 1894 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The company is known for producing a large array of toys but their claim to fame were the wonderful cast iron toys that they made before World War II. After the war, the company changed to a cast iron alloy. Hubley made objects of many shapes and designs including beautiful horse drawn carriages, vehicles, toys, dogs and doorstops. The doorstops have recently been selling for record prices. A doorstop is an object that is used to hold a door open or closed. Sought after by folk art collectors, cast iron collectors, door stop collectors as well as other collectors and designers have made prices go through the roof.Although they became predominant in Victorian European home in the early 19th Century, it is widely believed that doorstops were first made in the 18th Century. In the beginning, doorstops were nothing more than any object you could find to keep a door open or closed including rocks, wood or any other thing that was heavy enough. It wasn’t until the Victorian Era brought a wave of decorated doorstops made to look more attractive than a rock. European foundries of the time made doorstops look like dogs and flowers. Doorstops did not become popular in the U.S. until the early 1920’s. Women of that era bought the doorstops to coordinate with other thing in their homes including bookends and shade pulls.
